Art Babbitt

Arthur Harold Babitsky (October 8, 1907 – March 4, 1992), better known as Art Babbitt, was an American animator, best known for his work at The Walt Disney Company.

He received over 80 awards as animation director and animator, but is most famous for creating Goofy. Art Babbitt began his career in New York City working for Paul Terry's Terrytoon Studio. But in the early 1930s he moved to Los Angeles followed by his fellow Terrytoon colleague Bill Tytla, and got a job animating for the Walt Disney Studio. His first important work was a drunken mouse in the short " The Country Cousin"(1936).

Art Babbitt worked as an animator or animation director on such Disney films as The Three Little Pigs (1933), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia (1940), and The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964), among others.

He animated the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Geppetto in Pinocchio, and the dancing mushrooms in Fantasia, the stork in "Dumbo".

Despite being one of the highest paid animators at Disney, Babbitt was sympathetic to the cause of lower echelon Disney artists seeking to form a union. For this he earned Walt Disney's everlasting enmity. After leaving the Disney company union and joining the "Screen Cartoonists' Guild Local 852", the regular union representing all of Hollywood animators, Babbitt was fired from Disney in 1941, an event that eventually led to the 1941 Disney animators' strike. Babbitt then served as one of the union leaders and negotiators.

After serving with the Marines in the Pacific in World War II, Babbitt returned to Disney for a time, then went to United Productions of America (UPA) formed by former Disney strikers. He worked on many of their famous award winning shorts, including the lead character Frankie in "Rooty Toot-Toot"(1951).

In the 1950s he was part owner of Quartet Films, where he did commercials, including the Cleo winning "John & Marsha " spot for Parkay Margarine.Later he was part of Hanna & Barbera's commercial wing.

Known in the animation world as one of the art's most accomplished teachers, in 1973 English animator Richard Williams brought Art Babbitt to London to do a series of lectures on technique that became famous. Some of Art's final work was on King Nod in William's film "The Thief and the Cobbler".

In 1991 Disney Company chief Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt, contacted Art Babbitt and they ended the long feud. Arts' former rivals, the pro-Walt animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, gave Art a warm and moving eulogy at his funeral service.

His first wife (1937-1940) was Marge Champion, a dance model in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. His second wife was Dina Babbitt, a Holocaust survivor. His third wife who survives him is actress Barbara Perry. Babbitt died of kidney failure March 4, 1992, at the age of 84.

External links

• Art Babbitt at IMDb