Classic Disney people
Some of those who were a part of the older Disney back when Walt was around, as opposed to all the stuff nowadays.
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31 people
- Producer
- Actor
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Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Flora Disney (née Call) and Elias Disney, a Canadian-born farmer and businessperson. He had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Walt moved with his parents to Kansas City at age seven, where he spent the majority of his childhood. At age 16, during World War I, he faked his age to join the American Red Cross. He soon returned home, where he won a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute. There, he met a fellow animator, Ub Iwerks. The two soon set up their own company. In the early 1920s, they made a series of animated shorts for the Newman theater chain, entitled "Newman's Laugh-O-Grams". Their company soon went bankrupt, however.
The two then went to Hollywood in 1923. They started work on a new series, about a live-action little girl who journeys to a world of animated characters. Entitled the "Alice Comedies", they were distributed by M.J. Winkler (Margaret). Walt was backed up financially only by Winkler and his older brother Roy O. Disney, who remained his business partner for the rest of his life. Hundreds of "Alice Comedies" were produced between 1923 and 1927, before they lost popularity.
Walt then started work on a series around a new animated character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This series was successful, but in 1928, Walt discovered that M.J. Winkler and her husband, Charles Mintz, had stolen the rights to the character away from him. They had also stolen all his animators, except for Ub Iwerks. While taking the train home, Walt started doodling on a piece of paper. The result of these doodles was a mouse named Mickey. With only Walt and Ub to animate, and Walt's wife Lillian Disney (Lilly) and Roy's wife Edna Disney to ink in the animation cells, three Mickey Mouse cartoons were quickly produced. The first two didn't sell, so Walt added synchronized sound to the last one, Steamboat Willie (1928), and it was immediately picked up. With Walt as the voice of Mickey, it premiered to great success. Many more cartoons followed. Walt was now in the big time, but he didn't stop creating new ideas.
In 1929, he created the 'Silly Symphonies', a cartoon series that didn't have a continuous character. They were another success. One of them, Flowers and Trees (1932), was the first cartoon to be produced in color and the first cartoon to win an Oscar; another, Three Little Pigs (1933), was so popular it was often billed above the feature films it accompanied. The Silly Symphonies stopped coming out in 1939, but Mickey and friends, (including Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, and plenty more), were still going strong and still very popular.
In 1934, Walt started work on another new idea: a cartoon that ran the length of a feature film. Everyone in Hollywood was calling it "Disney's Folly", but Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was anything but, winning critical raves, the adoration of the public, and one big and seven little special Oscars for Walt. Now Walt listed animated features among his ever-growing list of accomplishments. While continuing to produce cartoon shorts, he also started producing more of the animated features. Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942) were all successes; not even a flop like Fantasia (1940) and a studio animators' strike in 1941 could stop Disney now.
In the mid 1940s, he began producing "packaged features", essentially a group of shorts put together to run feature length, but by 1950 he was back with animated features that stuck to one story, with Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), and Peter Pan (1953). In 1950, he also started producing live-action films, with Treasure Island (1950). These began taking on greater importance throughout the 50s and 60s, but Walt continued to produce animated features, including Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961).
In 1955 he opened a theme park in southern California: Disneyland. It was a place where children and their parents could take rides, just explore, and meet the familiar animated characters, all in a clean, safe environment. It was another great success. Walt also became one of the first producers of films to venture into television, with his series The Magical World of Disney (1954) which he began in 1954 to promote his theme park. He also produced The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) and Zorro (1957). To top it all off, Walt came out with the lavish musical fantasy Mary Poppins (1964), which mixed live-action with animation. It is considered by many to be his magnum opus. Even after that, Walt continued to forge onward, with plans to build a new theme park and an experimental prototype city in Florida.
He did not live to see the culmination of those plans, however; in 1966, he developed lung cancer brought on by his lifelong chain-smoking. He died of a heart attack following cancer surgery on December 15, 1966 at age 65. But not even his death, it seemed, could stop him. Roy carried on plans to build the Florida theme park, and it premiered in 1971 under the name Walt Disney World. His company continues to flourish, still producing animated and live-action films and overseeing the still-growing empire started by one man: Walt Disney, who will never be forgotten.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Annette Joanne Funicello achieved teenage popularity starting in October 1955 after she debuted as a Mouseketeer. Born on October 22, 1942 in Utica, New York, the family had moved to California when she was still young. Walt Disney himself saw her performing the lead role in "Swan Lake" at her ballet school's year-end recital in Burbank and decided to have her audition along with two hundred other children. Annette became the last Mouseketeer of the twenty-four that was picked. By the run-through in 1958 of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) in which she appeared in her own multi-segmented series entitled "Annette", she had become the most popular Mousketeer of them all and the only one kept under contract by Walt Disney after he canceled the show. Her popularity was such that by the late 1950s, she was simply known as "Annette" -- America's sweetheart and the first "crush" for many a teenage baby boomer. Whenever anyone spoke of Annette, no last name was ever needed as everyone knew who you were talking about.
The popular teenager became synonymous with wholesome entertainment and was borrowed by Danny Thomas in 1959 to play Gina, a foreign exchange student, on The Danny Thomas Show (1953) (aka "The Danny Thomas Show") and also that same year had a recurring role on the Disney television series Zorro (1957). She made her well as other Disney film vehicles for several years, including The Shaggy Dog (1959), Babes in Toyland (1961) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965). During this time, the modest young singer had a couple of hit singles on the "Hot 100" charts, notably, "Tall Paul", and as a result, traveled with Dick Clark's caravan on singing tours around the country. At one point, she and teen idol Paul Anka became an item and he wrote both "Puppy Love" and "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" with her in mind. Their busy careers led to them parting ways.
During the early 1960s, American International Films wanted to use her in a fun-on-the-beach movie. They presented the idea to "Mr. Disney", as Annette always called him and with whom she was still under contract. To everyone's surprise, he gave his consent, with the only condition being that she make sure her navel was completely covered by a one piece bathing suit. The first movie, aptly titled Beach Party (1963) starred Robert Cummings and Dorothy Malone as the older generation who explore the younger set represented by Annette (as "Dee Dee") and her love interest Frankie Avalon (as "Frankie"). The "teenage" couple (actually she was 20 and he 23) proved so popular in this that they were whisked into a number of sand-and-surf romps (Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)) that showcased the actors engaging in harmless fun while singing and dancing in the sand, and falling into silly slapstick.
After the surfing craze died out in 1965, Annette married Jack Gilardi, Paul Anka's agent, and became the mother of his three children -- Gina, Jack Jr. and Jason. While appearing in a few other movies that did nothing to further her career, including Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967) and Head (1968), she appeared as a guest on shows and, most famously, became the spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter in a host of commercials. But she phased out her career in favor of family.
She and Gilardi divorced in 1983. Three years later, she married Glen Holt, a harness racing horse breeder/trainer. Within a year into her second marriage, Annette was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She hid her condition for five years before making a formal announcement (in 1992) for fear that her uncontrollable movements might be characterized as drunkenness. She became the most famous spokesperson for the disease. Annette's life was filmed as a television movie with A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995) co-starring her good friend, Shelley Fabares. Receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, Annette was eventually wheelchair-ridden and went into complete seclusion.
Following a tragic March 2011 incident in which their Los Angeles house burnt to the ground and both Annette and husband Glen were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, the couple moved to Bakersfield, California. A little more than a year later, and over 25 years after she was diagnosed with this long and painful illness, Annette passed away on April 8, 2013 from complications at age 70. To the present, her foundation continues to raise money to help find cures for this and other debilitating disorders, including Lou Gehrig's disease.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Roy Edward Disney began working for the Walt Disney Company as an assistant film editor on the True-Life Adventure film in 1954. In 1967, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the company. In 1984, he returned to the company as vice chairman of the board, and head of the animation department. On October 16, 1998, in a surprise presentation made at the newly unveiled Disney Legends Plaza at the company's headquarters, Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner presented him with the prestigious Disney Legends Award.- Animation Department
- Director
- Visual Effects
Ub Iwerks worked as a commercial artist in Kansas City in 1919 when he met Walt Disney who was in the same profession. When Disney decided to form an animation company, Ub Iwerks was the first employee he had due to his skill at fast drawing as well as being a personal friend.
