Traditional Animation

Born: Irven LeRoy Spence Birthday: April 24, 1909 Location: Lincoln, NE, U.S. Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 1930-1992 Died: September 21, 1995 Irv Spence developed an interest in drawing in his youth. He and classmate Bill Hanna, drew cartoons for their high school newspaper. His earliest animation work was for

Birthday: September 15, 1910 Location: Milford, UT, U.S. Alma mater: Brigham Young University Occupation: Director, Animator Years active: 1959–1992 Died: August 23, 1992 Charles August “Nick” Nichols’ first credit for Disney was as the lead animator of Pinocchio’s sinister Coachman. He animated numerous cartoon shorts, often with the character Pluto.

Born: William Norman Ferguson Birthday: September 2, 1902 Location: Manhattan, NY, U.S. Alma mater: Pratt Institute Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 1920-1953 Died: November 4, 1953 William Norman “Norm” Ferguson, called “Fergy” by his peers, attended Brooklyn’s Heffley Institute for stenography and typing, but he was inspired by the new

Born: Dominic M. Carola Birthday: Location: Alma mater: Occupation: Animator, Director, Producer Years active: < Back To Animation Artist Directory

Born: John Edward Musker Birthday: November 8, 1953 Location: Chicago, IL, U.S. Alma mater: Northwestern University Occupation: Animator, Director, Writer, Producer Years active: 1977-present < Back To Animation Artist Directory

Born: Ronald Francis Clements Birthday: April 25, 1953 Location: Sioux City, IA, U.S. Occupation: Animator, Writer, Director, Producer Years active: 1972–present < Back To Animation Artist Directory

Born: John Alan Lasseter Birthday: January 12, 1957 Location: Hollywood, CA, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute of the Arts Occupation: Animator, Writer, Director, Producer, Storyboard Years active: 1978-present John Alan Lasseter was born in Hollywood and grew up in Whittier, California. As a child, Lasseter would race home from school

Born: Phillip Bradley Bird Birthday: September 24, 1957 Location: Kalispell, MT, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute of the Arts Occupation: Animator, Writer, Director Years active: 1978-present Born Philip Bradley Bird in Kalispell, Montana, Brad grew up in Oregon. He started drawing at age three and an interest in the art

Born: William Snelgrove Finn Birthday: Novenber 1, 1958 Location: New York City, NY, U.S. Alma mater:  Art Institute of Pittsburgh Occupation: Animator, Writer, Storyboard, Director Years active: 1979–present Will Finn got his start at working as an animator for Don Bluth’s 1982 animated film “The Secret of NIMH.” His efforts

Born: Andeas Deja Birthday: April 1, 1957 Location: Gdansk, Pomorskie, Poland Alma mater: Folkwang Hochschule Occupation: Director, Animator Years active: 1980–present Andreas Deja saw Disney’s “The Jungle Book” at the age of 11 and was inspired to become an animator. He committed to becoming the best artist he could. After

Born: Glen Keane Birthday: April 13, 1954 Location: Philadelphia, PA, U.S. Alma mater: California Institute of the Arts Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 1974-2012 Glen Keane is the son of The Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane, and developed his interest in art while observing his father’s cartooning work. His father,

Born: Eric Goldberg Birthday: May 1, 1955 Location: Levittown, PA, U.S. Alma mater: Pratt Institute Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 1977-present Eric Goldberg studied illustration at Pratt Institute, and began working in the animation industry on Richard Williams’ Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure in mid-1970s. This led to

Born: Richard Edmund Lane Birthday: March 19, 1933 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Alma mater: Ontario College of Art Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 2019-1946 Died: August 16, 2019 Born Richard Edmund Lane, he was adopted by his stepfather, Kenneth D. C. Williams and grew up in suburban Toronto. Richard was

Born: Otto James Messmer Birthday: August 16, 1892 Location: West Hoboken, NJ, U.S. Alma mater: Thomas School of Art Occupation: Animator, Director Years active: 1915-1983 Died: October 28, 1983 Otto Messmer drew his own comics for local papers by the age of 20, but he really wanted to explore the

Born: Walter Elias Disney Birthday: December 5, 1901 Location: Chicago, IL, U.S. Alma mater: Chicago Academy of Fine Arts Occupation: Animator, Director, Producer Years active: 1919-1966 Died: December 15, 1966 Walter “Walt” Elias Disney was born in Chicago, but his family moved to Marceline, Missouri when he was just 5