Biography
Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, Bosustow was an influential animator who co-founded United Productions of America (UPA) Studios. Bosustow started working in animation as an assistant to Ub Iwerks in the early 1930’s. The next year found him working as an in-betweener on Walter Lantz’s <i> Oswald the Lucky Rabbit</i>. In 1934 he began working at Walt Disney Studios as an animator and writer. He stayed with the studio for seven years until the animators’ strike in 1941. While there, he worked on Mickey Mouse cartoons and feature films such as <i> Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i> (1937) and <i> Bambi</i> (1942. ) He found a job working at Hughes Aircraft Company in the illustration department. Bosustow merged his talent with other former Disney artists, Zachary Schwartz and David Hilberman, when he convinced his bosses to allow him to produce a short safety film. The partnership produced other safety videos that led to the formation of their own company: Industrial Films and Poster Service. This would later become UPA studios, going through two name changes. UPA produced many wartime shorts for the Army, Navy, and Office of War Information. In 1949 the company moved to Burbank. It was here that UPA would revolutionize the industry. Columbia Pictures signed UPA to a contract in 1948 that would have the company make for theatrical cartoon shorts that were highly successful. Each cartoon featured the new animation style that utilized a minimal drawing style. The first was <i> Robin Hoodlum</i> (1948) that was nominated for an Academy Award. UPA’s characters Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing would win three Oscars for the company. In 1961, Bosustow sold his share of the company. He formed Stephen Bosustow Productions and made educational shorts and documentaries right up to the 1980’s. He won his last Academy Award in 1970 for <i> Is It Always Right to Be Right?</i>.
Family and early life
Bosustow developed an early love of drawing cartoons. He won a water color contest hosted by his grammar school. At 11, he moved to Los Angeles where he later attended Lincoln High School. After graduation, he held a variety of jobs while working as a drummer in bands around Los Angeles.
Personal style
Bosustow’s cartoons were drawn without excess and utilized a minimalist approach.
Honors and awards
Oscar: Best Short Subject, Cartoons: Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951) Oscar: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: When Magoo Flew (1954) Oscar: Best Short Subject, Cartoons for: Magoo’s Puddle Jumper (1956) Annie Award: Winsor McCay Award 1983
Filmography
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- Producer Filmography
- 1001 Arabian Nights (1959) (producer)
- Terror Faces Magoo (1959) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Lodge Brother (1959) (executive producer)
- Merry Minstrel Magoo (1959) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Homecoming (1959) (executive producer)
- Picnics Are Fun and Dino’s Serenade (1959) (executive producer)
- Bwana Magoo (1959) (executive producer)
- Spring and Saganaki (1958) (executive producer)
- Gumshoe Magoo (1958) (executive producer)
- Love Comes to Magoo (1958) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Three-Point Landing (1958) (executive producer)
- The Explosive Mr. Magoo (1958) (executive producer)
- Scoutmaster Magoo (1958) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Young Manhood (1958) (executive producer)
- Sailing and Village Band (1958) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Private War (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Moose Hunt (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Mouse Hunt (1957) (executive producer)
- Rock Hound Magoo (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo Saves the Bank (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Cruise (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Masquerade (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Glorious Fourth (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo Breaks Par (1957) (executive producer)
- Matador Magoo (1957) (executive producer)
- Magoo Goes Overboard (1957) (executive producer)
- Picnics Are Fun (1957) (executive producer)
- Trees and Jamaica Daddy (1957) (producer) … aka Ham and Hattie (USA)
- Meet Mother Magoo (1956) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Problem Child (1956) (executive producer)
- Trailblazer Magoo (1956) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Puddle Jumper (1956) (producer)
- Magoo Beats the Heat (1956) (executive producer)
- The Jaywalker (1956) (producer)
- Calling Dr. Magoo (1956) (executive producer)
- Magoo Goes West (1956) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Canine Mutiny (1956) (executive producer) … aka Canine Mutiny
- Gerald McBoing! Boing! on Planet Moo (1956) (executive producer) … aka The Boing-Boing Boy in Planet Moo (Europe: English title)
- The Rise of Duton Lang (1955) (executive producer)
- Magoo Makes News (1955) (executive producer)
- Stage Door Magoo (1955) (executive producer)
- Christopher Crumpet’s Playmate (1955) (executive producer)
- Madcap Magoo (1955) (executive producer)
- Baby Boogie (1955) (executive producer)
- Magoo Express (1955) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Check Up (1955) (executive producer)
- Destination Magoo (1954) (executive producer)
- How Now Boing Boing (1954) (executive producer) … aka How Now McBoing-Boing (USA)
- Kangaroo Courting (1954) (executive producer)
- Fudget’s Budget (1954) (executive producer)
- The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1954) (executive producer)
- Magoo Goes Skiing (1954) (executive producer)
- Ballet-Oop (1954) (executive producer)
- Spare the Child (1954) (executive producer)
- Bringing Up Mother (1954) (producer)
- When Magoo Flew (1954) (producer)
- The Tell-Tale Heart (1953/I) (producer)
- Magoo Slept Here (1953) (executive producer)
- A Unicorn in the Garden (1953) (executive producer)
- Magoo’s Masterpiece (1953) (executive producer)
- Gerald McBoing-Boing’s Symphony (1953) (executive producer)
- Christopher Crumpet (1953) (producer)
- Safety Spin (1953) (executive producer)
- The Emperor’s New Clothes (1953) (executive producer) … aka Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes (USA: complete title)
- Little Boy with a Big Horn (1953) (executive producer)
- Captains Outrageous (1952) (executive producer)
- Madeline (1952) (executive producer)
- Hotsy Footsy (1952) (executive producer)
- Pete Hothead (1952) (executive producer)
- Pink and Blue Blues (1952) (producer) … aka Pink Blue Plums
- Willie the Kid (1952) (executive producer)
- The Dog Snatcher (1952) (executive producer)
- Sloppy Jalopy (1952) (executive producer)
- The Oompahs (1952) (executive producer)
- Man Alive! (1952) (producer)
- Grizzly Golfer (1951) (executive producer)
- Wonder Gloves (1951) (executive producer)
- Fuddy Duddy Buddy (1951) (executive producer)
- Georgie and the Dragon (1951) (executive producer)
- Barefaced Flatfoot (1951) (executive producer)
- The Family Circus (1951) (executive producer)
- Rooty Toot Toot (1951) (executive producer)
- Bungled Bungalow (1950) (executive producer)
- The Popcorn Story (1950) (executive producer)
- Trouble Indemnity (1950) (producer)
- Giddyap (1950) (executive producer)
- The Miner’s Daughter (1950) (executive producer)
- Spellbound Hound (1950) (executive producer)
- Punchy de Leon (1950) (executive producer) (as Steve Bosustow)
- Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950) (executive producer)
- Ragtime Bear (1949) (executive producer) (as Steve Bosustow)
- Magic Fluke (1949) (producer)
- Robin Hoodlum (1948) (executive producer) (as Steve Bosustow)
- Hell-Bent for Election (1944) (executive producer)