John Lounsbery

John Lounsbery

John Lounsbery had his own special way of looking at things, according to fellow animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. In their book, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, they wrote that no matter how bad a situation might be, John could always make “some funny observation to lighten the situation.” And while shy by …

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Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas

Animator Frank Thomas instilled vivid personality into his characters. He drew some of Disney animation’s most memorable, as well as touching, moments, including the Dwarfs crying at Snow White’s bier, Bambi and Thumper learning how to ice skate, and the charming spaghetti-eating sequence in Lady and the Tramp. To Frank, personality was always the key …

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Eric Larson

Eric Larson

Toward the end of his enduring career at The Walt Disney Studios, animator Eric Larson became a gentle and devoted mentor to the next generation of up-and-coming Disney artists. Former student Andreas Deja, who animated such Disney characters as Jafar from Aladdin and Scar in The Lion King, remembered Eric as “the best animation teacher …

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Fred MacMurray

Fred MacMurray

“Fred MacMurray,” director Billy Wilder once said, “gives people the feeling that he’s kind to dogs, children, mothers and widows.”

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Young Annette Funicello

To Annette, with Love

D23 dips into the Disney twenty-three magazine archives for this touching story on Annette Funicello’s relationship with her devoted husband, Glen.

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Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse

About Walt Disney

Read more stories about Walt Disney here. During a 43-year Hollywood career, which spanned the development of the motion picture medium as a modern American art, Walter Elias Disney, a modern Aesop, established himself and his product as a genuine part of Americana. David Low, the late British political cartoonist, called Disney “the most significant …

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Disney History

Walt Disney arrived in California in the summer of 1923 with a lot of hopes but little else. He had made a cartoon in Kansas City about a little girl in a cartoon world, called Alice’s Wonderland, and he decided that he could use it as his “pilot” film to sell a series of these “Alice …

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Walt Disney Archives

Try to think of a company that looks to its past more than The Walt Disney Company. From Mickey Mouse to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, characters and stories introduced decades ago continue to be celebrated in brand-new films, television programs, merchandise items and theme park experiences. Recognizing the unique and enduring creative legacy started …

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