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Thursday, December 29, 2016

Hal Ambro - 87th pick as a Disney Legend

Hal Ambro is my 87th pick to be honored as a Disney Legend.

His animation credits at Disney included Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, the "Johnny Appleseed" segment of Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Song of the South, Cinderella,  (Ambro animated many ot the scenes with the fairy godmother), So Dear to My Heart, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Melody, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, Melody and Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.

Ambro became Hanna-Barbera's supervising animator for "Heidi's Song" before he left in 1982. The next year, Ambro began teaching character animation at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.


Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Tom Codrick - my 86th choice as a Disney Legend



Background artist Tom Codrick takes the 86th slot on my picks for the Disney Legend honor. He was a layout artist, art director and background specialist for some of the best loved Disney films. He was a key layout man for Disney Studios for 35 years. Films such as Peter Pan, Bambi, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Victory Through Air Power, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Sleeping Beauty, Melody Time and Alice in Wonderland were heavily influenced by Codrick's style and vision. He was the layout artist for five episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and he appeared in one episode of the show.









Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Charles Philippi - my 85th choice as a Disney Legend

Charles Philippi is my 85th pick for this Disney Hall of fame. He was an animator who worked on some of the most memorable Disney classics and shorts during the heyday of the 1930s and 1940s.


His Filmography according to His IMDB page:

  • 1957 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV Series) (layout artist - 1 episode)
  • - The Fourth Anniversary Show (1957) ... (layout artist - segment "Peter and the Wolf", archive footage)
  •  1953 Peter Pan (layout artist)
  •  1951 Alice in Wonderland (layout)
  •  1950 Cinderella (layout)
  •  1949 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (layout)
  •  1949 The Wind in the Willows (Short) (layout artist)
  •  1949 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Short) (layout artist)
  •  1946 Song of the South (cartoon art director)
  •  1946 Peter and the Wolf (Short) (layout artist)
  •  1946 Make Mine Music (layout)
  •  1944 The Three Caballeros (layout artist)
  •  1944 Springtime for Pluto (Short) (layout artist)
  • 1943 Victory Through Air Power (Documentary) (art direction: animation)  
  • 1943 Chicken Little (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1943 Private Pluto (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  • 1941 The Reluctant Dragon (art direction: cartoon sequences - as Chas Philippi)  
  • 1941 The Little Whirlwind (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  • 1940 Fantasia – Art Department
  • 1940 Pinocchio – Art Department
  • 1937 Snow White and the Seven dwarves – Art Department
  •  1934 Servants' Entrance (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1933 Lullaby Land (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1933 Mickey's Gala Premier (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1933 Three Little Pigs (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1933 Ye Olden Days (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1932 Mickey's Good Deed (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  • 1932 Babes in the Woods (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  • 1932 King Neptune (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  • 1932 Mickey's Nightmare (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  • 1932 Flowers and Trees (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1932 The Mad Dog (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1932 The Bird Store (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1931 The Ugly Duckling (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1931 The Fox Hunt (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1931 The Clock Store (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1931 Egyptian Melodies (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1931 Blue Rhythm (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1931 Mickey Steps Out (Short) (layout artist - uncredited)
  •  1930 Monkey Melodies (Short) (layout artist - uncredited) 

Monday, December 26, 2016

Dallas McKennon - my 84th pick as a Disney Legend

Dallas McKennon is my 84th choice for the Disney Legend honor.
He performed many character voices for Disney. His distinctive voice can be heard in movies such as Melody Time (as Johnny Appleseed’s angel), Lady and the Tramp (as Pedro, Tuffy, the Hyena and the Professor), Sleeping Beauty (as the owl), Donald Duck and His Friends, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (as barking dogs), Mary Poppins (as the fox, a hunting horse, a penguin, a reporter and the carousel keeper) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (as a bear). He provided the voice of Cal McNab in Paul Bunyan.
He also did voices for several Disney Attractions, such as the famous Big Thunder Mountain Railroad safety spiel - “Howdy, folks! Please keep your hands, arms, and legs inside the train, and remain seated at all times. (Laugh) Now then, hang onto them hats and glasses, ’cause this here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness!” He can be heard as the laughing hyenas in It's a Small World, Ben Franklin in Epcot's The American Adventure, and Zeke in Country Bear Jamboree. He has been the voice of Andrew Jackson in the Hall of Presidents attraction. He narrated the defunct Disneyland attraction Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland and is Deaf Old Man in the Haunted Mansion.

