Distinguished Figures in the World of Animation
by martin-m-kiryakov | created - 20 Apr 2020 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicDistinguished disigners, animators, directors and writers in the realms of animation.
1. Gene Deitch
Director | Obri
Gene Deitch was an animator at UPA. He later joined Terrytoons in 1955. He created characters like "John Doormat", "Clint Clobber", "Gaston Le Crayon", "Sidney", and "Foofle". In early 1958, his theatrical cartoon Sidney's Family Tree (1958) was nominated for Academy Award. In August, 1958, he was ...
2. William Hanna
Producer | ABC Afterschool Specials
William Hanna was an animator, film director, and television producer. He was the co-founder of the company Hanna-Barbera, with his longtime partner Joseph Barbera.
Hanna was born in an Irish-American family, son of William John Hanna (1873-1949) and his wife Avice Joyce Denby. He was born in ...
3. Joseph Barbera
Producer | ABC Afterschool Specials
Joseph Roland Barbera was an American animator, film director, and television producer. He was the co-founder of the company Hanna-Barbera, with his longtime partner William Hanna.
Barbera was born in an Italian-American family. His parents were barbershop-owner Vincent Barbera (1889-1965) and ...
4. Walt Disney
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Flora Disney (née Call) and Elias Disney, a Canadian-born farmer and businessperson. He had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Walt moved with his parents to Kansas City at age seven, where he spent the majority of ...
5. Ray Harryhausen
Actor | Spies Like Us
When it comes to motion-picture special effects, there is only one name that personifies movie magic: Ray Harryhausen. From his debut films with George Pal to his final film, Harryhausen imbued magic and visual strength to motion-picture special effects as no other technician has, before or since.
...
6. Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin
Director | Nu, pogodi!
Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin was born on June 20, 1927 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was a director and art director, known for Well, Just You Wait! (1969), Vsyo dlya vas (1965) and Na lesnoy trope (1975). He died on November 20, 2000 in Moscow, Russia.
7. Leonid Shvartsman
Director | Skoraya pomoshch
Leonid Shvartsman was born on August 30, 1920 in Minsk, Byelorussian SSR [now Belarus]. He was an art director and director, known for The First Aid (1997), Garland Made of Kids (1983) and How the Camel and the Donkey Went to School (1975). He died on July 2, 2022 in Moscow, Russia.
8. Eduard Uspenskiy
Writer | Cheburashka
Eduard Uspenskiy was born on December 22, 1937 in Egorievsk, Moskovskaya oblast, USSR. He was a writer, known for Cheburashka (2010), Dyadya Fedor, pes i kot and God khoroshego rebyonka (1991). He was married to Eleonora Filina, Elena Uspenskaya and Rimma Uspenskaya. He died on August 14, 2018 in ...
9. Tim Burton
Producer | Edward Scissorhands
Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...
10. Terry Gilliam
Writer | Brazil
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...
11. Henry Selick
Director | Coraline
Henry Selick is a film director, specializing in films with stop-motion animation. He has formal training as an animator.
Selick was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, son of Charles H. Selick and Melanie Molan. He was mostly raised in Rumson, New Jersey. As a child, Selick took up drawing as a hobby. ...
12. Genndy Tartakovsky
Producer | Samurai Jack
Genndy Tartakovsky was born and raised in Moscow, USSR. He and his family moved to Chicago, IL when he was 7 years old, after his father defected to the US. His interest in comic books and animation led him to study animation at CalArts in Los Angeles. While he was there he produced two student ...
13. Roger Allers
Director | The Lion King
Roger Allers is an American animated film director and writer who is known for co-directing the influential 1994 Disney musical film The Lion King. He also worked on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. He was intended to direct the musical drama Kingdom of the Sun, which got ...
14. Matt Groening
Writer | The Simpsons
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Matt Groening did not particularly like school, which is what originally turned him towards drawing. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Los Angeles and started drawing a comic strip named "Life in Hell", which eventually became published in the newspaper where he worked. ...
15. Sam Simon
Producer | The Simpsons
Sam Simon was born on June 6, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for The Simpsons (1989), The Tracey Ullman Show (1987) and Shanghai Noon (2000). He was married to Jami Ferrell and Jennifer Tilly. He died on March 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
16. Jirí Trnka
Writer | Sen noci svatojánské
A graduate of Prague's School of Arts and Crafts, in 1936 he created a puppet theater, which was disbanded after the outbreak of WWII. During the war he designed stage sets and illustrated children's books. In 1945 he set up an animation unit with several collaborators at the Prague film studio; ...
