Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer and animator. He was best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons, contributing prominently (mostly stories) towards the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series; he garnered acclaim not by his animation, but by his stories that proved to be influential in animation. He worked for Hanna-Barbera at a similar role until his retirement.
Foster's long career with animation began in 1935 as a cel opaquer for Fleischer Studios, moving up to the story department a year later. He wrote two Popeye cartoons The Spinach Roadster and Proteck the Weakerist.[1] He started at Leon Schlesinger Productions in 1938 as a writer on the Porky Pig short, Porky in Wackyland, and would collaborate primarily with Bob Clampett until the early 1940s. By 1944, Foster had become both Clampett and Frank Tashlin's primary storyman; upon the departure of both directors, Tashlin's replacement Robert McKimson became Foster's sole collaborator for the remainder of the 1940s. In 1949, veteran director Friz Freleng, who had become increasingly complimentary of Foster's abilities, poached Foster from McKimson's unit and installed him as his primary storyman, a position Foster would hold until 1957 with the Tweety short, Tweet Dreams (ultimately released in 1959); Foster, having written around 171 shorts for the studio, would depart Warner's after finishing work on the short. He was the composer of Tweety's theme song, I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat.
Upon departing Warner's in 1957, Foster was initially employed at John Sutherland Productions, providing the screenplays for industrial films such as Rhapsody in Steel. In 1959, on the recommendation of former Warner alumnus Michael Maltese, Foster was hired by Hanna-Barbera, where he spent the next seven years as a writer on a number of notable animated programs, beginning with The Huckleberry Hound Show. He contributed to the comedy, plot, and character development of shows like The Yogi Bear Show, Loopy De Loop and The Flintstones, including his final work on the feature-length The Man Called Flintstone in 1966.[1][2]
Iwao Takamoto said of Foster's work on The Flintstones: "I believe his influence was one of the key factors for its success".[3]
