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
Le lièvre et la tortue (1935) and
Qui a tué le Rouge-Gorge? (1935). On the strength of this he became supervising animator on their first animated feature film,
Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (1937).