17. Timothy Quay
Director | Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
The identical twin Brothers Quay (the other being Stephen) were born near Philadelphia in a town with a large European immigrant population, which fuelled their interest in European (especially Eastern European) culture. They moved to London in the late 1960s to study at the Royal College of Art ...
18. Stephen Quay
Director | Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
The identical twin Brothers Quay (the other being Timothy) were born near Philadelphia in a town with a large European immigrant population, which fuelled their interest in European (especially Eastern European) culture. They moved to London in the late 1960s to study at the Royal College of Art ...
19. Matt Williames
Animation_department | The Princess and the Frog
Matt Williames is known for The Princess and the Frog (2009), Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018).
20. Torsten Schrank
Art_department | Klaus
Torsten Schrank is known for Klaus (2019), Sweesters: Virtual Room (2009) and El Cid: La leyenda (2003).
21. Sergio Pablos
Writer | Klaus
Sergio Pablos' career in animation spans over three decades. His work is well known as a Supervising Animator on Disney films such as "Tarzan" and "Treasure Planet". At the helm of his company The SPA Studios, he's also known for having developed the original story upon which films like "Despicable...
22. Tomm Moore
Producer | WolfWalkers
Tomm Moore was born on January 7, 1977 in Newry, Northern Ireland, UK. He is a producer and writer, known for Wolfwalkers (2020), Song of the Sea (2014) and The Secret of Kells (2009). He is married to Liselott Olofsson. They have one child.
23. Chris Buck
Director | Frozen
Chris Buck is an animation film director from Wichita, Kansas. He directed the Disney animated films Tarzan, Frozen, Frozen Fever and Frozen II and Sony Pictures Animation's Surf's Up. He was a supervising animator for Percy, Grandmother Willow and Wiggins for Pocahontas. He won Best Animated ...
24. Chuck Jones
Actor | Gremlins
Starting as a cel washer, Chuck Jones worked his way up to animator and then director at the animation division of Warner Bros. He is famous for creating such beloved cartoon characters as Wile E. Coyote, Henery Hawk, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Ralph Wolf, Road Runner, Sam Sheepdog, Sniffles,...
25. Wolfgang Reitherman
Director | The AristoCats
Wolfgang Reitherman was a German-born American animator who was one of Disney's Nine Old Men.
He began working for Disney in 1933, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts.
Reitherman directed several Disney animated ...
26. Pete Docter
Writer | Up
Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," and "Inside Out," and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Pixar's feature film "Soul" with producer Dana Murray, which is set to release June 19, 2020.
Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the ...
27. Ralph Bakshi
Director | Wizards
Ralph Bakshi worked his way up from Brooklyn and became an animation legend. He was born on October 29, 1938, in Haifa, Israel, the son of Mina (Zlotin) and Eliezar Bakshi, and is of Krymchak Jewish descent. He was raised in Brownsville, after his family came to New York to escape World War II. ...
28. Chris Butler
Writer | ParaNorman
Chris Butler was born in 1974 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK. He is a writer, known for ParaNorman (2012), Missing Link (2019) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).
29. Anthony Elworthy
Animation_department | Isle of Dogs
Anthony Elworthy is known for Isle of Dogs (2018), Frankenweenie (2012) and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).
30. Anthony Scott
Animation_department | Evolution
Anthony Scott is known for Evolution (2001), A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011) and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).
31. Tobias Fouracre
Animation_department | Isle of Dogs
Tobias Fouracre is known for Isle of Dogs (2018), Frankenweenie (2012) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).
32. Brian Leif Hansen
Animation_department | Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Brian Leif Hansen is known for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), Frankenweenie (2012) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).
33. Dobrin Yanev
Animation_department | Kubo and the Two Strings
Dobrin Yanev is known for Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), Frankenweenie (2012) and The Boxtrolls (2014).
34. Malcolm Lamont
Animation_department | The Boxtrolls
Malcolm Lamont is known for The Boxtrolls (2014), Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).
35. Slav Bakalov
Writer | Pastoral
Slav Bakalov works as a painter, sculptor, writer and director of animated films. He graduated from Sofia Art School (1964) and from the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), Moscow (1975). Art director and director at Sofia Animation Film Studio (1974/89) and art manager of Cadence Animation ...
36. Rumen Petkov
Director | Jenitba
Rumen Petkov is a cartoon and animation artist and director. He graduated from Sofia Art School in 1967 and in Bulgarian Studies from the University of Sofia in 1977. Animator, artist and director at Sofia Animation Film Studio. Since 1989 he lives in the US. He has received Grand Prix at the ...
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