When Charles Mintz raided Disney's animation studio and stole the rights to their character Oswald the Rabbit, Ub was the only associate to remain with Disney. He served as the principal animator for the first Mickey Mouse shorts and Silly Symphonies. Iwerks was so prominent in the production of these shorts that it was speculated that Ub was the dominant force behind the success of Disney Productions. The combination of Iwerks' rising ambitions, occasional differences with Walt and a tempting deal with Pat Powers to finance his own studio prompted him to break away in 1930. His studio was never a tenth of the artistic or financial success that Disney was. He simply did not have the creative talents of his partner and his characters, Flip the Frog and Willy Whopper were rather dull failures. His studio was closed in 1936 when Powers withdrew his support. He worked for Columbia starting in 1938 and worked for two years until he decided to return to Disney. The two men never commented on their renewed relationship but the reunion was mutually beneficial. Iwerks was able to abandon animation and concentrate on technical development which helped create many of the special effects that the Disney company excelled in for decades, especially concerning the live action animation combination sequences in Song of the South (1946) and Mary Poppins (1964).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Actor
Milt Kahl was a veteran animator from San Francisco. He became one of "Disney's Nine Old Men", a board of supervising animators who headed the production staff of the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977.
In 1909, Kahl was born in San Francisco. His parents were the saloon bartender Erwin Kahl and his wife Grace. Kahl was one of several young animators hired by the Disney studio in the mid-1930s. He worked on the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), animating various forest animals. He is also thought to have worked in scenes involving the film's unnamed prince.
Kahl was noticed by the studio's executives while working in the subsequent film "Pinocchio" (1940). Kahl insisted that the eponymous sentient puppet should primarily look as a "cute little boy", and not as a real puppet. Kahl was allowed to design the film's version of Pinocchio, as a boy with a Tyrolean hat and Mickey Mouse-type gloves on his hands. Walt Disney embraced Kahl's vision and urged the writers to evolve Pinocchio into a more innocent figure that would match Kahl's design. In the film itself, Kahl animated several scenes involving Pinocchio himself, Jiminy Cricket, and Gepetto.
Kahl served as a supervising animator in "Bambi" (1942), working on scenes involving Bambi and Thumper. In "Saludos Amigos", Kahl animated a sequence which depicted Donald Duck riding a llama. Kahl was one of the animators in two segments of "Make Mine Music" (1946): "The Martins and the Coys" and "All the Cats Join In". Kahl directed the Tar Baby sequence in "Song of the South" (1946), a film adaptation of the short story "Tar-Baby" (1881) which featured a doll made of tar and turpentine. Kahl worked on the Bongo segment of the anthology film "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947). He was responsible for animating both the female lead Lulubelle and the villain Lumpjaw.
Kahl was one of the directing animators in the anthology film "Melody Time" (1948). He was responsible for the scenes depicting Johnny Appleseed, Johnny's guardian angel, Pecos Bill, Widowmaker (Pecos' horse), and Slue Foot Sue (Pecos' love interest). Kahl worked as a directing animator in both segments of the anthology film "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949). He worked on animating characters from both "The Wind in the Willows" (1908) by Kenneth Grahame and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) by Washington Irving.
In "Cinderella" (1950), Kahl animated scenes involving the Fairy Godmother, the Prince Charming, the King, and the Grand Duke. In "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), Kahl was responsible for scenes involving Alice herself, the White Rabbit, and the Dodo. In "Peter Pan" (1953), Kahl animated scenes involving Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, John Darling, Michael Darling, Mr. Darling, Mrs. Darling, and their dog Nana. In "Lady and the Trump" (1955), Kahl worked on scenes involving Lady, the Tramp, and the supporting character Trusty.
In "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), Kahl animated the co-protagonist Prince Philip, and the supporting characters King Hubert and King Stefan. In "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961), Kahl worked on scenes involving the main characters Roger, Anita, Pongo, and Perdita. Kahl worked as both a directing animator and a character designer for the Arthurian film "The Sword in the Stone" (1963). Among several other characters, in this film, Kahl worked on scenes involving the witch Madame Mim.
In "The Jungle Book" (1967), Kahl worked on scenes involving most of the film's main characters, including Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Khan, King Louie, and, Kaa. In "The Aristocats" (1970), Kahl worked on scenes involving Thomas O'Malley, Duchess, Madame Bonfamille, and Edgar. In "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971), Kahl animated King Leonidas. In "Robin Hood" *(1973), Kahl worked on nearly every major character in the cast, including Robin Hood himself and Maid Marian.
In "The Rescuers" (1977), Kahl worked primarily on scenes involving the villain Madame Medusa and the orphan girl Penny. It was the last time Kahl was credited as a directing animator. Kahl went into semi-retirement in the late 1970s, though he is thought to have done uncredited work as a character designer in the early 1980s. Kahl was brought out of retirement during the production phase of "The Black Cauldron" (1985). The Disney studio wanted him to provide new character designs for Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur Fflam.
In April 1987, Kahl died due to pneumonia. He was 78-years-old at the time of his death, and he had survived several of the other members of the Nine Old Men. In 2009, the centenary of his birth was celebrated with a tribute entitled "Milt Kahl: The Animation Michelangelo".- Animation Department
- Actor
- Art Department
Oliver Martin "Ollie" Johnston was an American animator from Palo Alto, California. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, a group of senior animators which supervised production at the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. By the time of his death in 2008, Johnston was the last surviving member of the group. Johnston co-wrote the reference book "Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life" (1981), where he explained the twelve basic principles of animation. He helped to both preserve and popularize the knowledge of the techniques that were developed at the Disney studio over several decades.
In 1912, Johnston was born in Palo Alto, California. His father was Oliver Johnston, a professor at Stanford University. The younger Johnston attended Palo Alto High School. He received his college education at Stanford University, where he worked on the campus humor magazine "Stanford Chaparral". He befriended a co-worker at the magazine, the aspiring animator Frank Thomas (1912-2004). The two remained close friends until Thomas' death in the early 2000s.
In his senior year at college, Johnston transferred to the Chouinard Art Institute (1921-1970), a professional art school located in Los Angeles. Johnston was hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios c. 1934. He served as an uncredited inbetweener in several Mickey Mouse short films, and as an assistant animator in the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937).
After being promoted to a regular animator, Johnston's first major assignment was to animate the sentient puppet Pinocchio in the feature film "Pinocchio" (1940). Johnston animated the Centaurettes (female centaurs) and the Cupids in the "Pastoral Symphony" segment of "Fantasia" (1940).Johnston animated the key scene of the death of Bambi's mother in "Bambi" (1942). He animated "The Flying Gauchito" segment of "The Three Caballeros" (1944). He animated both the "Peter and the Wolf" and the "Casey at the Bat" segments of "Make Mine Music" (1946). Johnston animated Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear in "Song of the South" (1946). He animated Jiminy Cricket in "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947). He animated both Johnny Appleseed and his guardian angel in "Melody Time" (1948).
Johnston served as a directing animator in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949). He also animated most of the film's major characters, including J.Thaddeus Toad, Ichabod Crane, Katrina Von Tassel, and Brom Bones. Johnston again served as a directing animator in "Cinderella" (1950). He was also the supervising animator for Cinderella's bratty stepsisters, Drizella Tremaine and Anastasia Tremaine. Johnston was tasked with animating Alice and the King of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951). He animated the inept pirate Mr. Smee in "Peter Pan" (1953), with the character depicted as Captain Hook's first mate and personal assistant. Johnston animated the sentient dogs Lady, Jock and Trusty in "Lady and the Tramp". Johnston animated the heroic fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).
