Full Name:

John Foster Jr.

Occupation / Title:

, ,

Date of birth:

27/11/1886

Date of death:

16/02/1959

Birthplace:

New Jersey, U.S.A.

Biography


John Foster Jr. was born on November 27, 1886, in New Jersey.

He was a pioneer animator and director at Van Beuren Studios (originally founded as Fables Pictures). Foster is best known as a close collaborator of Paul Terry, credited with co-directing Terry’s first sound cartoon, Dinner Time (1928). He became the head of the animation department in 1929 after Terry left the studio to form his own company.

John Foster began his career in animation at Aesop’s Fables Studio along side such animators as Paul Terry, Frank Moser and Mannie Davis, among others. He continued to work on the Aesop’s Fables series at Van Beuren Studios from 1929 to 1932. The next year, he moved to Terrytoons where he worked during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s in various capacities, from being an animator to a head of the story department.

Foster died on February 16, 1959.

Family and early life


Foster was born to German immigrants John and Louisa Foster. His parents settled in Hoboken, New Jersey and had six children, of which Foster Jr. was the second oldest child.

Foster quit school after the 7th grade around 1900. Around 1910, all the six Foster siblings moved out from their parents’ house and were living together in an apartment in Hoboken. John Jr. was working in the upholstery and textile business before entering the animation industry.

In 1921, Foster married Grace Ashton, the secretary of Charlie Bowers. She occasionally did exposure sheets for the Jeff and Mutt series. They had two children together: John and Doris.

Career outline


Foster began his animating career in 1916 at Barré Studio (founded by Raoul Barré and Charlie Bowers) in Fordham, New York, which was best known for producing the Jeff and Mutt cartoons. He worked both in the story and animation departments until December 9, 1917, when he enlisted in the US Military during World War I.

He was discharged on May 10, 1919, and began working at Hearsts’ International Film Service as an animator on gag cartoons.

In 1923, Foster began working at Paul Terry’s Fables studio as both an animator and story man on the Aesop’s Fables series. Three years later, the studio’s production system was restructured so that the studio’s key animators would also be in charge of writing their own cartoons. The five key animators were Foster, Frank Moser, Jerry Shields, Mannie Davis, and Harry Bailey. Foster and Bailey often employed the help of other animators in the studio to complete their cartoons. Foster was offered Terry’s position as studio director at Van Beuren Studios, as Terry declined to sign a new contract with the studio and its parent company, RKO, due to its terms requiring him to lose his publicity and percentage of ownership of his position in Van Beuren.

When Foster assumed the role as studio director at Van Beuren, his name appeared as top billing in all of their shorts along with the director, who were often Davis and Bailey. From that point onward, Foster’s role was mostly relegated to story and music work, but occasionally did animation. Foster’s time at Van Beuren ended in 1933, when he was fired from the studio due to creative differences, and was replaced by George Stallings.

In 1934, Foster was hired at Audio Cinema, but went back to work with Terry at Terrytoons late in the same year. From 1937 to 1938, Foster was a director on multiple Terrytoons animations. In 1938, he became the head of the story department, but he also continued to animate scenes in cartoons starting around 1945 due to a massive animators layoff in September 1944.

In the late 40s, Foster was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. He retired in 1949. From there, he worked from home for Terry’s studio.

Personal style


His style is distinguishable by drawing characters with a singular tooth, characters reacting or entering a scene by spinning in place, and sliding across the floor without animating their feet. He is also known for developing the distinctive ‘rubber hose’ animation style.

Influences


Foster was influenced stylistically by the works of Bill Nolan.

References:


Judkins, Charlie. “Early NY Animator Profiles: John Foster.” Cartoon Research, 2014.

Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980.




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