He also played as Charlie Cooney in the 1978 live-action Disney film, The Cat from Outer Space, a juror in Son of Flubber and a detective in The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. He was a musical performer in Bedknobs and Broomsticks taking part in the song “Blow the Man Down.” He was the narrator on the vinyl album The Story of Treasure Island produced by the Disney Company.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Don Griffith - my 83rd pick as a Disney Legend

Don Griffith started working at Disney when he was 19 years old (in 1937) when the Studio was still on Hyperion. He started out as an inker and worked his way into doing Background and Layout. He didn't have any training as an artist before he started working for Disney which is why he thought anyone could learn how to draw. He worked at the Studio for almost 50 years (until 1984).
Filmography
Layout Artist
  • (1948) - Melody Time
  • (1949) - So Dear to My Heart
  • (1950) - Cinderella
  • (1951) - Alice in Wonderland
  • (1953) - Peter Pan
  • (1955) - Lady and the Tramp
  • (1959) - Sleeping Beauty
  • (1961) - One Hundred and One Dalmatians
  • (1963) - The Sword in the Stone
  • (1964) - Mary Poppins
  • (1966) - Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
  • (1967) - The Jungle Book
  • (1968) - Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
  • (1970) - The Aristocats
  • (1971) - Bedknobs and Broomsticks
  • (1974) - Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
  • (1977) - The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Art Director
  • Robin Hood (1973)
  • The Rescuers (1977)
  • The Fox and the Hound (1981)
  • Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
  • The Black Cauldron (1985)

Background Artist

Mary Poppins (1964)

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Sebastian Cabot - 82nd pick as a Disney Legend

Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was an English film and television actor who provided the narration for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. He also voiced Bagheera in The Jungle Book, and Sir Ector in The Sword in the Stone, and voiced Claude in The Enchanted Tiki Room, at Walt Disney World. He also played Johnathan Lyte in the 1957 live-action film, Johnny Tremain. He narrated a couple of specials for Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color - One Day on Beetle Rock (1967) and One Day at Teton Marsh (1964) and played the role of Bissonette in Westward Ho, The Wagons (1956). He had the role of Judge Vasca in the TV series Zorro.
He not only served as the narrator for the film version of Winnie the Pooh, but also as the narrator on the vinyl album Walt Disney Presents Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too.



Cliff Nordberg - my 81st pick as a Disney Legend

Cliff Nordberg was an animator for the Disney Studios through the 1940s into the 1970s. You can read more about at the blog 50 MostInfluential Disney Animators. Here is a sampling of Nordberg’s work for Disney:
  • Hockey Homicide - Animator
  • Make Mine Music- Animator on All the Cats Join In and Casey at the Bat
  • All the Cats Join In - animator
  • Casey at the Bat - animator
  • Song of the South- Animator on Minor Characters
  • Pecos Bill - animator
  • Melody Time- Animator on Pecos Bill
  • Cinderella- Animator on Mice, King, and Duke
  • Alice in Wonderland- Animator on Mad Hatter and March Hare
  • Susie the Little Blue Coupe - animator
  • Peter Pan- Animator on Indians
  • Ben and Me - animator
  • Lady and the Tramp- Animator on Pound Dogs
  • Donald in Mathmagic Land - animator
  • Sleeping Beauty- Animator on Malificent’s Minions and Crow
  • A Cowboy Needs A Horse - animator
  • One Hundred and One Dalmatians- Animator on Sgt. Tibbs, Horace and Jasper
  • Sword in the Stone- Animator
  • Robin Hood- Animator
  • Mary Poppins - animator
  • Rescuers- Animator on Crocodiles, Dragon Fly, and Swam Critters
  • Pete's Dragon - animator
  • Small One- Supervising Animator
  • Fox and the Hound- Supervising Animator on Woodpecker and Bird



Harvey Toombs - my 80th pick for a Disney Legend

Pencil drawing of Peter Pan by Harvey Toombs
Harvey Toombs was an animator who worked on many classic films for the Disney Studios. His animation credits at Disney included Pinocchio, the "Dance of the Hours" segment of Fantasia, The Reluctant Dragon, Dumbo, Bambi, Saludos Amigos, Victory Through Air Power, Home Defense, Donald's Off Day, the "Cold-Blooded Penguin" segment of The Three Caballeros, Donald's Crime, Make Mine Music, Song of the South, Fun and Fancy Free, the "Once Upon a Wintertime", "Bumble Boogie", "Johnny Appleseed" and "Blame It on the Samba" segments of Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Tomorrow We Diet!, Alice in Wonderland, Teachers are People, Peter Pan, Melody, Ben and Me, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Donald in Mathmagic Land and How to Have an Accident at Work.

He was married to Imagineer and Disney Legend Leota Toombs and the father of Imagineer Kim Irvine.

Tom Sito - my 79th choice as a Disney Legend

Tom Sito is my 79th choice to be named a Disney Legend. The following information was gathered at  his own website and his Wikipedia page:
Sito has been called a "key figure in the Disney Renaissance", and one of the One Hundred Most Important People in Animation. Sito assisted retired Disney animator Shamus Culhane on one of his final projects, a 1977 education short entitled Protection in the Nuclear Age. Tom Sito was summoned by his old mentor Richard Williams in 1987 to animate on Disney/Amblin's Academy Award-winning hit film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Returning to Los Angeles in 1988, Sito became a mainstay of the Disney Feature Animation division, contributing to the classic films The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Fantasia 2000, and Dinosaur. In 2010, Tom Sito was awarded the June Foray Award at ASIFA-Hollywood's Annie Awards for a lifetime of service to the animation community.





Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Victor Haboush - pick number 78 as a Disney Legend

Layout Artist Victor Haboush is my 78th pick as a Disney Legend. Much of the information here can be found on the Cartoon Brew site.

He attended Art Center College of Design on the G.I. Bill where he studied extensively with Lorser Feitelson.

