Charles August "Nick" Nichols (September 15, 1910 – August 23, 1992) was an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

and film director, who worked in animation for over 50 years at

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

and

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

. At Disney, he worked on various short subjects and films from the 1940s into the 1950s, including the Academy Award-winning short ''

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'' is a 1953 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols. A sequel to the first ''Adventures in Music'' cartoon, the 3-D short '' Melody'' ( ...

'' (1953). Nichols co-directed ''

Charlotte's Web ''Charlotte's Web'' is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and his ...

'' (1973) while at Hanna-Barbera.

Biography

Nichols was born in

Milford, Utah Milford is a city in Beaver County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,409 at the 2010 census and 1,394 as of a 2019 Census Bureau estimate. History Although settlers had established ranches in the area in the 1870s, Milford was not de ...

. As an animator for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, his first credit was on the film ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', where he was the lead animator for the villainous

Coachman A coachman is an employee who drives a coach or carriage, a horse-drawn vehicle designed for the conveyance of passengers. A coachman has also been called a coachee, coachy, whip, or hackman. The coachman's first concern is to remain in full c ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Nichols animated several short subjects, including ''First Aiders'' (1944) and numerous cartoons involving the character

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

. The authors of ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons'' opined Nichols' animation style made Pluto an "even more likable character." Nichols directed ''

Mickey and the Seal ''Mickey and the Seal'' is a cartoon short created by Walt Disney in 1948. It was nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, but lost to MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoon ''The Little Orphan'', which shared one of seven Oscars for the T ...

'' (1948) and ''

Morris the Midget Moose ''Morris the Midget Moose'' is a 1950 Walt Disney animated short, based on a 1945 picture book published by G.P. Putnam's sons, written and illustrated by Frank Owen, originally released to theaters on November 24, 1950, from Walt Disney Producti ...

'' (1950). He then animated on the 1951 feature film ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

''. Alongside

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored ...

, Nichols co-directed two films in 1953: ''

Melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

'', notable for being the first

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

at Disney, and ''

''. The latter earned an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

. Nichols worked on the anthology series ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

'' during the mid-1950s, tasked with combining new footage made for the series with older productions, such as cartoons and live action segments. Nichols later served as director on the live action series ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

''. He became a stalwart at the

studio, directing much of their output made between the 1960s and 1980s. Nichols directed the adventure-themed ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'' and ''

Space Ghost Space Ghost (Tad Ghostal) is a fictional superhero created by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 1960s for TV network CBS. He was designed by Alex Toth. In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his teen sidekicks, Jan and Jace, ...

'' in addition to the comedic ''

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of ''The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...

'', ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced f ...

'' and ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

''. In 1966, Nichols served as animation director for ''

The Man Called Flintstone ''The Man Called Flintstone'' is a 1966 American animated musical comedy film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The second film by Hanna-Barbera following ''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' (1964), it was dir ...

''. Nichols continued directing at Hanna-Barbera during the 1970s, working on ''

Super Friends ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of ...

'', ''

Hong Kong Phooey ''Hong Kong Phooey'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast on ABC. The original episodes aired from September 7 to December 21, 1974, and then in repeats until 1976. The show wa ...

'', ''

Goober and the Ghost Chasers ''Goober and the Ghost Chasers'' is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, broadcast on ABC from September 8, 1973, to August 30, 1975. A total of 16 half-hour episodes of ''Goober and the Ghost Chasers'' were produce ...

'', and ''

The Scooby-Doo Show ''The Scooby-Doo Show'' is an American animated mystery comedy series. The title of the series is an umbrella term for episodes of the third incarnation of Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. A total of 40 episodes ran for three seasons, fr ...

''. With

Iwao Takamoto Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as ''Cinderella ...

, he co-directed the feature-length animated film ''

'' (1973). In a mixed review, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' felt the animation was "uninteresting" but noted the film stayed true to the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

on which it was based. Takamoto opined Nichols was an "unsung legend" who rarely got recognition for his work in animation. He was heavily involved in the production of ''

Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...

'', alongside Takamoto and

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with ''The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his ret ...

. He is also credited as Nick Nichols on ''Scooby's All-Stars'' on ABC (the second-season title of ''

Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics ''Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'' is a two-hour Saturday morning animated program block produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on ABC from September 10, 1977, until October 28, 1978. The block featured five Hanna-Barbera series am ...

''). During the 1980s, Nichols worked for

Ruby-Spears Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vete ...

, providing animation direction to ''

ABC Weekend Specials ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to b ...

'' and ''

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

''. In addition, he directed the animated television films ''

Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School ''Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School'' is a 1988 animated made-for-television film produced by Hanna-Barbera for syndication as part of the ''Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10'' series. Plot Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and Scrappy-Doo are on their way to Miss G ...

'' and ''

The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound ''The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound'' is a 1988 animated Western television film produced by Hanna-Barbera for syndication as part of the ''Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10'' series. The film parodies various Western films (in a manner akin to ...

'' (both released in 1988). Near the end of his career, Nichols returned to Disney, working on ''

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the fi ...

'', ''

Darkwing Duck ''Darkwing Duck'' is an American animated superhero comedy television series produced by Disney Television Animation (formerly Walt Disney Television Animation) that first ran from 1991 to 1992 on both the syndicated programming block ''The Disn ...

'', and ''

Goof Troop ''Goof Troop'' is an American animated sitcom television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The series focuses on the relationship between single father Goofy and his son, Max, as well as their neighbors Pete and his family. C ...

'', the latter of which aired posthumously.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Charles August 1910 births 1992 deaths American animated film directors Animators from Utah Film directors from Utah People from Beaver County, Utah Walt Disney Animation Studios people Hanna-Barbera people Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners