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John Mitchell Lounsbery (March 9, 1911 - February 13, 1976) was an American animator and director employed by Walt Disney Productions. He is best known as one of Disney's Nine Old Men, of which he was the shortest lived as well as the first to die.
Life and career
He was born on March 9, 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised in Colorado. He attended East Denver High School and the Art Institute of Denver. While attending the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, an instructor sent him to interview with Walt Disney.
Lounsbery was hired by Disney on July 2, 1935, beginning as an uncredited assistant animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). He went on to work on numerous short features in the 1940s while continuing to serve as part of the animating team on nearly all of Disney's most famous feature-length animated films. In the 1970s, he was promoted to director and directed the short film Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) and co-directed The Rescuers (1977).
Lounsbery died on February 13, 1976, at age 64. At the time of his death, he was working on The Rescuers and still directing at the Walt Disney Studios. He was named a Disney Legend in 1989 and was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Credits | Characters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Pinocchio | Animator | ||
| Fantasia | Animator - Segment "Dance of the Hours" | |||
| 1941 | Dumbo | Animation Director | ||
| 1943 | Victory Through Air Power (Documentary) | Animator | ||
| 1945 | The Three Caballeros | |||
| The Legend of Coyote Rock (Short) | ||||
| Canine Patrol (Short) | ||||
| 1946 | Make Mine Music | |||
| Song of the South | Directing Animator | |||
| 1947 | Fun and Fancy Free | |||
| 1948 | Melody Time | |||
| So Dear to My Heart | Animator | |||
| 1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | Directing Animator | ||
| 1950 | Cinderella | |||
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | |||
| 1952 | Lambert the Sheepish Lion (Short) | Animator | ||
| 1953 | Peter Pan | Directing Animator | ||
| Ben and Me (Short) | Animator | |||
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp | Directing Animator | ||
| 1955 – 1982 | The Magical World of Disney (TV Series) | Animator / Director - 13 Episodes | ||
| 1959 | Sleeping Beauty | Directing Animator | ||
| 1960 | Goliath II (Short) | |||
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | |||
| Aquamania (Short) | Animator | |||
| 1963 | The Sword in the Stone | Directing Animator | ||
| 1964 | Mary Poppins | Animator | ||
| 1966 | Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (Short) | |||
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | Directing Animator | ||
| 1968 | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (Short) | Animator | ||
| 1970 | The Aristocats | Directing Animator | ||
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Animator | ||
| 1973 | Robin Hood | Directing Animator | ||
| 1974 | Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (Short) | Director | ||
| 1977 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | Animator / Director | ||
| The Rescuers | Director | |||
| 1984 | DTV: Golden Oldies (Video) | Animator | ||
| 2011 | Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (TV Series short) | Director - 14 Episodes |