John Lounsbery

John Lounsbery
Born John Mitchell Lounsbery
(1911-03-09)March 9, 1911
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died February 13, 1976(1976-02-13) (aged 64)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Heart failure during surgery
Occupation Animator
Known for One of Disney's Nine Old Men
Spouse(s) Florence Louise Hurd
(m. 1935; his death 1976)
Children 3

John Mitchell Lounsbery (March 9, 1911 – February 13, 1976) was an American animator who worked for The Walt Disney Company. 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 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised in Colorado. He attended East Denver High School and the Art Institute of Denver. While attending the Art Center School 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 assistant animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He went on to work on numerous other 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 Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! and co-directed The Rescuers.

John Lounsbery died on February 13, 1976. At the time of his death, he was working on the The Rescuers and still directing at the Walt Disney Studios. He was named a Disney Legend in 1989.

He was animation director for:

Characters animated by Lounsbery

External links

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