Animator and animation director who worked for
Walt Disney. He graduated from the University of California- Berkley where he majored in business and began working life as a newspaper cartoonist in Oakland. He signed with Disney in 1931, initially drawing Mickey Mouse black & white shorts before moving on as full animator to the Silly Symphony series which was done in colour and had a strong musical component. He established himself as one of the top animators at the studio with the hugely popular cartoons
The Tortoise and the Hare (1935) and
Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935). On the strength of this he became supervising animator on their first animated feature film,
Blanche-Neige et les sept nains (1937).