Robert Fred “Freddie” Moore, born September 7, 1911 in Los Angeles, California. Some say Freddie Moore was Walt Disney’s greatest artist. His peers around the studio would always ask for one of Fred’s “Freddie Moore Girls” drawings and seek draftsmanship advice. Ollie Johnston (One of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men) kept a pencil of Fred’s taped to his window. In the 1995 Frank & Ollie documentary Ollie said he kept it there to, “remind me of how great the guy was and how much he meant to me”. He had a natural talent and was envied in the studio. He is best known for redesigning Mickey Mouse, and gave the mouse that extra appeal.

Disney Animator Fred Moore
Disney Animator Fred Moore

Storyman Larry Clemmons once recalled, “He was such a help to other guys. Guys would come in his room and say, ‘Fred, how would you do this?’ Fred would say, ‘Well, here!’—and he’d show them—he didn’t lecture, he just did it.” Source: D23

FreddieMoore0

FreddieMoore1

FreddieMoore2

FreddieMoore3

FreddieMoore4

FreddieMoore5

FreddieMoore6

FreddieMoore7

FreddieMoore8

FreddieMoore9

FreddieMoore

FreddieMoore10

FreddieMoore11

FreddieMoore12

FreddieMoore13

FreddieMoore14

FreddieMoore15

FreddieMoore16

FreddieMoore17

FreddieMoore18

FreddieMoore19

FreddieMoore20

FreddieMoore21

FreddieMoore22

FreddieMoore23

FreddieMoore24

FreddieMoore25

FreddieMoore26

FreddieMoore27

FreddieMoore28

FreddieMoore29

FreddieMoore30

FreddieMoore31

FreddieMoore32

FreddieMoore33

FreddieMoore34

FreddieMoore35

FreddieMoore36

FreddieMoore37

FreddieMoore38

FreddieMoore39

FreddieMoore40

FreddieMoore41

FreddieMoore42

FreddieMoore43

FreddieMoore44

FreddieMoore45

FreddieMoore46

FreddieMoore47

FreddieMoore48

FreddieMoore49

FreddieMoore50

FreddieMoore51

FreddieMoore52

FreddieMoore53

FreddieMoore54

FreddieMoore55

FreddieMoore56

FreddieMoore57

FreddieMoore58

FreddieMoore59

FreddieMoore60

FreddieMoore61

FreddieMoore62

FreddieMoore63

FreddieMoore64

FreddieMoore65

FreddieMoore66

cen1

cen2

cen3

cen4

cen5

cen15

cen16

cen17

cen18

cen19

cen20

cen21

cen22

cen23

cen24

cen25

cen26

cen27

cen28

To this day it is still the best design for Mickey Mouse. Fred Moore left the Disney Studios in 1946 and worked for Walter Lantz, where he redesigned the character Woody Woodpecker during a two-year stint that ended with his return to Disney in 1948.

“When he animated the pigs in Three Little Pigs, for instance, Fred also won Walt’s highest praise that “at last, we have achieved true personality in a whole picture.” Fred contributed to nearly 35 shorts in all, including Pluto’s Judgement Day, Three Orphan Kittens, which won an Oscar®, and Brave Little Tailor, which was nominated for an Academy Award®.” Source: D23

Here is a video of Freddie Moore’s animation.

Tags:
Previous post

Don Bluth University - New School

Next post

Glen Keane to Direct Feature Film on Netflix

The Author

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.

17 Comments

  1. Andrew Hickinbottom
    January 24, 2018 at 7:53 pm —

    Wow – great collection! Thanks!

  2. Tim Wollweber
    January 24, 2018 at 8:47 pm —

    Dan!!

  3. Bridgette Robeson
    January 24, 2018 at 8:58 pm —

    Wonderful…

  4. Tamsin Parker
    January 24, 2018 at 9:21 pm —

    I saw a caricature of Moore himself in ‘Ferdinand the Bull’.

  5. Carlos Estrada
    January 24, 2018 at 9:48 pm —

    Excelente !!!!

  6. Jonathan Wayshak
    January 24, 2018 at 9:54 pm —

    Patrick O’Connell I’m a big fan of this guy’s work.

  7. Nicolas Rivet
    January 24, 2018 at 10:39 pm —

    Really interesting thanks for sharing!

  8. Peeahwee Lujan
    January 25, 2018 at 4:37 am —

    Jesse Plumley-Garcia

  9. Sylvain Proulx
    January 25, 2018 at 12:57 pm —

    Magnifique
    J’ai beaucoup de vieux dessin de BD dans les journaux de 1917 à 1973

  10. Barbara Maria
    January 25, 2018 at 4:57 pm —

    Caio

  11. G
    May 18, 2018 at 4:00 pm —

    I have an original drawing of Fred Moore’s, given to me by his daughter Sue. I was friends with her daughter Kelly. I’m wondering if you have any idea if its value or could point me in the right direction. I’m just curious about it. Thanks!

  12. Angus
    January 31, 2019 at 9:06 pm —

    Figure drawing goals! Beautiful work!

  13. Jeff Jackson
    February 7, 2019 at 1:30 am —

    Thanks for posting these! I wonder if this collection is being reprinted in a book form?

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.