Jonston served as the directing animator for the sentient dog Perdita "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961). He animated the wizard Merlin, his student Wart/Arthur, and the wizard's familiar Archimedes in "The Sword in the Stone" (1963). Johnston animated the penguins in "Mary Poppins" (1964). He served as the directing animator for Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, and Mowgli's unnamed love interest in "The Jungle Book" (1967).
Johnston served as the directing animator for most of the major characters in "The Aristocats" (1970), including Duchess, Thomas O' Malley, and the kittens Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. He also served as a directing animating for most of the major characters in "Robin Hood" (1973), including Prince John, Sir Hiss, Maid Marian, and Lady Cluck. Johnston animated Winnie the Pooh and Piglet in "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977). Johnston served as the directing animator for the co-protagonists Bernard and Bianca, and for the orphan girl Penny in "The Rescuers" (1977).
Johnston served as the supervising animator for the younger versions of the co-protagonists Tod and Copper in "The Fox and the Hound" (1981). This was his last involvement in the production of a Disney feature film. Following his retirement from Disney, Johnston started writing non-fiction about animation and its techniques. He served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute during the 1980s and the 1990s. In November 2005, Johnston received the prestigious National Medal of Arts by the then President of the United States George Walker Bush (1946-, term 2001-2009).
In April 2008, Johnston died of natural causes. He was 95-years-old at the time of his death, and he had survived many of his colleagues at Disney. Theodore Thomas featured biographical information on Johnston in the documentary films "Frank and Ollie"(1995) and "Growing up with Nine Old Men" (2012). Johnston is still fondly recalled by fans of traditional animation.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Producer
Kevin Corcoran was born on 10 June 1949 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was an assistant director and actor, known for Old Yeller (1957), Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Pollyanna (1960). He was married to Laura Soltwedel. He died on 6 October 2015 in Burbank, California, USA.- Animation Department
- Writer
- Actor
Frank Thomas was born on 5 September 1912 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Iron Giant (1999), The Incredibles (2004) and The Aristocats (1970). He was married to Jeanette A. Thomas. He died on 8 September 2004 in La Cañada Flintridge, California, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Richard Morton Sherman was born in the spring of 1928 in New York City to Rosa and Al Sherman. Together with his older brother, Robert B. Sherman, the Sherman brothers would follow in their songwriting father's footsteps to form one of the most prolific, lauded and long lasting songwriting partnerships of all time.
Richard was an enthusiastic and energetic child and youth, still bearing that trademark trait well into his seventies. Following seven years of frequent cross-country moves, the Shermans finally settled down in Beverly Hills, California in 1937. Throughout Richard's years at Beverly Hills High School and Bard College in upstate New York, he became fascinated with music and studied several instruments including the flute, piccolo and piano. At Bard, Richard majored in music and wrote numerous sonatas and "art songs" during his time there but it was Richard's ambition to write the "Great American Symphony" which eventually led him to write songs.
Within two years of graduating, Richard and his brother Robert began writing songs together on a challenge from their father. In 1957, Richard married Elizabeth Gluck with whom he had three children. In 1958, the Sherman brothers enjoyed their first hit with their song, "Tall Paul", sung by Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. The success of this song yielded the attention of Walt Disney, who eventually hired the Sherman brothers on as staff songwriters for Walt Disney Studios.
While at Disney, the Sherman brothers wrote what is perhaps their most well-loved song: "It's a Small World (After All)" for the New York World's Fair in 1964. Since then, "Small World" has become the most translated and performed song on earth.
In 1965, the Sherman brothers won 2 Academy Awards for Mary Poppins (1964), which includes the songs "Feed The Birds", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and the Oscar winner, "Chim Chim Cher-ee". Since Mary Poppins (1964)' motion picture premiere, the Sherman brothers have subsequently earned nine Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Awards, four Grammy Award nominations, and an incredible 23 gold and platinum albums.
Robert and Richard worked directly for Walt Disney until his death in 1966. Since leaving the company, the brother songwriting team has worked freelance on scores of motion pictures, television shows, theme park exhibits and stage musicals. Their first non-Disney assignment came with Albert R. Broccoli's motion picture production Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), which garnered the brothers their third Academy Award nomination.
In 1973, the Sherman brothers made history by becoming the only Americans, ever, to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for Tom Sawyer (1973). They also authored the screenplay for "Tom Sawyer".
In 1976, The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976), was picked to be the Royal Command Performance of the year, and the event was attended by Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. A modern musical adaptation of the classic Cinderella story, "Slipper" also features both songscore and screenplay by the Sherman brothers. That same year, the Sherman brothers received their star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" directly across from Grauman's Chinese Theater. Their numerous other Disney and Non-Disney top box office film credits include The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), The Parent Trap (1961), Charlotte's Web (1973), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), Snoopy Come Home (1972), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989).
Outside the motion picture realm, their Tony-nominated smash hit, "Over Here!" (1974) was the biggest grossing original Broadway musical of that year. The Sherman brothers have also written numerous top selling songs including "You're Sixteen", which holds the distinction of reaching Billboard's #1 spot twice; first with Johnny Burnette in 1960 and, then, with Ringo Starr, fourteen years later. Other top-ten hits include "Pineapple Princess", "Let's Get Together", and more.
In 2000, the Sherman brothers wrote the song score for Disney's blockbuster film The Tigger Movie (2000). This film marked the brother's first major motion picture for the Disney company in over 28 years.
In 2002, "Chitty" hit the London stage and received rave revues. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Stage Musical" is currently the most successful stage show ever produced at the London Palladium. In 2005, a second company will premiere on Broadway (New York City). The Sherman brothers wrote an additional six songs specifically for the new stage productions.
In 2003, four Sherman brothers' musicals ranked in the "Top 10 Favorite Children's Films of All Time" in a (British) nationwide poll reported by the BBC. The Jungle Book (1967) ranked at #7, Mary Poppins (1964) ranked at #8, The Aristocats (1970) ranked at #9 and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) topped the list at #1.
Richard Sherman resides in Beverly Hills, California with his wife, Elizabeth.- Animation Department
- Art Department
Lillian Disney was born on 15 February 1899 in Spalding, Idaho, USA. She is known for The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950), The 3rd Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Awards (1986) and Hollywood goes to a World Premiere (1964). She was married to John Louis Truyens and Walt Disney. She died on 16 December 1997 in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Diane Disney was born on 18 December 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was a writer, known for Walt Before Mickey (2015), One Hour in Wonderland (1950) and Christmas with Walt Disney (2009). She was married to Ron Miller. She died on 19 November 2013 in Napa, California, USA.
