Chuck Jones is described by Steven Spielberg as "a comic genius, up there with Keaton and Mack Sennett...." In the following excerpts from his own biographical account of his career, "Diary of a Mad Cel Washer," Jones' sense of humor becomes evident.

"Chuck was born in Spokane, Washington, U.S.A. on September 21, 1912. He soon became bored and immigrated to Southern California at the age of six months. He was accompanied on this journey by two (2) parents and two (2) sisters. A brother, Richard Kent Jones, who joined the procession later, corraled a substantial and unfair portion of the cerebral matter allocated to the Jones Family.

"Mr. Jones (Chuck) received a sketchy but catholic (not Catholic) education in California and attended Chouinard Art Institute, now California Institute of the Arts, graduating without distinction or the ability to draw. After nearly ten years of night school with the help of...