Ann “Little” Rothschild
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Betty Boop, Betty Boop series, Dave Fleischer, Early Sound, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Max Fleischer, U.S.A., Actor, Voice Actor
"Ann L. Rothschild, better known as Little Ann Little, started in show business in 1925 as a part of the Greenwich Village Follies. In the early 1930s, she auditioned for the part of a new cartoon character at Fleischer Studios. Impressed by her high-..."
Bea Benaderet
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, U.S.A., Warner Bros., Actor, Voice Actor
"Born in New York City to a Turkish-Sephardic tobacconist and an Irish-American woman, Bea Benaderet made a name for herself in the first half of the twentieth century displaying her vocal and comedic talents in animation, radio, television, and film...."
Ben “Bugs” Hardaway
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Animator, Storyboard Artist, Voice Actor
"Ben Hardaway was an American storyboard artist, voice actor, animator and gagman during the Golden Age of American animation. Supplying the voice of Woody Woodpecker in many cartoon shorts, Hardaway was the man who gave "Bugs Bunny" his iconic name. "
Burt Gillett
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Rainbow Parade, Silly Symphonies, Technicolor, Ub Iwerks, Van Beuren Corporation, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Walter Lantz Productions, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director
"Burt Gillett was one of the first novice animators to come to Walt Disney Studios and work alongside Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He took a number of important directorial positions at the studio, directing a few of Disney's most important early animat..."
Carl W. Stalling
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, Early Sound, Looney Tunes, Music, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Composer
"Carl Stalling was the composer of Warner Bros. Cartoon classic Looney Tunes, serving as composer and arranger for over 22 years and averaging the completion of a score per week. St..."
Dave Fleischer
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Dave Fleischer, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, U.S.A., Director
"First generation American Jew who grew up in Manhattan. His father had emigrated from Austria in the late 1880’s. He and his brother, Max, distributed their Out of the Inkwell Series by themselves in mid-1921. Sometime in 1922 they signed with dist..."
Dick Beals
Filed under: people, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, Stop Motion, U.S.A., Actor, Voice Actor
"Born in Detroit, as a child Dick Beals was too small to play sports, instead opting to be a cheerleader. He attended Michigan State University, where he began to lend his voice to radio broadcasting. In the 1940s, Beal began to do voice acting profes..."
Grant Munro
Filed under: people, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, Canada, Documentary, National Film Board of Canada, Actor, Animator, Filmmaker, Producer
"Grant Munro was an animator, actor, producer and filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada, who was instrumental in many of the first developments of the film board and its associated studios. He was one of the board's earliest and longest ser..."
John Whitney, Sr.
Filed under: people, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, U.S.A., Animator, Composer, Inventor
"John Whitney attended school at Pomona College, and in 1937, took a year in Paris to study twelve-tone composition under conductor René Leibowitz. Upon returning to America, he and his brother, James, began to make experimental films, initially work..."
Kenzō Masaoka
Filed under: people, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Anime, Early Sound, Japan, Toei Animation Studio, Actor, Animator, Director, Producer, Special Effects Animator
"Masaoka was one of the first Japanese animators, who also trained and guided artists who would move on to become the next generation of animators. Masaoka is credited with creating the earliest anime using cel animation and recorded sound. He has als..."
Laverne Harding
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Color, Daffy Duck, Early Sound, Hanna-Barbera Studios, Joe Barbera, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Oswald, Speedy Gonzales, Technicolor, The Road Runner, U.S.A., Walter Lantz, Walter Lantz Productions, Warner Bros., Woody Woodpecker, Animator, Cartoonist, Comic Strip Artist
"Laverne Harding was the second female studio animator in history, and one of the first to receive onscreen credit for her work. She started out as an inker for the Walter Lantz Productions, moving on to do animation work for several of the Lantz Prod..."
