Milt Franklyn

Milton J. "Milt" Franklyn(September 16, 1897 – April 24, 1962) was a musicalcomposerandarrangerwho worked on theWarner Bros.Looney Tunesanimated cartoons.Franklyn moved from New York toSalt Lake Cityat the age of three, where he went to high school and finished one year at the University of Utah. He was the state junior tennis champion in Utah for six years.The next two years were spent at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, then he began a term at Pennsylvania University when he was called to service in World War One. Franklyn did not serve overseas; he trained as a naval officer for three months and then theArmisticewas signed on November 11, 1918. He returned to Berkeley to finish his education. As Franklyn could play a number of instruments, he joined a band inSan Franciscoand for the next few years played at the Palace andSt. Francishotels. He began his own nine-piece orchestra, known at various times as the Peninsula Band, the Super Soloists, and the Merrimakers, and appeared inSan Mateo(1926 to June 1927), where he also owned a music store,andSan Jose(1928 to January 1929), where he was Master of Ceremonies and wrote revues for the California Theatrebefore moving on toFresno andOakland. For two years he was emcee with Fanchon and Marco at Fox West Coast inSan Diego; musical director and emcee with Paramount Publix Corporation, travelling toSeattle,Denver,HoustonandToledo; and finally worked on theLoew'scircuit inProvidence, Rhode IslandandNew York Cityfrom 1933 to 1935. Franklyn quitvaudevilleto go toHollywoodin 1935 and spent a year doing occasional work. In early 1936, he joined Warner Bros. as music arranger toCarl Stalling, becoming music director in 1953. The first cartoon with Franklyn credited as a composer wasBugs and Thugs, released in 1954, though Franklyn estimated at the time his 599th cartoon for Warners wasPast Perfumance.Franklyn always composed his scores at home early in the morning; he only went to the studio to watch the 30-piece Warner Bros. Orchestra record the music or to view the finished cartoon. Among the songs Franklyn is said to have composed with directorChuck Jonesand writerMichael MalteseisThe Michigan Ragfor the 1955 cartoonOne Froggy Evening, featuringMichigan J. Frog.However, the ASCAPdatabase lists only Maltese as the composer. He became the sole composer in 1958 upon Stalling's retirement. Franklyn died of aheart attackon April 24, 1962. At the time of his death, Franklyn was composing the score for aTweetycartoon,The Jet Cage. The first two minutes of the cartoon were scored by Franklyn, the rest byWilliam Lava, who had been working on the Warner Bros. main lot and replaced him as musical director.The Jet Cageopening credits lists Franklyn and not Lava, while the ASCAP database credits Franklyn with composing the opening title, with no mention of Lava, but a change in composing style in the cartoon is noticeable. Franklyn joined ASCAP in 1954 and was a member of the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. He and his wife Charlotte K. Franklyn were registered Democrats. After his death, Franklyn's music also appeared inBugs Bunny on Broadway.