50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 22, 2011

If there is any animator in the Ha tBuilding today that knows the business inside out it’s Dale Baer. He has one of the most diverse, consistent, and unique careers of anybody on this list. Baer as born in Denver, Colorado in 1950 and fell in love with animation through going...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 20, 2011

Hicks Lokey is one of the least known and most elusive of the animators in the countdown. Born in 1904, Lokey began his animation career at Terrytoons in the 1920s, the place where he first met future Disney greats Norman Ferguson and Bill Tytla. He then went on to work...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 20, 2011

      Russ Edmonds is one of the most underrated and best subtler acting animators of his generation. In the mid 1980s Edmonds attended the character animation program at Cal Arts with such giants in the industry as Tony Fucile, Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, and Rich Moore. His first break in the...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 18, 2011

The final artist I’m honoring for spot #40- the Assistant Animator is someone who’s work I personally very admire and someone whose career has really inspired me. He’s done about every job in the studio you can think of- inbetweener, checker, traffic boy, assistant animator, animator, director, pro   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 17, 2011

 Milt Kahl was a man with a short temper and had no toleration for anything short of perfection. He was notorious for screaming and cursing at anyone who made a mistake in their work. Even animators who he was no better than were sharply criticized by him. Few had the...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 17, 2011

Dale Oliver             Sometimes even the greatest of animators aren’t naturally great draftsman and even struggle at their own drawing. This was definitely the case for Frank Thomas. Thomas’s excellent skills as an actor, his understanding of movement, and his expert analysis made him one of the a   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 16, 2011

There is a fairly good chance none of you understand what is going on. You’re probably saying to yourself “An assistant animator’s not a person it’s the name of an occupation. What they heck does Ponti think he’s doing?” The other question you might be asking yourself is “I thought...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 14, 2011

Ken Duncan is one of the most versatile animators and best animated performers in the industry today. He is well-regarded for his variety of influences and his use of many styles. After graduating from the Sheridan Institute in Canada in 1984 Duncan moved to Europe where he worked with animators...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 13, 2011

      Alex Kupershmidt is one of the best animators in the Disney studio today in both hand-drawn and CGI. He is a graduate of the animation department at theSchoolofVisualarts inNew Yorkand joined Disney at the opening of theFloridastudio in 1989. His Disney debut was on Roller Coaster Rabbit and i   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 13, 2011

      Randy Haycock is one of the best animators at the Disney Studios today and has worked there since assisting Glen Keane on Aladdin after he came to the studio in 1991. He is from Colorado and went to BYU in Utah. Haycock is great at animating the human...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 11, 2011

If you know anything about Dick Lundy you probably know he’s the creator of Donald Duck. You might not know that he was one of the first personality animators in Disney history and a pioneer in that aspect in the art form. Lundy came to the studio in the late...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 10, 2011

I know that somewhere the ghost of Retta Davidson is very offended by this post. Well I can say I love Davidson’s work too but there’s only so much room and I have to go with the first. Retta Scott was the first woman ever to be an animator.  Her...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 10, 2011

      Some animators have great skills in design and in draftsmanship in animation. A few are also able to balance out technique, character, appeal, and strength in their scenes. When I think about guys in the industry who have the most complete balance of these skills one name seems...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 9, 2011

      Drawing is a skill that many animators struggle at and take a long time to master. Eventually though many of them get to the point where they just “kiss the paper” and have complete control of their pencil (in the case of Grim Natwick, Norman Ferguson, and Cliff...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 8, 2011

Sometimes an animator is talented in an unconventional way. Not only do they not apply the rules but their style is so unique and genius in its own right that there is no need to even understand the rules. However they understand thoughts, acting, and emotions making up for their...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 7, 2011

Cleworth is the second farthest back leading towards the table behind John Lounsbery.              Eric Cleworth isn’t a familiar name to all fans of Disney yet he is one of the best action animators ever with a great flair for movement. He started at Disney in 1939 and stayed until...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 7, 2011

Kathy Zielinski is the second woman to have ever earned the credit of supervising animator on a Disney film. She actually was supposed to be the first when she was originally assigned to supervise Lefou in Beauty and the Beast but she left the studio during the film’s production and...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 1, 2011

Dear everyone,  My name is Grayson Ponti and I’m a high school student who plans on pursuing a career in character animation.  I feel honored to be able to through this blog give respect, acknowledgement, and gratitude to 50 of the greatest artists in the greatest studio in the history of...   read more