Michael Maltese
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Looney Tunes, Tasmanian Devil, U.S.A., Warner Bros., Writer
"Born in New York City to Italian immigrants, Michael Maltese studied at the National Academy of Art and Design, before landing his first animation job working as a colourist for Betty Boop cartoons, in 1935. He and his wife, Florence Sass, later move..."
Milton (Milt) Kahl
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Color, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Winnie the Pooh, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director
"Milt Kahl was an renown animator and director who was a part of Disney's group of “Nine Old Men”, who created and designed many Disney characters, and whose distinctive style had a large influence within the history of the studio. "
Nikolai Khodataev
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Propaganda, Russia, Stop Motion, Animator, Artist, Writer
"Born in the village of Konstantinovsk in 1892, the son of a wealthy tsarist official, Nikolai Khodataev took painting lessons in his youth, eventually enrolling in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, at the age of twenty. In ..."
Oliver Wallace
Filed under: people, 1940s, 1950s, Early Sound, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Composer
"Born in England, Wallace studied music widely, in London as well as in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. First relocating to Canada in 1904, Oliver eventually settled in the United States, becoming a citizen 10 years later in 1914. After compl..."
Oskar Fischinger
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Animator, Filmmaker, Painter
"Oskar Fischinger was a German-American painter, filmmaker and abstract animator. He invented several tools and techniques for special effects. While personally producing a vast amount of abstract fine art and film, he also collaborated with pioneer f..."
Robert Fred “Freddie” Moore
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Walter Lantz, Walter Lantz Productions, Woody Woodpecker, Animator, Artist, Character Designer
"Freddie Moore was a highly influential animator with Walt Disney Productions in a crucial era of its development during the 30s, up until the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and the establishment of the core group of animators k..."
Sadie Friedlander Bodin
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Color, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Background Artist, Colorist, Inker, Union Activist
"Sadie Bodin was an extremely influential animator, being the first to picket an animation studio during the fight for animation workers' rights in the 1930s. Bodin was also one of the few women animators to move up into managerial positions, becoming..."
Sammy Timberg
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, Betty Boop series, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Music, Superman, U.S.A., Composer
"Sammy Timberg was the musical director for Fleischer Studios and one of the most important composers of music in the history of American cartoons. Although Timberg had a long career that began in vaudeville in the 1910s, Timberg is best known for th..."
Seymour Kneitel
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Baby Huey, Betty Boop, Betty Boop series, Bray Productions, Casper the Ghost, Color, Dave Fleischer, Herman and Katnip, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Isadore Sparber, Koko the Clown, Max Fleischer, Noveltoons, Paramount Pictures, Popeye, Sam Buchwald, Seymour Kneitel, Superman, U.S.A., Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director, Executive Producer, Studio Head
"Seymour Kneitel was an early American animator, most well known for his work with Fleischer Studios. After the studio closed, he headed its successor, Famous Studios."
Sterling Holloway
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Winnie the Pooh, Actor, Voice Actor
"Born in Cedartown, Georgia to a grocer, Sterling Holloway's acting career began in his teens, when he enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where his classmates included Spencer Tracy and Pat O'Brien. After graduation, h..."
Tommy Bond
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, Warner Bros., Actor
"Tommy Bond was an American actor who got his start in the industry as a child at the age of 5. Bond passed away in 2005 due to heart disease. "
Vladimir William (“Bill”) Tytla
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Casper the Ghost, Color, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Little Lulu, Musical, Popeye, Terrytoons Animated Shorts, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Animator, Artist
"Vladimir Tytla worked as an animator for several studios, including his own. His happiest times, and best work, were done at Disney Studios where he felt a certain atmosphere of artistry and care for the animated product, which fed his deep interest ..."
Ward Walrath Kimball
Filed under: people, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, Color, Musical, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Animator, Artist, Character Designer
"Ward Kimball was a prolific animator for Walt Disney, part of the earliest team of core animators known as "Disney's Nine Old Men." While extremely influential, his importance in the early days of Disney has meant that biographers have encountered se..."