In the inaugural articles of a new series featuring those who helped
to create the Disney entertainment empire, we look at five men who passed
away in 2002, whose legacies live on in cartoons and movies that still
delight audiences young and old.
William “Tex” Henson, David Swift, Chuck Jones,
Buddy Baker, and Ward Kimball all worked at the Disney studios
at some time in their careers. Short stay or lifelong association, however,
all five left their indelible marks. This week we look at those first four, and next
week we’ll focus on Ward Kimball.
William “Tex” Henson
Chip ‘n Dale from 1951’s “Chicken in the Rough”. Image ©Disney
William “Tex” Henson joined the Disney studios
in the early 1940s after graduating from high school. His first credits
include Song of the South, Pecos Bill, and Peter and
the Wolf. In 1947, the cartoon characters Chip ’n’ Dale
were introduced in a Donald Duck cartoon, and Henson helped lead the campaign
to have the chipmunk duo become regular characters.
Henson left Disney to go onto other projects, including working on the
Casper, The Friendly Ghost cartoons and eventually joined Jay Ward
Productions. He was responsible for supervising approximately 180 animators
that quickly turned out classics such as Rocky & Bullwinkle, Underdog,
Tennessee Tuxedo and the Trix Rabbit. At the time, no one
knew those cartoons would become classics that would live on in syndication.
Henson recounts his career in an article at CNN.com:
“There wasn’t much expected from those cartoons,”
Henson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an interview about 10 years
ago. “We were hackin’ ’em out on the cheap, getting the
job done,” he said, adding that most of his employees did not speak
English or understand the humor of their work. “But we made ’em
as funny-looking as we could under the circumstances and I guess something
clicked between the writing and the cartooning,” he told the paper.
Henson eventually moved to Dallas, Texas where he taught animation classes.
His life ended tragically at the age of 78 in an auto accident on December
2, 2002.
David Swift
David Swift. Image ©Disney
David Swift started his long career in entertainment by working as an
office boy, then animator and assistant to Ward Kimball in the 1930s.
Leaving Disney in the 1940s to strike out on his own, he quickly established
himself as a writer, especially in the emerging television industry. Writing
numerous episodes of the Philco Television Playhouse, Studio
One and Fireside Theatre, he also branched out as a director
of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series.
During this time, he renewed his association with Walt Disney by working
as an animator on Peter Pan, The Reluctant Dragon, Fantasia,
and Pinocchio.
In the late 1950s, he went on to write and direct for The Rifleman
and the Playhouse 90 television series, then began to concentrate
on film-directing in the 1960s. Pollyanna, which he both wrote
and directed, put him on the map.
Known as a gentle and patient man, Swift was able to bring out skilled
performances from Hayley Mills and the other young actors in the Disney
movies he directed.
Swift in a cameo role as an elevator operator with Michele Lee in How to Succeed in Business. Image ©MGM
Swift went on to write and/or direct such classics as The Parent Trap,
Under The Yum Yum Tree, Good Neighbor Sam, How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying, and Candleshoe. His career
came full circle when he wrote the screenplay for the 1998 remake of The
Parent Trap.
Swift continued to direct television shows in the 1970s and ’80s
but to most fans, he will always be identified as the writer and director
of some of Disney’s most beloved films. When Swift died of heart
failure on New Year’s Eve, 2001, left a lifetime of achievements
as his legacy.
Chuck Jones
Like Swift and Henson, Chuck Jones also started his career in animation.
Although his association with the Disney studios was short-lived, the
influence he cast on future animators both at Disney and elsewhere was
legendary. Jones was known for his mentoring and encouragement of many
young artists through his life.
Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng; Image ©Associated Press
Jones’ first animation job was with former Disney animator Ub Iwerks
in 1931. A few short years later, Jones was hired by the legendary Friz
Freleng at the Leon Schlesinger Studios. Working with veteran cartoonists
Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, they created what is now known as the Golden
Age of Warner Bros. animation. He co-created Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer
Fudd and Porky Pig, but is the sole creator of the Road Runner, Wile E.
Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe Le Pew, Michigan J. Frog, and many others.
He summed up his work philosophy in this interview with the Academy of
Achievement:
“You have no right to diminish an audience’s expectations.
You have to give them everything that you have. And with children, with
anything that’s supposedly being done for children, the requirement
becomes much more stringent. You’ve got to do the best you can.
You have no right to pull back. You have no right to ’write for
children.’ You do the best thing that you can do. And the audiences—for
children—all the more so, because you’re building a child’s
expectation of what is good and what is bad.”
When the Warner Bros. animation studio closed down for a short hiatus
in 1955, Jones worked at the Disney Studios on Sleeping Beauty
for four months, but returned to Warner Bros. when they reopened. However,
once Warner Bros. animation shut down permanently in 1962, Jones moved
to MGM, animating numerous Tom & Jerry cartoons and other projects.
He also worked on Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas,
The Phantom Tollbooth and the short film, The Dot and The Line,
which garnered him an Academy Award.
From 1962 until he passed away in February 2002, he also founded and
ran his own entertainment company, Chuck Jones Enterprises, and went on
to create television commercials (Charlie Tuna) and many shows, such as
The Cricket in Times Square, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and A
Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court. He also directed animation
segments for the films Stay Tuned and Mrs. Doubtfire.
Chuck Jones was a prodigious talent who made more than 300 animated films
and won three Oscars as director. In 1996, he received an honorary Oscar
for Lifetime Achievement, earning him a permanent spot as a true legend
of animation and entertainment.
For more information about Jones’ animation accomplishments, please
read Al
Lutz’s Home Theatre review of the Chuck Jones retrospective
DVD, Chuck Jones: Extremes And In-Betweens, A Life In Animation.
Buddy Baker
Buddy Baker, musician and prolific composer, wrote almost 200 musical
scores in a wide range of styles, including big band, radio shows, and
Disney films, television and theme park attractions.
Baker conducting at a recording session; Image ©Disney
Born in Springfield, Illinois, Baker trained on piano and trumpet, and
studied music at Southwest Baptist University. Moving to Los Angeles in
1938, he quickly made a name for himself writing arrangements for big
band names like Harry James and Stan Kenton, and writing and scoring radio
shows for celebrities like Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and others.
During this time, he taught at Los Angeles City College (where one of
his students was Jerry Goldsmith, who would go on to become a noted music
composer in his own right).
In time, former student George Bruns, asked him to help out on the music
for the Davy Crockett series. Soon, Baker was promoted to musical
director for The Mickey Mouse Club and thus began his 28-year association
with the Walt Disney Company.
His first feature film assignment was Toby Tyler in 1960, followed
by the three Winnie the Pooh featurettes, the Cannes award-winning
featurette Donald in Mathmagicland, Napolean, and Samantha
(for which he was nominated for an Academy Award), The Apple Dumpling
Gang, The Shaggy D.A., various True-Life Adventures,
and other well-known titles (almost 50 in all).
In 1964, Baker was called upon to provide the music for the New York
World’s Fair for Walt Disney’s new attractions “Carousel
of Progress,” “Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln” and “it’s
a small world.”
In spite of such a prodigious output, he found the time to serve as Composer/Musical
Director for WED Enterprises, where he scored music for the various Disney
theme parks and for the Disneyland television series. Some of his music
can be heard at:
- Disneyland – Innoventions (scoring for “Great Big Beautiful
Tomorrow”), the Haunted Mansion (co-writing the song “Grim
Grinning Ghosts”) - Walt Disney World – Impressions de France (Epcot), Mexico Pavilion
(Epcot), The American Adventure (Epcot), Winnie the Pooh (Magic Kingdom) - Tokyo DisneySea – The Seven Voyages of Sinbad
After retiring from Disney in 1983, Baker went on to a teaching career
at the University of Southern California, coming out of retirement to
provide music for new attractions at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and
Tokyo DisneySea. He died of natural causes on July 26, 2002 at the age
of 84.
