Traditional Animation

< Back To Animation Artist Directory Born: Lavalle Lee Birthday: September 14, 1981 Location: Twin Cities, MN, U.S. Alma mater: Don Bluth University Occupation: Director, Producer, Animator, Writer Years active: 1999–present Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. The cartoons on the site

Born: David Dodd Hand Birthday: January 23, 1900 Location: Plainfield, NJ, U.S. Alma mater: Chicago Art Institute Occupation: Animator Years active: 1919-1986 Died: October 11, 1986 David Hand’s animation career began in 1920s as he worked on the Out of the Inkwell cartoons for Max Fleischer. David was recruited by

Born: Eric Alfred Cleworth Birthday: January 3, 1920 Location: Minneapolis, MN, U.S. Occupation: Inbetweener, Animator, Director Years active: 1938-1989 Died: December 10, 1999

Born: Kathy Zielinski Birthday: March 21, 1961 Location: Torrance, CA, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute of the Arts Occupation: Animator Years active: 1981-present

Born: Howard E. Swift Birthday: August 29, 1912 Location: AR, U.S. Occupation: Animator, Director, Writer Years active: 1938-1983 Died: January 13, 1983 Howard Swift was a straight-ahead animator who got his start at Disney in 1938. With no formal art training, he learned the craft of animation when he was

Born: Retta Scott Birthday: February 23, 1916 Location: Omak, WA, U.S. Alma mater: Chouinard Art Institute Occupation: Animator Years active: 1938-1946 Died: August 26, 1990

Born: Richard James Lundy Birthday: August 14, 1907 Location: Sault Ste. Marie, MI, U.S. Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 1929-1973 Died: April 07, 1990 Dick Lundy began in the ink & paint department at the Disney Studio on Hyperion in the summer of 1929. In just a few months, he

< Back To Animation Artist Directory Born: Alexander S. Kupershmidt Birthday: January 27, 1960 Location: Lviv, Ukraine Alma mater: New York School of Visual Arts Occupation: Animator Years active: 1988–present Born in Ukraine, Alex moved to the U.S. as a young man. After graduation from the New York School of

Born: Randy Haycock Birthday: April 29, 1968 Location: Rangely, CO, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute for the Arts Occupation: Animator, Storyboard, Director Years active: 1990-present Randy Haycock always loved to draw, but it wasn’t until he saw the Disney animated film “Fantasia” when he was 15, that he decided to

Born: William Lokey Birthday: April 5, 1904 Location: Birmingham, AL, U.S. Alma mater: Vanderbilt University Occupation: Animator, Director, Writer Years active: 1920s-1986 Died: November 4, 1990 Hicks Lokey spent his early animation years in the 1920s at Van Beuren Studios, working on Aesop’s Film Fables. In 1934, he became as

Born: Russell H. Edmonds Birthday: October 11, 1961 Location: New York City, NY, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute for the Arts Occupation: Animator, Storyboard, Director, Producer Years active: 1986–present Russ Edmonds began as a self-taught artist working as an engineer at the Three-Mile Island nuclear power plant. Ready for a

Born: Dale L. Baer Birthday: June 15, 1950 Location: Denver, CO, U.S. Alma mater: Chouinard Art Institute Occupation: Animator Years active: 1970-2021 Died: January 15, 2021 As a child, Dale Baer fell in love with animation and decided at eight of age that he wanted to work at Walt Disney’s

Born: Bruce Wayne Smith Birthday: September 6, 1961 Location: Los Angeles, CA, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute of the Arts Occupation: Animator, Storyboard, Director, Producer Years active: 1984-present

Born: Clifford Adolph Nordberg Birthday: April 18, 1917 Location: Salt Lake City,UT, U.S. Occupation: Inbetweener, Animator Years active: 1938-1974 Died: December 20, 1979 Cliff Nordberg was hired at Disney Animation Studio in 1938 as an inbetweener. He would eventually be mentored by Wolfgang Reitherman, and “Woolie’s” style would become evident

Born: Michael Surrey Birthday: August 17, 1964 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Alma mater: Sheridan College Occupation: Animator, Storyboard, Director Years active: 1990-present Michael Surrey is an animator of some of Disney’s iconic films, beginning with “Beauty and the Beast.” Michael went on to animate the titular character in “Aladdin,” Timon