- Production Manager
- Animation Department
- Actor
Carman Maxwell was born on 27 December 1902 in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, USA. He was a production manager and actor, known for Congo Jazz (1930), Bosko's Picture Show (1933) and Cinderella (1922). He was married to Dorothy Thelma Hanson. He died on 22 September 1987 in Ojai, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills in London in 1946, she is the daughter of the great actor Sir John Mills and the well-known novelist-playwright Mary Hayley Bell. Her sister is the actress Juliet Mills. She grew up in her parents' home, an outgoing, funny child, and, because she spent so much time with her parents and their friends, very intelligent. When she went to boarding school at age nine, however, she became very shy around kids her own age. She found solace in theater productions at her school. She was noticed playing at her parent's home in 1958 by director J. Lee Thompson, who immediately cast her opposite her father in the thriller Tiger Bay (1959). Her debut performance turned heads around the world, from Germany, where she won an award at the Berlin Film Festival, to Hollywood, when Walt Disney came knocking at her door. He signed her to a five-year contract. For her first film for the studio, Pollyanna (1960), she won critical raves, box-office success, and a special Juvenile Academy Award. Her second Disney film, The Parent Trap (1961), in which she played twins, was even more popular. She continued to appear in routine Disney films like In Search of the Castaways (1962) and Summer Magic (1963), as well as films outside the studio like Whistle Down the Wind (1961), based on her mother's novel, and The Chalk Garden (1964), again co-starring with her father. Though Disney gave her a somewhat more adult role in the mystery film The Moon-Spinners (1964), she had begun to tire of her sunny, innocent Pollyanna image. After completing That Darn Cat! (1965), she left the studio for good. That Darn Cat! (1965) was still a success, as was her first post-Disney film, Columbia's The Trouble with Angels (1966). Then, she shocked her fans by appearing in the comedy The Family Way (1966) with her father. There was an even bigger surprise in store when she fell in love with the film's director, Roy Boulting, who was 33 years her senior. She lived with Boulting for five years after he divorced his wife. They married in 1971 and had a son, Crispian Mills, in 1973. By this time, he'd taken control of her career, and, as a result, she made many bad film choices that left critics and audiences cold. By 1975, her film career had pretty much tanked. She separated from Boulting that year and moved in with actor Leigh Lawson, with whom she had a son, Jason, in 1976. They split up in 1984. She appeared in three TV-movie sequels to The Parent Trap (1961) in the 1980s, and also appeared in the BBC miniseries The Flame Trees of Thika (1981) and the TV series Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987), later re-titled Saved by the Bell (1989). She hasn't done much film work in several years, preferring to concentrate on her burgeoning career in theater. Her greatest success in theater, so far, has been the role of Anna in "The King and I", which she has played in many touring stage productions throughout the 1990s.- Sharon Disney was born on 21 December 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for One Hour in Wonderland (1950). She was married to Robert Brown and William Lund. She died on 16 February 1993 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Robert B. Sherman was born just before Christmas in 1925 in New York City. Parents, Rosa & Al Sherman didn't know how they would pay the doctor and delivery costs. Fortunately, upon their arrival home from the hospital, Al discovered a large royalty check in the mail. Ironically, it was Al's song, "Save Your Sorrow", which saved the day and covered the bill. In 1928, younger brother, Richard M. Sherman, was born. Years later, brothers Robert and Richard would form one of the most prolific, lauded and long lasting songwriting partnerships of all time.
As a youth, Robert excelled in intellectual pursuits, taking up the violin and piano, painting and writing poetry. Following seven years of frequent cross-country moves, the Shermans finally settled down in Beverly Hills, California. Throughout Robert's years at Beverly Hills High School, he wrote and produced radio and stage programs for which he won much acclaim. At sixteen years old, Robert wrote a stage play, entitled "Armistice and Dedication Day", which earned thousands of dollars worth in War Bonds and garnered Sherman a special citation from the War Department.
In 1943, Robert obtained permission from his parents to join the army a year early, at only age 17. In early April, 1945, he inadvertently led half a squad of men into Dachau Concentration Camp, the first Allied troops to enter the camp after it had been evacuated by the fleeing German military only hours earlier. On April 12, 1945, the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died, Robert was shot in the knee forcing him to walk with a cane ever since.
During his recuperation in Taunton and Bournemouth, England, Robert was awarded the Purple Heart medal. While still rehabilitating, Robert first became curious about British culture, reading voraciously anything he could find on the subject. Once on his feet, Robert met and became friends with many Brits, attaining first-hand knowledge of the United Kingdom, her customs and people. His fascination with England would later prove an invaluable resource to his songwriting career; many of his most well-known works centering around Anglo-themed stories and subject matter.
Upon his return to the United States, Robert attended Bard College in upstate New York where he majored in English Literature and Painting. At Bard, Robert completed his first two novels, entitled "The Best Estate" and "Music, Candy and Painted Eggs". He graduated in the class of 1949.
Within two years, Robert and his brother Richard began writing songs together on a challenge from their father. In 1953, Robert married the love of his life, Joyce Sasner, which helped to neutralize what had become Robert's wildly bohemian lifestyle in the years following the war. In 1958, Robert founded the music publishing company, "Music World Corporation", which later enjoyed a landmark relationship with Disney's BMI publishing arm, "Wonderland Music Company". That same year, the Sherman Brothers had their first "Top Ten" hit with "Tall Paul", sung by Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello. The success of this song yielded the attention of Walt Disney, who eventually hired the Sherman Brothers on as Staff Songwriters for Walt Disney Studios.
While at Disney, the Sherman Brothers wrote what is perhaps their most well-loved song: "It's a Small World (After All)" for the New York World's Fair in 1964. Since then, "Small World" has become the most translated and performed song on earth.
In 1965, the Sherman Brothers won 2 Academy Awards for Mary Poppins (1964), which includes the songs "Feed The Birds", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and the Oscar winner, "Chim Chim Cher-ee". Since Mary Poppins (1964)'s motion picture premiere, the Sherman Brothers have subsequently earned 9 Academy Award nominations, 2 Grammy Awards, 4 Grammy Award nominations and an incredible 23 gold and platinum albums.
Robert and Richard worked directly for Walt Disney until Disney's death in 1966. Since leaving the company, the brother songwriting team has worked freelance on scores of motion pictures, television shows, theme park exhibits and stage musicals.
Their first non-Disney assignment came with Albert R. Broccoli's motion picture production Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) which garnered the brothers their third Academy Award Nomination.
In 1973, the Sherman Brothers made history by becoming the only Americans, ever, to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for Tom Sawyer (1973), for which they also authored the screenplay.
The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976), was picked to be the Royal Command Performance of the year and was attended by Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. A modern musical adaptation of the classic Cinderella story, "Slipper" also features both song-score and screenplay by the Sherman Brothers. That same year, the Sherman Brothers received their star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" directly across from the Chinese Theater.
Their numerous other Disney and Non-Disney top box office film credits include The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), The Parent Trap (1961), The Parent Trap (1998), Charlotte's Web (1973), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), Snoopy Come Home (1972), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989).
Outside of the motion picture realm, their Tony nominated smash hit, "Over Here!" (1974), was the biggest grossing original Broadway Musical of that year. The Sherman Brothers have also written numerous top selling songs including "You're Sixteen", which holds the distinction of reaching Billboard's #1 spot twice; first with Johnny Burnette in 1960 and, then, with Ringo Starr, fourteen years later. Other top-ten hits include, "Pineapple Princess", "Let's Get Together" and more.
In 2000, the Sherman Brothers wrote the song score for Disney's blockbuster film: The Tigger Movie (2000). This film marked the brothers' first major motion picture for the Disney company in over twenty eight years.
In 2002, "Chitty" hit the London stage receiving rave revues. By 2005, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Stage Musical" broke records becoming the most successful stage show ever produced at the London Palladium, boasting the longest run in that century old theatre's history. In Spring 2005, a second "Chitty" company premiered on Broadway (New York City) at the Hilton Theatre. In each subsequent year, new touring companies were formed in the UK, USA and Singapore. The Sherman Brothers wrote an additional six songs specifically for the new stage productions.
In April 2002, an exhibition of Robert's paintings was held in London, England at Thompsons' Gallery on Marylebone High Street. This marked the first public exhibition of Robert's paintings, ever, which is amazing considering Robert had been painting since 1941. The London Exhibition was widely covered by TV, radio and printed press. Robert subsequently enjoyed a succession of successful art exhibitions in the United States with the sale of many Limited Edition giclée prints of his work.
In 2002, Sherman moved from Beverly Hills to London, England, where he continues to write and paint.
In 2003, four Sherman Brothers' musicals ranked in the "Top 10 Favorite Children's Films of All Time" in a (British) nationwide poll reported by the BBC. The Jungle Book (1967) ranked at #7, Mary Poppins (1964) ranked at #8, The Aristocats (1970) ranked at #9 and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) topped the list at #1.
In June 2005, The Sherman Brothers were inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. Also, in June 2005, a tribute was paid to Robert B. Sherman at the Théâtre de Vevey in Switzerland by the Ballet Romand. "Chitty" will be commencing its full UK tour in December 2005.
The Disney/Cameron Mackintosh production of "Mary Poppins: The Stage Musical" made its world premier at the Prince Edward Theatre in December 2004 and features the Sherman Brothers classic songs. This show premiered on Broadway in 2006. In 2013, "Poppins" became the 22nd longest running musical or nonmusical show in Broadway history. Numerous touring companies have toured worldwide since 2008.
