David Dodd Hand (January 23, 1900 – October 11, 1986) 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 games ...

and animation filmmaker known for his work at

Walt Disney Productions 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 Octobe ...

. He worked on numerous Disney shorts during the 1930s and eventually became supervising director on the animated features ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

'' and ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book '' Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

, Hand began his animation career working on

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

's ''

Out of the Inkwell ''Out of the Inkwell'' is an American major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929. History The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced from 19 ...

'' cartoons throughout the 1920s. He joined the Disney studio in 1930 during a major drive by Disney to recruit from the best of animating talent. Hand immediately made his mark as an animator. By 1932 he was regarded as one of the studio's top animators (despite some complaints that his work was "too mechanical")Transcript of Michael Barrier's interview with David Hand
/ref> and had become a close friend of

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 ...

himself. Hand's organizational skills made Disney select him to be the studio's third director after

Burt Gillett Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was a director of animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Disney, particularly the 1932 short film '' Flowers and Trees'' and the 1933 short film ''Three Little Pig ...

and

Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Silly Symphonies'' series of cartoons and the ''Night on Bald Mountain''/''Ave ...

. He made his directorial debut for the company with the

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white g ...

short ''

Building a Building ''Building a Building'' is a 1933 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Production and released by United Artists. A remake of the 1928 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film ''Sky Scrappers'', the cartoon depicts Mickey Mouse working at a ...

'' and went on to direct both ''Silly Symphony'' and Mickey Mouse shorts, including '' The Flying Mouse'', '' Who Killed Cock Robin?'', ''

Three Orphan Kittens ''Three Orphan Kittens'' is a 1935 animated short film in the Silly Symphonies series produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was the winner of the 1935 Oscar for Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). It was followed in 1936 by a seque ...

'', and ''

Thru the Mirror ''Thru the Mirror'' is a Mickey Mouse cartoon short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists in 1936. In this cartoon short, Mickey has a ''Through the Looking-Glass''-type dream that he travels through his mirror ...

''. By the late 1930s Hand's management skills had allowed him to ascend the hierarchy of the Studio to functioning as Disney's right-hand man. But as historian

Michael Barrier Michael J. Barrier (born June 15, 1940) is an American animation historian. Work Barrier was the founder and editor of ''Funnyworld'', the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha a ...

notes "Hand's position was fundamentally untenable—he was second in command in an organization whose leader, younger than Hand himself, had no intention of ever stepping aside or sharing real power."

Gaumont British Animation

After leaving Disney in 1944, Hand went to England, and, with the backing of

J. Arthur Rank Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (22 December 1888 – 29 March 1972) was a British industrialist who was head and founder of the Rank Organisation. Family business Rank was born on 22 or 23 December 1888 at Kingston upon Hull in England int ...

, established Gaumont British Animation at Moor Hall in 1946 to produce a series called ''Animaland'' and another called ''Musical Paintbox''. In 1948, he produced a few theatrical animated advertisements entitled ''Ye Old English Car-Tunes'' on

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic ...

. These were unable to get distribution in the United States, and the studio closed in 1950, dooming plans to produce two animated features adapted from

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The First Men in the Moon ''The First Men in the Moon'' is a scientific romance by the English author H. G. Wells, originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from December 1900 to August 1901 and published in hardcover in 1901, who called it one of his "fantastic ...

'' and

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its seque ...

's ''

The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony in 8 Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight po ...

''.TCM's Cartoon Alley
/ref> Hand moved to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

where he worked for the next 18 years at the Alexander Film Company, a maker of commercials and industrial films. Beginning in January 1949, Hand's ''Animaland'' and ''Musical Paintbox'' series were released in theaters in the United Kingdom. Later that June, both of his series were released in theaters in Canada. Few in number, Hand's shorts were shown in theaters for only a year, ending their run in the United Kingdom in July 1950 and in Canada in October 1950. During the mid-1970s and into the early 1980s, Hand's cartoons begin airing on television for the first time in the United Kingdom. He died in California at age 86. Hand's son David Hale Hand has formed David Hand Productions which owns the rights to the 19 Gaumont animated shorts -- nine Animaland cartoons and ten Musical Paintbox cartoons -- and hopes to produce new films starring some of the characters in the shorts, e.g. Ginger Nutt. In 1994, Hand was inducted into the

Disney Legends The Disney Legends Awards is a Hall of Fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a speci ...

program.

Filmography

* '' Midnight in a Toy Shop'' (1930) * '' The China Plate'' (1931) * '' Egyptian Melodies'' (1931) * ''

Old King Cole "Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numb ...

'' (1933) * '' Birds in the Spring'' (1933) * '' The Mad Doctor'' (1933) * ''

'' (1933) * '' The Flying Mouse'' (1934) * '' The Dognapper'' (1934) * '' Mickey's Steam Roller'' (1934) * '' Who Killed Cock Robin?'' (1935) * '' Pluto's Judgement Day'' (1935) * ''

The Robber Kitten The Robber Kitten is a 1935 Walt Disney Silly Symphonies cartoon, directed by David Hand. Plot A kitten named Ambrose is dreaming about running away and becoming a robber. Calling himself "Butch" at the beginning of the cartoon, he is seen play� ...

'' (1935) * ''

'' (1935) * '' Mickey's Polo Team'' (1936) * ''

'' (1936) * '' Three Blind Mouseketeers'' (1936) * '' Mother Pluto'' (1936) * '' Three Little Wolves'' (1936) * ''

Little Hiawatha ''Little Hiawatha'' (also called ''Hiawatha'') is a 1937 animated cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, inspired by the poem ''The Song of Hiawatha'' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It does not appear to have historical correlation to legen ...

'' (1937) * '' Magician Mickey'' (1937) *''

'' (Supervising director; 1937) * ''

The Whalers ''The Whalers'' is a cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by RKO Radio Pictures on August 19, 1938, and featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. The short was directed by David Hand and Dick Huemer. It featured the voice ...

'' (1938) * ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

'' (Associate producer; 1940) * ''

'' (Supervising director; 1942) * ''

Victory Through Air Power ''Victory Through Air Power'' is a 1942 non-fiction book by Alexander P. de Seversky. It was made into a 1943 Walt Disney animated feature film of the same name. Theories De Seversky began his military life at a young age. After serving in ...

'' (Animation supervisor; 1943)

''Animaland''

David Hand served as producer on all 9 shorts in this series. * ''The Lion (Felis Leo)'' (1948) * ''The House-Cat (Felis Vulgaris)'' (1948) * ''The Cuckoo'' (1948) * ''The Ostrich'' (1949) * ''The Australian Platypus'' (1949) * ''It's a Lovely Day'' (1949) * ''Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus'' (1949) * ''Ginger Nutt's Bee-Bother'' (1949) * ''Ginger Nutt's Forest Dragon'' (1949)

''Musical Paintbox''

David Hand served as producer on all 10 shorts in this series. * ''Wales'' (1948) * ''The Thames'' (1948) * ''Somerset'' (1949) * ''A Fantasy on Ireland'' (1949) * ''Yorkshire Ditty'' (1949) * ''Sketches of Scotland'' (1949) * ''Cornwall'' (1949) * ''Canterbury Road'' (1949) * ''Devon Whey'' (1950) * ''A Fantasy on London Life'' (1950)

References

External links

*
memoir of Gaumont British Animation

David Hand's Disney Legends bio

David Hand Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hand, David Dodd 1900 births 1986 deaths American animated film directors Animators from New Jersey Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Film directors from New Jersey Walt Disney Animation Studios people People from Plainfield, New Jersey