Who wrote Fastest with the Mostest?

[grundle]

The first 16 Road Runners all have Michael Maltese credited as the writer. The 17th, Fastest with the Mostest, doesn't have a writing credit. However, my guess is that Maltese wrote it.

In my opinion, the first 17 Road Runner cartoons are the best Road Runners. These are the ones that really make me laugh. The gags are great. The animation is rich and detailed. The music is hilarious.

The 7 cartoons that followed, Hopalong Casualty through War and Pieces, are good, but, in my opinion, they are not great. And they aren't nearly as good as the first 17.

Anyway, I think that Fastest with the Mostest has a lot more in common with the first 16 than it does with the later 7. So that's why I'm guessing that it was written by Maltese.

What do you think of this subject?

[Sogturtle]

Hey Mr. Grundle~

It's almost without a doubt that Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones wrote "Fastest...". What had happened was that H-B had offered Maltese and Warren Foster a LOT more money to come work for them. They chucked (so to speak :o)) loyalty and went for the gold. Warner's responded true to form and ripped their names from their last cartoons. This was essentially covered on an earlier thread.

Tim C.blue

[Jack]

I've thought about this (sort of), but do you think they removed the credits from the Blue Ribbon releases so people who had quit or were fired would not be credited?




Jack:D

[J Lee]

Just an addentium to Tim's post -- if Maltese had left Warner's about a year later and "Fastest With the Mostest" had been made at that time, he probably would have kept his credit. When Warner's named Jones and Freleng co-producers with David H. DePatie, the credits got a lot more equitable, and Maltese's name did show up on "High Note" (late 1960) and "The Mouse on 57th Street" (1961), while I believe Foster was given co-writing credit on "Devil's Feud Cake" (1963) which was a contraction of the second season opener of "The Bugs Bunny Show."

[Sogturtle]

Excellent points John... Shows what happens when the inmates (Jones & Freleng) seize control of the asylum... Justice!!! As memory serves me Tedd Pierce got one more writing period in that verrrrry unique period before the mother-of-all-axes fell.

Tim C. (And yes Jack, I do have Rabbititus, having been up for 31 hours now, still have to find time to eat...)

[angilbas]

I've long suspected that "Fastest With the Mostest" influenced Rudy Larriva when he wrote his first two Format/D-FE cartoons ("Run, Run, Sweet Roadrunner"; "Tired and Feathered"). There are fewer gags than usual, but the last set-piece of each film is elaborate and lengthy.

-Tony