On the recommendation of his Art Center classmate and Disney Legend Eyvind Earle, he was hired at Disney in 1952 to help finish layout on Peter Pan. His first association with Disney came earlier, when he helped Earle draw this Golden Book adaptation of Peter Pan. He built up an impressive list of credits at the studio including assistant art direction on Melody and Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom, and layout on Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians.

Vic was one of Tom Oreb’s closest colleagues during the 1950s and they worked together as a team, especially in Disney’s TV commercial unit.


 When Oreb left Disney to work at John Sutherland Productions, Vic followed. They both soon returned to Disney to finish Sleeping Beauty, where Vic played a key role in designing the “Thorn Forest” sequence.

The video below is a non-Disney commercial directed by Haboush.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Hal King - my 77th pick as a Disney Legend


My 77th choice Hal King was an American animator. He was notable for his work at the Walt Disney

Studios.  Hal King started out like many of his contemporaries as an inbetweener on shorts in the late 1930s. His first break into feature animation was on the Three Caballeros, a Latin American-influenced film made in 1944. 

His animation credits at Disney included Donald's Snow Fight, Donald Gets Drafted, The Vanishing Private, Fall Out-Fall In, The Old Army Game, Home Defense, The Three Caballeros, Duck Pimples, Hockey Homicide, The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met segment of Make Mine Music, Wet Paint, Lighthouse Keeping, Song of the South, Clown of the Jungle, Fun and Fancy Free, the Once Upon a Wintertime and Blame It on the Samba segments of Melody Time, So Dear to My Heart, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Test Pilot Donald, Alice in Wonderland, Susie the Little Blue Coupe, Peter Pan, Ben and Me, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Goliath II, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Donald and the Wheel, The Sword in the Stone, the Disneyland episode "Your Host, Donald Duck", the Walt Disney Presents episode "The Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale", the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color episodes "Kids is Kids" and "Man on Wheels", The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Robin Hood and Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. (in which the two featurettes are later part of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, along with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!).




Lonnie Burr - 76th pick as a Disney Legend

My 76th pick is former Mousketeer Lonnie Burr. The following was taken from his Wikipedia page and from the website The Original Mickey Mouse Club Show. In 1955 he was signed to a seven-year contract by Walt Disney Studios as one of twenty-four original Mouseketeers. He was made a member of the show's first string unit, the Red Team, and appeared in the show's Roll Call and Alma Mater segments daily for the first two seasons. (A facial injury suffered during rehearsal kept him off-camera during the filming of Roll Call and Alma Mater for the third season). While on the show Lonnie performed in skits and musical variety numbers, both as a soloist and with others. He was generally acknowledged to be one of the show's three top dancers and his slightly husky singing voice caused other Mouseketeers to nickname him "The Velvet Smog" for at twelve he also resembled "The Velvet Fog", singer Mel Tormé.
Lonnie was a smart, confident kid, and that persona projected to the audience. He was the only male Mouseketeer that kids at home considered cool. Annette also felt this way about him, and the two were an item (a real couple, not one of the studio arranged matches) for a brief time.
Lonnie has his own web site, on which visitors can learn about the details of his long pre- and post-MMC careers. He also has given more published interviews than anyone but Annette on the subject of the Mickey Mouse Club, in most of which he has been quite frank. You can read more in his 2009 memoir, Confessions of an Accidental Mouseketeer. This sometimes brutally candid work has engendered more than a bit of controversy since it was published.

Monday, December 19, 2016

Hugh Fraser - my 75th pick as a Disney Legend

Hugh Fraser was an animator who worked on numerous projects for the Disney Studios. He also worked for Hanna Barbera on Scooby Doo and other cartoons. In 1987 Fraser was awarded the Golden Award by the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Award. 

He must have been quite prolific as his name is attached to many, many films and shorts. Here is a sampling of his work.

  • Snow White(1937)- Animator(uncredited)
  • Pinocchio(1940)-Animator on Honest John and Gideon 
  • Fantasia(1940)- Animator on Dance of the Hours
  • Dumbo(1941)- Animator on Gossipy Elephants
  • Saludos Amigos(1942)- Animator
  • How to Play Baseball(1942)- Animator
  • Pluto at the Zoo(1942)- Animator(uncredited)
  • Victory Through Airpower(1943)-Animator
  • Victory Vehicles(1943)- Animator
  • How to Be a Sailor(1944)- Animator
  • The Eyes to Have It(1945)- Animator
  • Canine Casanova(1945)- Animator
  • No Sail(1945)- Animator
  • Knight for a Day(1945)- Animator
  • Make Mine Music(1946)-Animator on Casey at the Bat
  • Squatter’s Rights(1946)- Animator
  • Frank Duck Brings ’em Alive(1946)- Animator
  • Double Dribble(1946)- Animator
  • Fun and Fancy Free(1947)-Animator
  • The Big Wash(1948)- Animator
  • Mickey and the Seal(1948)- Animator
  • Pluto’s Suprise Package(1949)- Animator
  • Pluto’s Sweater(1949)-Animator
  • Bubble Bee(1949)- Animator
  • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad(1949)- Animator on Wind and the Willows
  • Sheep Dog(1949)- Animator
  • Pluto’s Heart Throb(1950)- Animator
  • Pluto and the Gopher(1950)- Animator
  • Cinderella(1950)-Animator
  • Wonder Dog(1950)- Animator
  • 1951    Cold War        Animation     
  • Tomorrow We Diet    Animation     
    Get Rich Quick            Animation     
    No Smoking    Animation

  • 1952    Man's Best Friend      Animation     
    Two Gun Goofy          Animation     
    Teachers Are People  Animation     
    Two Weeks Vacation Animation     
    How to Be a Detective           Animation     
  • 1953    Father's Day Off          Animation     
    Father's Weekend      Animation     
    Ben and Me    Animation 

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Hal Smith - my 74th choice as a Disney Legend

Hal Smith, known for his role as Otis the town drunk on the Andy Griffith Show and as Mr. Whitaker on Adventures in Odyssey also had numerous roles with the Disney Studios. He is my 74th pick for the Disney Legend honor. He did many voice roles for Disney, including Goofy (after Pinto Colvig's death), Grumpy and Sleepy (also after Pinto Colvig's death), Winnie the Pooh (after Sterling Holloway's retirement) and Owl in the Winnie the Pooh franchise, Gyro Gearloose and Flintheart Glomgold in DuckTales, he also voiced an older version of Huey, Dewey and Louie in the episode of DuckTales, "Duck to the Future", the Auctioneer in The Small One and Philippe the Horse in Beauty and the Beast. He voiced Dink and Haimish in Disney’s Fluffy Dogs. He was Goofy and the Water Rat on Mickey’s Christmas Carol, the slob elephant in The Jungle Book, and Joe Magee in Talespin. He also appeared in the live action film Son of Flubber as a bartender and as a courthouse guard in The Million Dollar Duck. He was the narrator and a few Disney albums as well.





Friday, December 16, 2016

Preston Blair - 73rd pick as a Disney Legend

Preston Blair was an animator for Disney on several classic films and shorts. He left the studios during the 1941 strike. Some of the Disney films he worked on are:

  • 1999 Fantasia 2000 (animator - segment "Sorcerer's Apprentice")
  •  1977 The Rescuers (animator - uncredited) 
  • 1947 Fun and Fancy Free
  • 1940 Fantasia (animator - segments "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Dance of the Hours")
  •  1940 Bone Trouble (Short) (animator)
  •  1940 Donald's Dog Laundry (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1940 Pinocchio (animator)
  •  1939 Officer Duck (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1939 The Pointer (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1939 Sea Scouts (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1939 Beach Picnic (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1939 The Practical Pig (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1938 Donald's Golf Game (Short) (animator - uncredited)
  •  1938 The Whalers (Short) (animator - uncredited)


Thursday, December 15, 2016

Peter Ustinov - my 72nd choice as a Disney Legend

Peter Ustinov is considered by some to be Movie Royalty. He worked for the Disney Studios on more than once occasion, as both a live action actor and voice actor for animated films. He voiced Prince John and King Richard in Robin Hood and also played the title character in Blackbeard's Ghost. He was Dr. Snodgrass in Treasure of Matecumbe, and Hnup Wan in One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing.
He also guest-starred on The Muppet Show in episode 112 and made a cameo appearance in The Great Muppet Caper.

Robert Stokes - my 71st pick as a Disney Legend

Robert Stokes was an animator for Disney Studios during their heyday years when they first began producing feature length animation. He is credited with helping to develop and draw the evil queen in
Drawing of Evil Queen by Robert Stokes
Snow White. His work with Disney includes the following:

1940  Fantasia (animator - segment "The Nutcracker Suite")
1940 Pinocchio (animator - uncredited)
 1939 The Autograph Hound (Short) (animator - uncredited)
 1938 Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (Short) (animator - uncredited)
 1938 Ferdinand the Bull (Short) (animator - uncredited)
 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (animator)
 1937 The Old Mill (Short) (animator - uncredited)
 1937 Woodland Café (Short) (animator - uncredited)
 1936 More Kittens (Short) (animator)
 1936 Toby Tortoise Returns (Short) (animator - uncredited)

Friday, December 9, 2016

George Johnson - my 70th pick as a Disney Legend

My 72nd pick for the Disney Legend honor is George Johnson, the voice of Goofy. He provided the voice for the lovable Goofy from 1939 - 1943. His voice is heard in several films including Goofy and Wilbur, How to Fish, Goofy's Glider, Baggage Buster, The Art of Self Defense, The Nifty Nineties, How to Play Baseball, The Olympic Champ, How to Swim, How to Fish, On Vacation, the El Gaucho Goofy segment from Saludos Amigos and Victory Vehicles.








Thursday, December 8, 2016

Mel Leven - my 69th pick as a Disney Legend

Mel Leven, my 69th pick for the Disney Legend honor, is most famous as the composer of the Cruella Devil song in 101 Dalmatians. He also wrote the story and new lyrics to sixteen tunes for the film Babes in Toyland and "When The Buzzards Return To Hinckley Ridge" for the 1969 Disney animated short, It's Tough to Be a Bird, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Short Subject in 1970. He wrote the music to "Litterbug Shame on You" for the final Donald Duck short The Litterbug

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Al Bertino - my 68th choice as a Disney Legend

Al Bertino worked for the Disney company as an animator, story-man, writer, and imagineer.  He was involved as a writer or animator in several Disney shorts including: Plutopia, Fun and Fancy Free, Make Mine Music, Californy er Bust and Private Pluto. This is an excerpt form his Wikipedia page: He was an animator for Pinocchio and Fantasia, Bertino also wrote for the Wonderful World of Disney, and helped create a number of attractions at Disneyland, including Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, and America Sings.  In 1986, he won a Golden Award (given to Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists). The giant bear at the Country Bear Jamboree called 'Big Al' was a self-portrait.
"Bertino began work for Walt Disney in 1935.
In a 1945 Disney short, Hockey Homicide, all the characters are named for members of the Disney staff including "Ice Box Bertino", who, as a running gag, repeatedly gets into hockey fights with "Fearless Ferguson" (named for Norm Ferguson)."

Monday, December 5, 2016

Albert Hurter - my 67th choice as a Disney Legend

Albert Hurter is my 69th choice as a Disney Legend. He worked for the Studios as an inspirational sketch artist whose art provided the mood, atmosphere and setting of some famous Disney Studios films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Dumbo, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan. In 1949, over 700 of his drawings were compiled in a book by Ted Sears called "He Drew As He Pleased - A Sketchbook by Albert Hurter", with a brief tribute from Walt Disney.


Saturday, December 3, 2016

Lucille La Verne - 66th choice as a Disney Legend

My 66th choice is Lucille La Verne, who had only one role for Disney Studios, but it was a big one. she was the voice actress for one of the greatest Disney villains of all-time, the wicked step-mother/witch in Snow White. She also provided some live action inspiration for her movements and gestures. Cari Keebuagh observed "One particularly popular legend claims that Disney, unsatisfied with the voice of the Hag, asked La Verne to try the scene again. She excused herself to the restroom, returned, and performed the lines in a perfectly sinister and “hag-ish” voice. Disney, impressed, asked what she had done in the restroom. La Verne answered him that all she had done was remove her false teeth."
You can read her article on La Verne here.

I have noticed the voices of the Disney villains do not get a lot of love from the Legends committee. Maybe it time to change that!



Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Billy Bletcher - 65th choice as a Disney Legend

Billy Bletcher is my 65th choice to be named a Disney Legend. He is most famous as the original voice of Pete. According to the Disney Wiki:

Walt Disney shares a laugh with Billy Bletcher
His notable Disney roles included the original voices of Pete and Big Bad Wolf, Horace Horsecollar in Mickey's Mellerdrammer, Friday in Mickey's Man Friday, King Midas in The Golden Touch, Dirty Bill in The Robber Kitten, Judge Owl in Who Killed Cock Robin?, the Cat Prosecutor in Pluto's Judgement Day, Captain Katt in Three Blind Mouseketeers, the Robot Butler in Modern Inventions, the bass singer and villain on radio in Donald's Ostrich, the short member of the Lonesome Ghosts in Lonesome Ghosts, the Bull in Farmyard Symphony, the Security Guard in The Autograph Hound, the Magic Lamp in Pluto's Dream House, a clown in Dumbo, the dogcatcher in Canine Casanova, Detective Hennessey in Duck Pimples, Donald's boss in Old Sequoia, the motel proprietor in Wide Open Spaces and the music store proprietor in Pluto's Blue Note.

Some other works he voiced for Disney Studios were Mr. Gator in the Happy Amigos, Peewee Pete in Canvas Black Duck, Al Muldoon in How to be a Detective, Pierre in Timber, and a Nazi in Der Fuhrer's Face.



Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Otto Englander - my 64th choice as a Disney Legend

Otto Englander is my 64th choice to be named a Disney Legend. Englander was a Storyman on animated films for 22 years; he was story director on Dumbo, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The Fox Hunt, Goofy and Wilbur, The Polar Trappers, Don Donald, The Fur Trappers, Three Blind Mouseketeers, Broken Toys, Moving Day, Mickey Cuts Up and other Disney Studio features.
He was also a screenwriter for several episodes of the television show Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.


Saturday, November 19, 2016

Ferdinand Horvath - my 63rd choice as a Disney Legend

Original drawing of Horvath's
Ferdinand Horvath worked at the Disney Studios on everything from advertising to illustrations for a pop-up book to painting backgrounds and doing layouts to constructing three dimensional models (such as making a windmill for study for "The Old Mill") to character designs and gags for over fifty Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse shorts. His work can be seen in the following short films: MICKEY MOUSE SHORTS: "Mickey's Man Friday," "The Band Concert," "Mickey's Service Station," "Mickey's Garden," "Mickey's Circus," "Mickey's Rival," "Moose Hunters," "Boat Builders," "Clock Cleaners," "Brave Little Tailor," "The Fox Hunt," "Alpine Climbers," "Polar Trappers," "Lonesome Ghosts," "Mickey's Trailer," "Society Dog Show," "Mickey's Follies" and "Magician Mickey."
SILLY SYMPHONIES: "Father Noah's Ark," "Old King Cole," "Lullaby Land," "The Pied Piper," "Cookie Carnival," "Timid Elmer," "Three Little Wolves," "Broken Toys," "Three Blind Mouseketeers," "The Country Cousin," "Woodland Café," "The Old Mill," "Little Hiawatha," "The Moth and the Flame", "The Worm Turns," "The Practical Pig," "Farmyard Symphony," "Merbabies," "The Ugly Duckling" and "Mother Goose Goes to Hollywood."