The Sherman Brothers were awarded the 2008 American National Medal of the Arts by President George W. Bush for their services to music. In 2009, a controversial documentary about the Sherman Brothers entitled, The Boys (2009) was produced by Sherman's older son, Jeffrey C. Sherman and brother Richard's son Gregory V. Sherman. In 2010 the Sherman Brothers were awarded a window on Main Street Disneyland. In 2011, the Sherman Brothers were each given honorary doctorates from their alma mater, Bard College. Sherman resided in London, England until his death on March 6, 2012.
His autobiography "Moose: Chapters From My Life" was posthumously released by AuthorHouse Publishers and was edited by Sherman's youngest son, Robert J. Sherman. The book's release happened at the same time as the major film release of Saving Mr. Banks (2013) in which Sherman and his brother are portrayed by B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman respectively.- Animation Department
- Director
- Art Department
Leslie James "Les" Clark was an American animator from Ogden, Utah. He served as one of Disney's Nine Old Men, a group of senior animators who supervised the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. Clark was skilled in timing his animation to musical scores, and in conveying emotion in the scenes which he animated. He went into retirement in the mid-1970s, and died before the end of the decade.
In 1927, Clark was hired in a temporary position at the Disney animation studio. He was initially working as a camera operator, and was then transferred to the ink and paint department. He received training from Ub Iwerks, who was the senior animator of the studio for most of the 1920s. Clark served as an inbetweener in "Steamboat Willie" (1928), the official debut for Mickey Mouse (the new protagonist for the studio's animated short films). Clark was soon after promoted to the position of a regular animator, and was tasked with working on "The Skeleton Dance" (1929). It was the first film in the "Silly Symphony" series.
Iwerks left the Disney studio in January, 1930, in order to establish his own Iwerks Studio (1930-1936). Clark became the senior animator of the "Mickey Mouse" film series. He worked under the various directors of the series, such as Burt Gillett, Wilfred Jackson, and David Hand. Clark regularly attended art classes in order to improve his art style.
In 1934, the Disney studio started working on the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). It was the first American feature film, and the most ambitious project for the studio. Clark was tasked with animating the Seven Dwarfs. His most important scene in the film depicted Snow White dancing with each of the Dwarfs.
Clark's next major assignment was the anthology film "Fantasia" (1940). He was one of the key animators for two segments of the film: "The Nutcracker Suite" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". The "Sorcerer's Apprentice" was an adaptation of the eponymous 1797 German poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which was in turn an adaptation of the Roman story "Philopseudes" ("Lover of Lies") by Lucian. Clark and his fellow animators worked with a redesigned version of Mickey Mouse, provided by Fred Moore. The new version of the character had pupils in his eyes, and had a greater range of expressions.
In the mid-1940s, Clark was promoted to the position of a directing animator in Disney's feature films. He served in this role for "Song of the South" (1946), "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947), "Melody Time" (1948), "Cinderella" (1950), "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), "Peter Pan" (1953), and "Lady and the Tramp" (1955). Clark also served as a sequence director for "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), in his last major work in a feature film.
Clark served as the director of the animated short "Paul Bunyan" (1958), which was based on American folklore about a giant lumberjack. The short was nominated for an "Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film", but lost to "Knighty Knight Bugs" by Warner Bros. Cartoons. During the 1960s, Clark primarily worked on Disney's infrequently released animated short films. He directed the educational short films "Freewayphobia or The Art of Driving the Super Highway" (1965) and "Goofy's Freeway Troubles" (1965), which both featured Goofy as their protagonist. He also directed the educational short film "Donald's Fire Survival Plan" (1966), which focused on fire safety precautions.
Clark retired in the mid-1970s, possibly due to health reasons. His "temporary" assignment for the Disney studio had lasted for over 35 years, and he was the studio's longest serving employee at the time of his retirement. In September 1979, Clark died due to cancer. He was 71-years-old at the time of his death. He was the second of the Nine Old Men to die, following John Lounsbery. In 1989, Clark was posthumously inducted into the hall of fame "Disney Legends" in 1989.- Animation Department
- Director
- Producer
Wolfgang Reitherman was a German-born American animator who was one of Disney's Nine Old Men.
He began working for Disney in 1933, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts.
Reitherman directed several Disney animated feature films including: One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), Robin Hood (1973), The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh (1977), and The Rescuers (1977).
He died in a car accident in 1985 at the age of 75. In 1989 Reitherman was posthumously named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.- Animation Department
Hal King was born on 5 May 1913 in Minnesota, USA. He is known for Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Alice in Wonderland (1951). He died on 28 September 1986 in Orange, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Scrappy, plucky-looking Kentucky-born Tommy Kirk, who was born on December 10, 1941, became synonymous with everything clean and fun that Disney Entertainment prescribed to in the late 1950s and very early 1960s. One of four sons born to a mechanic, Louie, and legal secretary, Lucy, the Kirk family, in search of better job prospects, moved from Louisville to Downey, California while Tommy was still an infant. The boy's interest in acting was ignited at the age of 13 years when he (instead of older brother Joe) was cast in a minor role in a production of Will Rogers Jr. and Bobby Driscoll in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" at the Pasadena Playhouse. Discovered by a Hollywood agent who saw him and signed him up, Tommy went on to appear in two other Pasadena theatre plays, Portrait in Black" and "Barefoot in Athens" and on TV ("Lux Video Theatre, "Frontier," "Big Town," "Gunsmoke" and "The Loretta Young Show") and film (Down Liberty Road (1956) and The Peacemaker (1956)). It was an episode of "Matinee Theatre" that brought the freshly-scrubbed All-American kid to the attention of mogul Walt Disney who quickly signed him to a long-term contract.
In 1955, the lad became a member of the The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) TV series and won a legion of young fans as the brush-cut haired, irrepressibly inquisitive young sleuth Joe Hardy in two "Hardy Boys" serials ("The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure," "The Mystery of the Ghost Farm") with Tim Considine, another young promising Disney staple, playing older brother Frank. With time Tommy became a prime juvenile Disney hero and ideal mischief maker for many of the studio's full-length comedy and drama classics, earning nationwide teen idol status for his exuberant work in Old Yeller (1957), The Shaggy Dog (1959), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), The Absent Minded Professor (1961), Babes in Toyland (1961), Bon Voyage! (1962), Moon Pilot (1962), Son of Flubber (1962) and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964).
In 1963 the bubble completely burst when the Disney factory found out 21-year-old Tommy was in a relationship with an underage boy. He was also arrested on Christmas Eve in 1964 when a party he was attending was raided and busted for marijuana use. Although charges were dropped, it was too late. Fired from his role in the John Wayne western The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) as a result, the Disney studio, out of protection, was forced to release him from his contract, but not after rehiring him one more time to complete a "Merlin Jones" movie sequel entitled The Monkey's Uncle (1965)).
Tommy found very mild restitution after signing with AIP (American International Pictures) and appearing in such popular teen-oriented flicks as Pajama Party (1964), co-starring fellow Disney cohort Annette Funicello, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). He also began appearing on the musical stage as Harold Hill in "The Music Man," Riff in "West Side Story" and as the lead in "Tovarich." He also was lent out to do a lead in the mediocre cult sci-fi Embassy Picture Village of the Giants (1965). After leaving AIP, things got progressively worse for Tommy with a lead role in Trans American Film's It's a Bikini World (1967) -- by this time, beach party films were no longer trendy. Bargain basement fare such as Unkissed Bride (1966)_ (aka Mother Goose a Go-Go), UA's Track of Thunder (1967), Catalina Caper (1967) Mars Needs Women (1968), in which he played a Martian, and Blood of Ghastly Horror (1967) (aka Psycho a Go-Go) pretty much spelled as a leading man. Practically blacklisted by an industry that deemed "outed" gay actors "box office poison," he returned to the musical theatre in his home state of Kentucky with such shows as "Anything Goes" (as Moonface Martin), "Hello, Dolly!" (as Horace Vandergelder), "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (as Marcus Lycus) and "Little Mary Sunshine" (as General Fairfax).
