Eric Larson

American animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933, who was one of "Disney's Nine Old Men". Larson was the son of Danish immigrants and worked on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, and The Jungle Book. Throughout the years, Larson has animated characters on classics like The Aristocats and Robin Hood and also provided the titles on The Rescuers (along with Mel Shaw and Burny Mattinson). In the 1980s his work was minor, but he had been an animation consultant on animated films and shorts like The Fox and the Hound, Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Black Cauldron, and The Great Mouse Detective. In 1973 he began a recruitment training program that brought a new generation of animators into the Disney studio. Many well-known figures in animation today went through Larson's training program, including Brad Bird, Don Bluth, Chris Buck, Tim Burton, Randy Cartwright, Ron Clements, Andreas Deja, Gary Goldman, Ed Gombert, Mark Henn, Dan Haskett, Glen Keane, Bill Kroyer, John Lasseter, John Musker, Phil Nibbelink, Richard Rich, Burny Mattinson, Melvin Shaw, Jeffrey J. Varab, John Pomeroy, Joe Ranft, Jerry Rees, Henry Selick and Tad Stones among many others. Larson was married to Gertrude Larson. He was the longest working employee at Disney, having worked there for 53 years. He died on 25 October 1988, aged 83, in La Cañada Flintridge, California. Link to Wikipedia biography