Much of this information is from Jim Hill Media website. 



Friday, November 18, 2016

Cubby O'Brien - my 62nd choice as a Disney Legend

Cubby O'Brien is my 62nd choice as a Disney Legend.
O'Brien, like Annette Funicello, was personally selected to audition for The Mickey Mouse Club by Walt Disney, in the spring of 1955. Disney had been alerted to him by a staff member, who caught his live performance at a charity gala.
Though he had little prior experience in singing or dancing, O'Brien was placed on The Mickey Mouse Club's first-string "Red Team" right from the start. He quickly picked up enough dance skills to perform in musical numbers, though his solo performances remained centered around his drums. He remained with the show for all three seasons (1955–1958) of original programming, and after filming stopped, went on live-performance tours with other Mouseketeers to Australia in 1959 and 1960.
Cubby was the only Mouseketeer allowed to play musical instruments on camera whether this had something to do with Walt casting him or not is unknown. Certainly Cubby never had the rumors of favoritism surrounding him like Annette did, possibly because his skill was obvious to all. In the show's first week, he got to play drums for Talent Round-Up day in a combo with his father Hack and brother Warren. From then on he was given many opportunities to play rhythm instruments, but his talent didn't end with music; he was a fine comedic actor, and learned enough dancing on the show to fake his way through the numbers. His singing was OK, though he wasn't called on for solos like Karen Pendleton.

Cubby appeared in the Disney film Westward Ho, the Wagons with Tommy Cole, Karen, and Doreen Tracey in 1956. The four Mouseketeers had barely any lines and very few scenes in this tepid Western. As the second season started, the Mouseketeer production numbers shifted more to emphasizing older teen couples. Cubby still appeared in comic bits, but he was more often solo than paired with Karen.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Joe Rohde - my 61st choice as a Disney Legend

Imagineer Joe Rohde is my 61st choice to be named a Disney Legend. Here are some excerpts form his Wikipedia page:

Rohde is a veteran executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of The Walt Disney Company that designs and builds Disney's theme parks and resort hotels. Rohde's formal title is Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative.  Rohde's trademark is a large collection of earrings he wears in his left ear, all of which are souvenirs from decades of travel to remote corners of the world. This tradition began when he stuck his 5 year anniversary pin into his ear. Rohde is the lead designer of Disney's Animal Kingdom, one of four theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and the principal creative force behind the park's Expedition Everest thrill ride, which debuted in 2006. He is one of the lead designers behind the new Disney Vacation Club property Aulani in OÊ»ahu, Hawaii. He was chosen for the role because of his experience with the Island and its native people, having grown up in Hawaii.
Rohde joined Imagineering in 1980 during the development of Epcot as a model designer and scenic painter for the theme park's Mexico pavilion. He later worked as a designer on the refurbishment of Fantasyland at Disneyland, the Captain EO 3-D film attraction starring singer Michael Jackson, the Norway pavilion at Epcot and the Adventurers Club, a 1930s-themed bar and lounge that opened in 1989 within the Pleasure Island entertainment district at Walt Disney World Resort.
Rohde was featured in an April 2006 Travel Channel documentary titled Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands. The program was produced by Discovery Networks during expeditions to China and Nepal in 2005 called Mission Himalayas. The treks were sponsored by Discovery, Disney, and Conservation International to promote the Expedition Everest theme park attraction and conduct scientific and cultural research in remote areas of the Himalayas. Rohde served as the model for Harrison Hightower, the owner of the fictional "Hightower Hotel" which houses the Tower of Terror attraction at Tokyo DisneySea outside Tokyo, Japan.
Currently Rohde is leading the team transforming Disney California Adventure's Tower of Terror into Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!. The attraction is expected to open Summer 2017.This new project is part of the expansion of his role as global creative leader of the Marvel property.



Keenan Wynn - my 60th choice as a Disney Legend

Keenan Wynn is my 62nd choice as a Disney Legend. He played in several Disney Studios live action films as the bad guy you love to hate. He is most famous for playing Alonzo Hawk in the Absent Minded Professor and The Son of Flubber. According to his Disney Wiki page: Keenan Wynn was a character actor and son of Disney legend Ed Wynn. He's famous for playing Disney villains, mostly the villainous businessman, Alonzo Hawk. In Snowball Express he portrays Martin Ridgeway. He also played the corrupt district attorney John Slade in The Shaggy D.A., the sequel to classic Disney comedy, The Shaggy Dog.




Saturday, November 5, 2016

Stan Quackenbush - my 59th choice as a Disney Legend

a cleanup drawing of the queen's transformation
by animators Campbell Grant and Stan Quackenbush
Stan Quackenbush is on my list simply becasue his name is is so amazing. He was an early animator for Walt Disney Studios, working on some of the better shorts the company produced. A partial list of those films are: Mickey's Amateurs, The Old Mill, Donald's Nephews, Wynken, Blynken and Nod, Polar Trappers, Ferdinand the Bull, The Ugly Duckling and Beach Picnic. He is also one of the animators credited with working on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He was on the team that animated the wicked witch. It is also so fitting that he helped animate early Donald Duck cartoons, with  a last name like Quackenbush.










