The son of German Jewish immigrants, he was raised in NYC with his brother, then enlisted and served in the US Navy where he fought as a Golden Gloves boxer.
Selzer was said to be proud of his position as producer of the Looney Tunes series because of the joy the team's creations brought to so many, however he is also known for feuds with the staff when it came to their creative decisions.
[3] The argument reached its crux when Freleng reportedly placed his drawing pencil on Selzer's desk, angrily telling him that if he knew so much about animation, he should do the work himself instead.
[4]He also loudly (and indelicately) declared that there was nothing funny about a skunk who spoke French, but proudly accepted the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1949 – for For Scent-imental Reasons, a Pepé Le Pew cartoon while giving credit where due.
[5] Selzer changed his mind and allowed further cartoons with the Tasmanian Devil, only upon discovering from Jack Warner that he was in fact a massive hit with audiences.
Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese created Bully for Bugs in direct response to Selzer's declaration that there was nothing funny about bullfighting.
[6] Selzer was also known to be one of the first men in animation to bring female artists on board and not relegate them to secretarial roles, rather he encouraged their participation in the creative process and valued their feedback.