Following roles in the low budget 70s films Ride the Hot Wind (1973) and the unreleased My Name Is Legend (1975) as well as an isolated TV part on a 1972 episode of "The Streets of San Francisco," Tommy disappeared from the limelight. His life went into a seemingly irreversible tailspin. Depressed and angry, he sought solace in drugs and nearly died from an acute overdose at one point. For health reasons he felt the need to completely abandon his career and slowly moved himself forward as a recovering addict. On a very positive note, he was able to build a very successful carpet and upholstery cleaning company for himself ("Tommy Kirk's Carpet and Upholstery) in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. It stayed open for business for well over two decades.
After some time away, Tommy showed up again in Hollywood, glimpsed in a few dismissible low-budgeters here and there, including Streets of Death (1988), Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds (1995), Little Miss Magic (1998), Billy Frankenstein (1998), Club Dead (2000) and, his last to date, The Education of a Vampire (2001). He appeared in several documentary interviews for the DVD releases of some of his best known films and TV shows, and occasionally at film festivals and nostalgia convention/memorabilia fests. He lived in Las Vegas.- Animation Department
- Director
- Additional Crew
Eric Cleon Larson was born on September 3, 1905 in Cleveland, Utah, to Peter and Nora Larson. In 1915 his family moved to Salt Lake City, where he became interested in journalism and also secretly took drawing lessons. In 1925, he entered the University of Utah, later moving to Los Angeles to look for a job in journalism and writing, unfortunately unsuccessfully. He then decided to rekindle his ambition to become an artist, and was offered a job at Walt Disney Productions in 1933, as an `in-betweener'. Later the same year, he married Gertrude Jannes (although sadly, the couple remained childless).
Animator Hamilton Luske recognized Larson's talent and promoted him to assistant animator; Luske, who had joined the studio two years previously, later became his mentor. Further promotion followed, with Eric as animator on Walt Disney's first feature length cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937); along with future veteran animators Milt Kahl and James Algar, he animated the forest animals that followed Snow White throughout. In 1940, he was promoted to animation director for Pinocchio (1940), and in that film he created the kitten, Figaro, who became one of his favorite characters. In Fantasia (1940), he created the centaurs and the horses in the "Pastoral Symphony" segment of the musical feature.
By 1942, he had become a supervising animator for Bambi (1942) along with fellow workers Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Milt Kahl, with whom he had worked on Snow White. In Bambi, he created Friend Owl, and subsequently worked on birds for the next two assignments, creating the mad Aracuan Bird in The Three Caballeros (1944), and Sasha the Bird in Make Mine Music (1946). Larson also worked on Fun and Fancy Free, Song of the South, Melody Time, and _So Dear to My Heart (1949)_. He later became part of the Animation Board, and Walt Disney appointed him as one of his Nine Old Men, who consisted of Les Clark, Woolie Reitherman, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery and Marc Davis; all considered to be Walt's most trusted associates.
On Cinderella (1950), Eric assisted fellow directing animator Marc Davis animate Cinderella herself. He was directing animator on Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), animating the caterpillar in the former and the flight to Neverland in the latter, and also working on Peg, the canine in Lady and the Tramp (1955). For Sleeping Beauty (1959), Larson was promoted to Sequence Director with Les Clark and Woolie Reitherman, and for the classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), he became a Directing Animator, helping to create some of the puppies. Sadly, for the next three features, The Sword in the Stone (1963), Mary Poppins (1964) and _Jungle Book, The (1967)_, he was demoted to Character Animator; The Jungle Book (1967), was the final film made by Walt, who died later that same year.
After Walt's death, it became evident that the veteran animators were either dying or retiring swiftly, and Eric was placed in charge of finding and training new talent in addition to his character animating work. He trained many successful members of today's animation world, including Andreas Deja, Glen Keane, John Pomeroy, Gary Goldman, Betsy Baytos, and others. He worked as an animator on _Aristocats, The (1970)_ and on Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), moving on to animate Robin Hood (1973) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). In 1977, for the feature The Rescuers, Eric assisted veteran story men Mel Shaw and Burny Mattinson with the opening sequence titles.
By 1981, almost all of the Nine Old Men were gone; Les Clark and John Lounsbery were dead, and Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and Woolie Reitherman had retired. Eric was the only one remaining, although no longer a working animator. A new generation of artists came into being for The Fox and the Hound (1981), although Larson remained as an animation consultant for The Black Cauldron (1985), and The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Eric retired in September 1986; sadly his wife, Gertrude, had died of cancer in 1975. He retired to his home in La Canada Flintridge, near Glendale in Los Angeles, and died October 25, 1988. In 1989 he was posthumously awarded the Disney Recognition of Honor by Roy Disney, Walt's nephew.- Animation Department
- Director
- Writer
Ward Kimball joined Disney Studios in 1934 as an animator. He eventually became involved in all aspects of animation production, most notably as the designer of Jiminy Cricket for the film "Pinocchio." He was also responsible for the redesign of Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney recognized Kimball's achievements by making him one of the "Nine Old Men", Disney's semi-official group of advisors. Kimball retired from Disney in 1972, but still maintained ties with the studio. He joined other leading Disney animators in 1978 for a whistle-stop tour to promote Mickey Mouse's 50th birthday. In addition to animation, Kimball was both an avid musician and train enthusiast. In 1948 he formed the Firehouse Five Plus Two, a Dixieland jazz band composed of fellow Disney employees. He also maintained a full-sized train and tracks at his home in California, and was a past president of the Train Collectors Association. Not only did his love of trains get him the job of designing the World of Motion display at EPCOT, it also got another train collector started--Walt Disney himself. Kimball received many honors during his lifetime, and in 1989 was named a Disney Legend.- Animation Department
- Director
- Art Department
John Lounsbery was an American animator and animation director from Cincinnati, Ohio. He eventually became one of "Disney's Nine Old Men", a group of senior animators who were in charge of the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. Lounsbery died in 1976, with his death leading to the dissolution of the group. He was the first of the Nine to die, and also had the shortest lifespan among them.
Lounsbery was born in Ohio, but spend much of his childhood in Colorado. He attended the East Denver High School, then received art lessons at the Art Institute of Denver. He continued his art education in Los Angeles, taking lessons at the ArtCenter College of Design. The College was a private art school established in 1930, and initially only trained visual artists and designers. The curriculum later expanded to include lessons in photography and technical illustrations.
One of Lounsbery's college instructors arranged a job interview for him, as a prospective animator for the Disney studios. Lounsbery was hired in early July 1935. He was put to work as an uncredited assistant animator for the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937).
Lounsbery quickly became one of Disney's "star animators", because he was considered unusually skilled as a draftsman. His first major assignment was animating two of the villains in "Pinocchio" (1940), the conman duo of J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon. He served as one of the main animators in a ballet-themed segment of "Fantasia" (1940), the "Dance of the Hours". He was tasked with animating one of the main dancers of the segment, Ben Ali Gator.
Lounsbery made his debut as a directing animator in the feature film "Song of the South" (1946), an adaptation of the "Uncle Remus" stories of Joel Chandler Harris. His subsequent credits as a directing animator included the feature films "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947)., "Melody Time" (1948), "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949), "Cinderella"" (1950), "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), "Peter Pan" (1953), "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961), "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), "The Jungle Book" (1967), "The Aristocats" (1970), and "Robin Hood" (1973). He was often tasked with animating key supporting characters of these films. His most memorable work as an animator included animating the allied kings Huber and Stefan in "Sleeping Beauty", the villainous tiger Shere Khah in "The Jungle Book", and the heroic fox Robin Hood in "Robin Hood".
Lounsbery co-directed the anthology feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977), which was released a year following his death. It was his debut as a director. In the film, he was also the main animator for the depressed donkey Eeyore. At the time of his death in 1976, Lounsbery was working in the upcoming feature film "The Rescuers" (1977). He was one of the three credited directors of the film, though he did live not long enough to complete it.