Saturday, October 22, 2016

Jeff York - my 58th choice as a Disney Legend

My 60th choice is character actor Jeff York. The following is from York's Wikipedia page: he is perhaps most remembered for his role as Bud Searcy in Disney's classic Old Yeller and its 1963 sequel Savage Sam. Beverly Washburn played Lisbeth Searcy, Bud's daughter. York also appeared in The Great Locomotive Chase, Westward Ho, the Wagons!, and Johnny Tremain which were all Walt Disney's productions.

York attracted considerable attention in the mid 1950s with his television portrayal of Mike Fink, the flamboyant keelboat operator in two episodes of Disney's hugely popular Davy Crockett miniseries in the episodes "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates." York was cast opposite Fess Parker in the role. The first episode featured a memorable boasting contest and a keelboat race, with Fink's boat named The Gullywumper; in the second, Crockett and Fink join forces to fight a band of river pirates who blame their depredations on local Native Americans.

One of the famous lines form the movie is “Girls run and hide, brave men shiver...I'm Mike Fink, king of the river!”
He also starred as mountain man/fur trapper Joe Crane in two different Disney series, The Saga of Andy Burnett, adapted from the Stewart Edward White novel The Long Rifle and Zorro.



   

Janet Munro - my 57th choice as a Disney Legend

Janet Munro was in a couple of my childhood Disney favorites, most notably as the kidnapped girl Roberta in Swiss Family Robinson. Munro also starred as as Katie O'Gill in Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Lizbeth Hempel in Third Man on the Mountain. She played Janet Hale in The Horsemasters, which aired on Disney's weekly television series. She also played Katie O'Gill  I Captured the King of the Leprechauns, a made for TV special plugging the upcoming Darby O'Gill movie. She sang the song Pretty Irish Girl with Sean O'Connery for the same movie. 


Thursday, October 20, 2016

Duncan Dickson - my 56th choice as a Disney Legend



Dickson served almost twenty years with Walt Disney World, Co. where as Director of Casting. He was very active in the creation, development and teaching of numerous training programs. Among these programs where “Casting for a Role in the Show,” “View from a Disney Leader,” “Management Disney Style,” “The Disney Approach to People Management” and “The Disney Keys to Quality Service.” He created the latter as a program to deliver the Disney quality message to individuals unable to visit Central Florida.

Darlene Gillespie - my 55th choice as a Disney Legend

Darlene Gillespie is my 55th choice as a Disney Legend, and my first Mouseketeer. One of the most popular Mousketeers in the original Mickey Mouse Club that ran from 1955 to 1958, Darlene Gillespie rivaled Annette Funicello for the most popular girl on the show. Plus my wife remembers her and looked up to her!
Darlene was the early favorite with the show's crew, who were convinced she'd be a star, but circumstances forestalled this. An amateur performer at fourteen, she was a good dancer, was blessed with an extraordinary voice, was in Roll Call and the lead performer on the Red Team for all three seasons on ABC.
Darlene did get several scenes in Annette's first serial Adventure in Dairyland and new director Sid Miller seemed nearly as impressed with her talents as first-year director Dik Darley had been. She remained the second most popular Mouseketeer in terms of fan mail after Annette, with whom she maintained a friendly working relationship throughout the season. The two girls were often paired for personal appearances and gradually came to stand out from the other :mice" in publicity releases and media coverage. Besides leading most of the musical numbers for the second year, Darlene also shared a Talent Round-Up Day with her three sisters and had a show to herself with singing and celebrity impersonations in An Evening With Darlene.
As soon as the serial ended, she worked for two months in the Disneyland Circus.
She was the leading female singer and starred in the serial Corky and White Shadow during the first season. In the third season, she appeared in the serial, The New Adventures of Spin and Marty, with Tim Considine and David Stollery.
Gillespie made many recordings under the various Disney labels, including an album of 1950s rock and roll standards called Darlene of the Teens (1957). She recorded albums from Disney animated films in which she not only sang but narrated the stories as well, such as Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty.
There is some scandal surrounding her - she was arrested in 2005 in bad check writing scheme. the charges were later dropped. Several current Disney legends do have some scandal attached to their name (Johnny Depp for example).

Bill Watkins - 54th choice as a Disney Legend

One of the most popular and enduring rides at the Disney Parks is Space Mountain, the first roller coaster to be ridden inside and in the dark - Space Mountain at Disneyland was designed by Bill Watkins of Walt Disney Imagineering. This includes the tubular steel track design. The track layout was different from that in Florida because of space limitations in the California park. He was also involved in the design of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride.

Inside of Space Mountain during construction
According to Wikipedia - "Space Mountain at Disneyland was designed by Bill Watkins of Walt Disney Imagineering, including a tubular steel track design awarded U.S. Patent 4,029,019."

