Arthur Babbitt
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Babbitt's approach to character animation can be found in his classic essay, "Character Analysis of the Goof": "In my opinion the Goof, hitherto, has been a weak cartoon because both his physical and mental makeup were indefinite and intangible. His figure was a distortion, not a caricature, and if he was supposed to have a mind or a personality, he was certainly never given sufficient opportunity to display it. Just as any actor must thoroughly analyze the character he is interpreting, to know the special way that character would walk, wiggle his fingers, frown, or break into a laugh, just so must the animator know the character he is putting through the paces. In the case of the Goof, the only characteristic that formerly identified itself with him was his voice. No effort was made to endow him with appropriate business to do, a set of mannerisms, or a mental attitude..." (From "The American Animated Cartoon" edited by Gerald Peary and Danny Peary.)
Biography
A master of character animation, Art Babbitt's career spanned the early days of sound animation at Terrytoons and Disney; the glory days of the lavish pre-war Disney features; the 1950s innovations of UPA; the limited commercial animation of Hanna-Barbera in the 60s; and the big-budget animated features of the late 80s and 90s. He was significant both for his extraordinary artistic achievements and for his central role in the fateful Disney animators' strike of 1941. As a leader in the cartoonists' union which clashed with management over wages and working conditions, Babbitt gained the lasting enmity of the paternalistic Walt Disney, with whom he nearly came to blows on the picket line during the height of the strike. Legend has it that Walt's bitterness over the strike motivated the waning of his interest in animated features in the 1940s and forever changed his attitude toward his staff.
As an animator, Babbitt is best known for developing the personality of Goofy, one of the most beloved Disney characters. He also animated the Big Bad Wolf for the classic 1933 short, "The Three Little Pigs" and worked on such landmark Disney features as "Snow White," "Pinocchio," and "Dumbo." Perhaps his most celebrated work at Disney was his animation of the dancing mushrooms in the "Nutcracker Suite" sequence of "Fantasia."
Babbitt also did memorable work for Warner Brothers, UPA, and Hanna-Barbera. He won more than 80 awards for independent TV commercials in the 1950s and 60s, including spots for the Ajax Cleanser elves and a popular ad involving a man who could not pronounce "Worcestershire Sauce." Babbitt headed the commercial department of Hanna-Barbera from 1966 to 1975 and taught master classes in animation at Richard Williams' London studio beginning in 1973. Babbitt's last work was on "The Thief and the Cobbler," a major animated feature not yet released.
Filmography
Animation (Feature Film)
Life Events
1924
Turned to commercial art at age 17 when his parents were unable to afford medical school 9date approximate)
1929
Worked on some of the earliest sound cartoons at Paul Terry's Terrytoons studio in Long Island NY
1932
Went to California to work for Walt Disney for $35 a week
1933
Helped animate the Practical Pig and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney's classic Oscar-winning cartoon short, "The Three Little Pigs"
1934
Assigned to a Mickey Mouse short, "Mickey's Service Station", to animate "The Goof", a previously undeveloped character that soon become known as "Goofy"
1934
Wrote "Character Analysis of the Goof", an essay used as a guide by his fellow animators when working on Goofy (now regarded as a classic text on character animation)
1937
Animated the Wicked Queen in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the first Disney feature
1940
Animated the character of Gepetto in "Pinocchio"
1940
Contributed to several sequences in "Fantasia", most notably animating the dance of the mushrooms sequence to the music of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite"
1941
Fired by Disney in direct violation of the Wagner Labor Relations Act thereby prompting the union to go out on strike (May 29)
1945
Returned to Disney studio after the war but no longer received interesting assignments; snubbed by Walt and some other animators
1946
Left the Disney studio
1949
Assisted on the first Mr. Magoo cartoon, "Ragtime Bear"
1966
Served as director of the commercial department at Hanna-Barbera
1973
Brought to England by animator Richard Williams for master classes in animation at Williams' London studio
1992
Worked on "The Thief and the Cobbler", scheduled for release in late 1992
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Babbitt's approach to character animation can be found in his classic essay, "Character Analysis of the Goof": "In my opinion the Goof, hitherto, has been a weak cartoon because both his physical and mental makeup were indefinite and intangible. His figure was a distortion, not a caricature, and if he was supposed to have a mind or a personality, he was certainly never given sufficient opportunity to display it. Just as any actor must thoroughly analyze the character he is interpreting, to know the special way that character would walk, wiggle his fingers, frown, or break into a laugh, just so must the animator know the character he is putting through the paces. In the case of the Goof, the only characteristic that formerly identified itself with him was his voice. No effort was made to endow him with appropriate business to do, a set of mannerisms, or a mental attitude..." (From "The American Animated Cartoon" edited by Gerald Peary and Danny Peary.)