On February 13, 1976, Lounsbery suffered a sudden heart attack while working. He died shortly after, at the age of 64. He died about a month before his 65th birthday. At the time, most of the other "Nine Old Men" were considering retirement and a new generation of animators were in training. Lounsbery was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Lounsbery was posthumously awarded with a "Winsor McCay Award" in 1986. and was named a "Disney Legend" in 1989. His work is still highly regarded by fans of classic animation, though he is possibly the least famous among "Disney's Nine Old Men". Relatively little is known about Lounsbery's personal life.- Animation Department
- Writer
- Actor
Marc Davis was an American animator from Bakersfield, California. He was a member of Disney's Nine Old Men, a group of senior animators who supervised the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. Davis was nicknamed as "Disney's Ladies' Man", because he was often asked to design and/or animate the primary female characters in Disney's feature films. His most significant characters were Snow White in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), Bambi, Faline, and Flower in "Bambi" (1942), Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear in "Song of the South" (1946), Bongo in "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947), Mr. Toad and the villainous weasels in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949), Cinderella in "Cinderella" (1950), Alice in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), Tinker Bell and Mrs. Darling in "Peter Pan" (1953), Aurora, Maleficent, and Diablo the Raven in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), and Cruella De Vil and Anita in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961).
Davis took up drawing as a hobby during his childhood. He noted that his drawings increased his popularity with other kids, and that even the bullies stopped bothering him. Deciding to become a professional artist, Davis received training at the Kansas City Art Institute, the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. He habitually sketched zoo animals for practice, and studied animal anatomy to improve the accuracy of his depictions.
In 1935, Davis was one of several young animators hired by Disney during the production phase of the studio's first animated feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). He soon demonstrated a talent for developing "three-dimensional characters and storytelling", which set him apart from other animators. Which is why he was assigned to draw "difficult-to-draw" human characters, rather than caricatures. He always aimed "to put personality into the characters", in order to make them appealing to the film's audience. He typically used reference images for his characters, and at times emulated the gestures and expressions of the characters' voice actors. One of his most challenging assignments was animating the silent character of Tinker Bell. He had to express the character's sass and personality through pantomime and facial expression alone.
In 1956, Davis married the costume designer Alice Estes (1929-2022). They had previously been working together in developing suitable clothing for the character of Aurora, and their professional relationship preceded their romantic relationship. Soon after their wedding, Disney introduced her to the studio head Walt Disney. Walt eventually hired Alice to design costumes for Disney's live-action productions.
In the early 1960s, Davis left Disney's animation studio. He transferred to WED Enterprises (later renamed to Walt Disney Imagineering), the subsidiary company responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions. Davis helped in the design and creation of several attractions, including "The Jungle Cruise" (1955), "Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland" (1960), "The Enchanted Tiki Room" (1963), "Ford's Magic Skyway" (1964), "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" (1964), "The Carousel of Progress" (1964), "It's a Small World" (1964), "Pirates of the Caribbean" (1967), "The Haunted Mansion" (1969), "The Country Bear Jamboree" (1971), and "America Sings" (1974).
Davis worked in the early 1970s in developing an attraction called "Western River Expedition", which would serve as a historical recreation of the Western expansion of the United States. This attraction was never built, but elements of Davis' designs were later used in developing the attractions called "Tom Sawyer Island", "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad", "Splash Mountain", "Thunder Mesa", "Phantom Manor", and "Expedition Everest".
Davis retired in 1978, at the age of 65. In 1982, Davis won a Winsor McCay Award for his contributions to animation. In 1985, Davis won the Golden Award of the organization Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists. In 1989, he was inducted to the hall of fame Disney Legends. In 1993, Davis received an award by the Disneyana Fan Club. Davis died in January 2000, at the age of 86. Shortly following his death, the Marc Fraser Davis Scholarship Fund was formally established at the California Institute of the Arts.
Davis' career and artwork were the subject of the biographical book "Marc Davis: Walt Disney's Renaissance Man" (2014) by Disney Editions. The book was followed by the sequel "Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Parks" (2020), which focused on his theme park designs. Though long gone, Davis remains popular among fans of traditional animation.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Popular American character actor of amusing appearance and voice whose long career led from dozens of highly enjoyable onscreen performances to world-wide familiarity as the voice of numerous Walt Disney animated films. Born in the American Deep South to grocer Sterling P. Holloway Sr. and Rebecca Boothby Holloway, he had a younger brother, Boothby. Holloway spent his early years as an actor playing comic juveniles on the stage. His bushy reddish-blond hair and trademark near-falsetto voice made him a natural for sound pictures, and he acted in scores of talkies, although he had made his picture debut in silents. His physical image and voice relegated him almost exclusively to comic roles, but in 1945, director Lewis Milestone cast him more or less against type in the classic war film A Walk in the Sun (1945), where Holloway's portrayal of a reluctant soldier was quite notable. He played frequently on television, becoming familiar to baby-boomers in a recurring role as Uncle Oscar on Adventures of Superman (1952), and later in television series of his own. His later work as the voice of numerous characters in Disney cartoons brought him new audiences and many fans, especially for his voicing of beloved Winnie the Pooh. He died in 1992.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
He began imitating birds and various barnyard animals as a child growing up in Watonga, Oklahoma. In his teens his family moved to Southern California where he got a promotional job with a dairy company and in between jobs performed animal imitations at various Los Angeles schools. In 1934 hearing that Walt Disney was looking for bird and animal recordings for his cartoons Clarence went to the studios and went through his repertoire of voices during which Walt walked in and said "That fellow sounds like a duck, lets keep him in mind if we ever create a duck character"
It wasn't long after that , that Donald Duck made his debut in "The Wise Little Hen" with Clarence providing his voice. When the film was finished and shown Donald stood out so prominently that he was put into the Mickey Mouse film "Orphan's Benefit" and soon after was getting star billing in his own films and has been in more than Mickey.
With the help of language coaches Clarence has quacked in Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Dutch, Portugese and Japanese.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
A bandleader of the 1940s and a radio, film, and TV actor who celebrated his Southern roots. He was a principal of long standing among the comedian Jack Benny's radio retinue, parlaying his popularity into his own radio series, in which his wife, Alice Faye, co-starred.
Linton, Indiana birthplace, but he spent much of his early years in Nashville, Tennessee, which helped explain his little Southern accent and, later on, the self-deprecating remarks of his radio persona. Harris started his musical career in San Francisco as a drummer. In the later 1920s, he formed an orchestra with Carol Lofner and began a lengthy residency at the St. Francis Hotel. When the collaboration came to an end in 1932, Harris formed and headed his own band, which was centered in Los Angeles. He wed actress Marcia Ralston in Sydney, Australia, on September 2, 1927. Phil Harris, Jr., the couple's adopted son, was born in 1935. Their divorce was finalized in September 1940.
Harris joined The Jell-O Show Starring Jack Benny (later renamed The Jack Benny Program) in 1936 as musical director. He sang, led his band, and, when his penchant for witty one-liners became apparent, joined the Benny ensemble as Phil Harris, a brash, hard-drinking, hipster-talking Southerner whose good nature overcame his ego. His jive-talk nicknames for the other people in Benny's orbit were his signature. Benny identified as "Jackson," but Harris's typical response was a jovial "Hiya, Jackson!" Strangely enough, given his true Hoosier origins, his signature song was "That's What I Like About the South."
In 1941, Harris wed Alice Faye, a second marriage for both (Faye had previously been briefly wed to singer-actor Tony Martin). Before Harris passed away, Faye and Harris were married for 54 years. During World War II, Harris and his band joined the United States Navy in 1942 and remained there until the end of the conflict. Faye had virtually given up on her cinematic career by 1946. After studio head Darryl F. Zanuck allegedly cut her scenes from Fallen Angel (1945) to boost his protégé Linda Darnell, she reportedly drove off the 20th Century Fox lot.
