# What exactly is the job of a cartoon director? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444 "2007-01-18T14:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/1 "2007-01-18T14:00:36Z")
Most cartoons, from Tom & Jerry to the Simpsons, list a director credit- with live actors, I understand what a director does. But what does a director do with no live actors? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/2 "2007-01-18T14:07:54Z")
The guys who do the voices would not appreciate your assertion that a cartoon has no actors. 🙂 In addition to directing the voice talent, a cartoon director is responsible for deciding the visual layout of each scene and how the characters will move around. The artists and animators then make it look how the director wants. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/3 "2007-01-18T14:37:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I get asked akll the time "What does a cartoon director do? “Hey Bugs, let’s take it from the top”? > > I try to associate with these people as little as possible (probably inaccurate, from memory, from Joe Adamson’s **Tex Avery: King of Cartoons**. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/4 "2007-01-18T16:04:34Z")
I know that Chuck Jones used to sketch out the main layouts and key frames for a cartoon before turning it over to “inbetweeners” to do the cels in between. He also did storyboarding and would discuss the cartoon with the voice actors. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/5 "2007-01-18T16:16:38Z")
It can be very interesting to listen to the commentaries on the “Looney Toons Golden Collection” DVDs to learn about the different styles of directors. Jones was controlling, drawing all the main points that he wanted, but expected his team of elite animators to use their own skills to fill in what got to those points. Robert Clampett had a much wilder style, and gave his animators more latitude than most of the other directors. It’s really a fascinating job, and incredibly difficult. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/6 "2007-01-18T16:24:55Z")
Who is responsible for the pacing of the action? Is that part of the director’s job? I always thought that was one of the great strengths of the classic Looney Tunes. RR ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/7 "2007-01-18T17:51:39Z")
[QUOTE=RiverRunner] Who is responsible for the pacing of the action? Is that part of the director’s job? I always thought that was one of the great strengths of the classic Looney Tunes. RR [/QUOTE] Definitely part of the Director’s job, although of course it falls to a bunch of people to make his plan work. Jones, for example, had a rule about how may frames of film it took for the coyote to fall into the canyon, and it took a damn good animator to make it come out exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-job-of-a-cartoon-director/388444/8 "2007-01-19T02:04:56Z")
Not sure about other studios, but I know that at Pixar, the Director is the final arbitrator of the movie’s story/plot/themes/style/whatever. That’s why they always emphasize that their films are director-driven, because the director is the person who has to nurture the whole movie for the three or four years it takes to complete it.