Watkins wrote an article for Mouseplanet about the design of Space Mountain - here is a a paragraph from that article: "Disneyland's Space Mountain opened on May 28, 1977 and was reproduced at Tokyo and, recently, Hong Kong. During those same years and later (1969 to 1986), we also designed the Big Thunder Railway (working title) rides at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Euro Disneyland using the same principles and techniques. The Disneyland Space Mountain was recently reopened with a new, but identical, track. 171 million people had ridden on the old track, a total of more than 8 million miles."




Saturday, October 8, 2016

Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise - my 52nd choice as Disney Legends

Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise are tied at number 53 for my choice as Disney Legends. The two often worked together as animators and directors for Walt Disney Studios. I hold them in high esteem as directors of Beauty and The Beast - perhaps the greatest animated film of all time.

Trousdale's work with Disney includes animation in the movies The Black Cauldron, Oliver and Company, The Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Prince and the Pauper. He worked as a writer for The Lion King and Atlantis: Milo's Return and was also a director for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He was a special effects contributor to the live action movie My Science Project. He even ventured in the parks as the pre-show director for the now defunct Epcot attraction Cranium Command. He moved to Dreamworks Studios in 2003.

Wise also directed Beauty and the Beast,  The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He worked as an animator on Disney films such as The Great Mouse Detective, The Brave Little Toaster, Sport Goofy in Soccermania, Oliver and Company, The Rescuers Down Under, The Prince and the Pauper and The Lion King. He helped as a writer for Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He was also the executive producer of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. He was a voice actor and sequence director for the Epcot attraction Cranium Command. most recently he was the executive producer for Disney's Oceans and as a creative consultant for Chimpanzee.


Friday, September 30, 2016

Eric Goldberg - My 51st choice as a Disney Legend

Eric Goldberg is a Disney animator and director and has worked on such projects as Aladdin, Frozen and Wreck it Ralph. He has also animated extensively for Warner Brothers.
Below is his partial Disney filmography.

1992      Aladdin  Supervising Animator: Genie
1995      Pocahontas         Director
1998      Hercules              Supervising Animator: Philoctetes
1999      Fantasia 2000     Supervising Animator: Duke/Yo Yo Flamingo
2000      Rhapsody in Blue  Animator
2000      Emperor's New Groove   Animator
2005      Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years  Animator
2006       Fox and the Hound 2      Animator
2009      The Princess and the Frog              Supervising Animator: Louis
2011      Winnie the Pooh               Supervising Animator: Rabbit/The Backson
2012      Paperman   Animator
2012      Wreck-It Ralph   Animator: King Candy/ Sour Bill
2013      Get A Horse!       Supervising Animator: Pete/Hay Wagon Band
2013      Frozen   Supervising Animator
2016      Moana  Animator: Maui Tattoo's

Ralph Wright - my 50th choice as a Disney Legend

Ralph Wright is my 50th pick to receive the Disney Legend honor. He was a Disney animator and storyboard writer who is best known for providing the gloomy, sullen voice of Eeyore from the popular Winnie-the-Pooh franchise. Wright came to the studio circa 1940 and became well known throughout the ensuing decades for his endearingly gloomy and sullen personality traits as well as his bass voice. He turned out to be a natural model for Eeyore when the studio began development on Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.
He, along with his fellow Disney contemporaries, was a pioneer in the use of "gags" within cartoons, often acted out in front of the "story board," a bulletin board pinned with sequential sketches of the cartoon's scenes. This technique still in use today in most major animation studios. Information taken from his Wikipedia page.

Disney Filmography
  • Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore 1983 - voice: Eeyore (final role)
  • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - 1977 - story, voice: Eeyore, performer: "Hip Hip Pooh-ray!"
  • Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! - 1974 - story, Eeyore does not appear
  • Rogue's Rock - 1974 - The Wonderful World of Disney - writer
  • The City Fox - 1972 - The Wonderful World of Disney - contributing writer
  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks - 1971 - animation story
  • The Aristocats 1970 - writer/storyboard team
  • Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) - story, voice: Eeyore
  • The Jungle Book 1967 - writer/storyboard team, voice: Gloomy elephant (uncredited)
  • Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree 1966 - story, voice: Eeyore
  • Aquamania 1961 - story
  • Nikki, Wild Dog of the North - 1961 - writer/storyboard team
  • Sleeping Beauty - 1959 - additional story
  • Perri - 1957 - Director, writer, storyboard team
  • Lady and the Tramp - 1955 - writer/storyboard team
  • Don's Fountain of Youth 1953 - story
  • Peter Pan - 1953 - writer/storyboard team
  • Trick or Treat - 1952 - story
  • Plutopia - 1951 - story
  • Dude Duck - 1951 - story
  • Lambert the Sheepish Lion - 1951 - story
  • Crazy with the Heat - 1947 - story
  • Song of the South - 1946 - cartoon story
  • Donald's Crime - 1945 - story
  • The Eyes Have It - 1945 - story
  • The Three Caballeros - 1944 - writer
  • Bambi 1942 - story developer
  • Saludos Amigos - 1942 - writer/storyboard team
  • How to Ride a Horse 1941 - writer/storyboard team
  • The Art of Self Defense 1941 - animator, story
  • Goofy's Glider 1940 (Short) - animator, story