A radio show called The Fitch Bandwagon extended an invitation to Harris and Faye to join. Big bands, including Harris's own, used the event as a platform at first, but once Harris and Faye gained notoriety, it evolved into something very different. The couple's wish to raise their kids in Southern California without traveling about at the same time as Bandwagon gave rise to the well-known situation comedy, The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. Elliott Lewis played layabout guitarist Frank Remley in the series, and Great Gildersleeve co-star Walter Tetley played annoying grocery boy Julius. Harris played the conceited, illiterate bandleader husband, and Faye played his acidic but devoted wife, helped by actresses playing their two young daughters. For eight years, the Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show was broadcast on NBC until radio succumbed to television.
Following the concert, Harris brought his music career back to life. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he had multiple guest appearances on television shows, such as Hollywood Palace, The Dean Martin Show, Kraft Music Hall, and other musical variety shows. He performed as a voice actor and vocalist for animated movies. He played Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book, Robin Hood as Little John, and The Aristocats as Thomas O'Malley.
In the years after his radio peak, The Jungle Book was his biggest hit. In addition to providing the character's voice, Harris performed "The Bare Necessities," one of the movie's biggest hits, which brought Harris's former status as a well-known radio star to the attention of a new generation of young admirers. Harris also performs a stunning scat-singing rendition of "I Wanna Be Like You" with Louis Prima. Harris made a brief comeback to Disney in 1989, this time to voice Baloo for the animated series TaleSpin, which was in development at the time. Regretfully, by that point he had become too old to pull off the voice. Actor Ed Gilbert later took his position. in the 1991 film Rock-A-Doodle directed by Don Bluth, in which he played the friendly, laid back farm dog Patou.
Some of Harris's best-known songs were from the early 1950s novelty album "The Thing." In the song, a foolish man discovers a box that holds a strange secret, and he tries to get rid of it. Harris also led a band that frequently performed in Las Vegas in the 1970s and early 1980s, frequently sharing bills with swing era icon Harry James.
Bing Crosby was another close friend and acquaintance of Harris's; in fact, upon Crosby's passing, Harris filled in for his friend, providing color commentary for the annual Bing Crosby Pro-Am Golf Tournament telecast. The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show's previous program opened with Harris recounting his victory in a previous competition.
Harris was a longtime resident and benefactor of Palm Springs, California, where Crosby also made his home. Harris was also a benefactor of his birthplace of Linton, Indiana, establishing scholarships in his honor for promising high school students, performing at the high school, and hosting a celebrity golf tournament in his honor every year. In due course, Harris and Faye donated most of their show business memorabilia and papers to Linton's public library.
Phil Harris died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 91, in Palm Springs after a heart attack. Three years later, Alice Faye passed away from stomach cancer. Harris was inducted into the Indiana Hall of Fame two years prior to his passing. In Riverside County, California, at Forest Lawn-Cathedral City, Harris and Faye are buried. While Alice Harris Regan was last known to be residing in New Orleans, Phyllis Harris was last known to be residing in St. Louis, where she had been with her mother by her father's bedside when he passed away.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Songwriter ("A Boy Is a Curious Thing"), auhor, director, producer and actor, educated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Between 1928 and 1938 he was a Broadway stage actor and appeared in several films, and from 1938 to 1942 he was a writer for radio, films and stage productions, and later television. Joining ASCAP in 1954, his chief musical collaborators included William Lava, Walter Schumann, Paul Smith, Gill George, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, and Oliver Wallace. His other popular-song compositions include "I'll Remember", "I Wonder", "Following the Leader", "Stingaree", "Now to Sleep", "Together Time", "Break of Day", and "We'll Smoke the Blighter Out".- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
Bill Peet was born on 29 January 1915 in Grandview, Indiana, USA. He was a writer, known for Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Dumbo (1941). He was married to Margaret Brunst. He died on 11 May 2002 in Studio City, California, USA.- Producer
- Director
- Animation Department
Hugh Harman was one of the pioneers of animation. While not a great animator, (compared to co-worker, Rudolf Ising) he was present during the early days. He began his work with Walt Disney in 1922, working on Disney's early Laugh-o-Gram toons. When that company went bankrupt, Harman and partner Rudolf Ising tried to start a new series based on the Arabian Nights, but were unable to obtain funding. Disney called them back when he began work for Charles Mintz, producing the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. After a dispute over pricing, Mintz forced out Disney and kept Harman and Ising on for another year, when they in turn were forced out (and replaced by a young Walter Lantz). Harman, Ising, and a few other ex-Disney animators put together a pilot short, "Bosko the Talkink Kid", which was used by producer Leon Schlesinger to obtain a contract with Warner Brothers' studios to produce animated cartoons. Harman and Ising started the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, and produced them for several years. After another argument over money (this time with Schlesinger), Harman and Ising left Warner Brothers for MGM in 1933. They produced quite a few "Happy Harmonies" for MGM until yet again they left over another financial arrangement. After MGM, Harman & Ising formed their own studio, but was not successful. MGM hired them back, but by this time their faux-Disney style of animation was out of fashion, and they found themselves eclipsed by the works of William Hanna & Joseph Barbera (whom they had hired) & Fred Tex Avery. In the 40s and 50s, both men did some work for Walter Lantz Studios.- Producer
- Director
- Animation Department
While animation was still in its infancy during the early twenties, Walt Disney managed to recruit the brightest and best talent nationwide and imported it into Hollywood. Two of these pioneers artists were close friends Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising. They had first tasted success by helping to develop Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a character, rather akin to Felix the Cat with extended ears). Eventually, in 1929, the duo parted company with Disney to create Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (who was based on minstrel characters and looked like Felix in a derby hat), developed a pilot for the first-ever talkie cartoon and sold the idea to Leon Schlesinger. Schlesinger, in turn, got Warner Brothers to sign a contract to produce cartoons and Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930) effectively inaugurated the first of the celebrated Looney Tunes. The Bosko animations invariably ended with "That's all, folks", which famously became Porky Pig's stuttered trademark sign-off in later years. At Warners, Harman concentrated on the Looney Tunes output, while Ising, who was more comfortable writing and producing (rather than drawing illustrations), worked on the Merry Melodies cartoons which featured a more prominent musical content. The first in this series was Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931). In 1933, Harman & Ising moved to MGM after financial disagreements with Schlesinger. They created the sleepy Barney Bear, a proto-Yogi (reputedly based on Ising himself). They also took the Bosko character with them to become part of MGM's Technicolor Happy Harmonies -- along with a new creation -- the mouse Little Cheeser. Once gain, disputes over money caused the duo to move on. By 1940, Harman and Ising went their separate ways, Ising soon winning an Oscar for The Milky Way (1940), a cartoon featuring three kittens in space. During World War II, Ising produced training films as head of the animation department of the Army Air Forces movie unit. Thereafter, he forsook animation to work in advertising, before calling it quits in the early 70's.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
A former college athlete at the University of Texas, Fess studied drama in the early fifties and debuted in Springfield Rifle (1952). He made only a handful of movies until he was signed by Walt Disney to star in the "Davy Crockett" series. When Walt was looking for an actor to play the part of Davy, he screened the sci-fi movie Them! (1954) with James Arness. When he saw Fess in a scene, he chose him over Arness and Fess became an instant celebrity when "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" debuted in 1955. His appeal with children was enormous with the coon-skinned hat, the #1 hit song "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett", The Davy Crockett Bubble Gum Cards and Comic Books. But the craze ended almost as fast as it started in 1956, and Fess was typecast. Fess appeared in other Disney movies dealing with the early years of Davey and also in non-Crockett parts such as Old Yeller (1957). By 1959, unable to achieve the success that he had gained as Crockett, his career had leveled off. He made guest appearances on a number of television shows, but his attempted return to television in the series Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1962) was not successful. Unable to procure the rights to play Crockett from Disney, Fess tried the frontiersman role once again with the TV series Daniel Boone (1964). He played this role for six years and the fact that he had a beautiful red-headed wife in a color series did not hurt him at all. After Daniel Boone (1964), Fess retired from the screen and went into real estate, which was profitable. He was later forced to sue his "Daniel Boone" producers over the profits generated by the series.