Owen Earl Duvall (; June 7, 1898 – December 21, 1950) was an American artist and animator best known for his work on Disney comic strips in the early 1930s and for a handful of animated short films he directed at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Career

Disney Studio

Duvall started as a layout artist and later as a member of the story department 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 October ...

. During this time, he also worked as a cartoonist on the ''Mickey Mouse'' daily strip and the ''

Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

'' Sunday

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

. According to

Jack Kinney John Ryan Kinney (March 29, 1909 – February 9, 1992)Lenburg (2006), pp. 180 was an American animator, director and producer of animated shorts. Kinney is the older brother of fellow Disney animator Dick Kinney. Early life Jack Kinney was born ...

, a director who worked at Disney for many decades, Duvall was a "charming story man" who dressed well and was "the spitting image of the Prince of Wales", but often "lived beyond his means". Duvall left Disney's in rather unusual circumstances - pressed by Disney for several weeks to show his storyboards, Duvall simply gathered his belongings one day and left the company, "leaving Walt holding the bag".

Warner Bros

He was invited to Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1933 along with fellow Disney animator Tom Palmer to head up the studio in the wake of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising's departure. He was responsible for the creation of

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) *Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Amer ...

. In the event, Duvall was delayed working on other projects at Disney, and by the time he got to Warner Bros. Palmer, who directed the first Buddy cartoon, had already been fired and replaced by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

. Tom Palmer left the Schlesinger studio after completing only two animated short films. Duvall replaced him as the director of the next few films of the studio. Duvall had experience as a story man for both Disney and Harman and Ising.

Norman McCabe Norman McCabe (February 10, 1911 – January 17, 2006) was an English-born American animator who enjoyed a long career that lasted into the 1990s. Early career McCabe was born in England and raised in the United States. He soon developed a ...

, who worked as an inbeetweener for the studio, recalled Duvall's resemblance to Prince Edward, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. Animation historian Michael Barrier considers that Duvall's princely looks and "aura of

sophistication Sophistication has come to mean a few things, but its original uses were a pejorative, derived from sophist, and included the idea of admixture or adulteration. Today, as researched by Faye Hammill, it is common as a measure of refinement—disp ...

" helped him get ahead. Wherever Duvall worked, people were at least giving him the benefit of the doubt. During his time at the Schlesinger studio, Duvall directed a number of cartoons based around surprisingly adult themes, and was allowed to direct the studio's first color cartoon, '' Honeymoon Hotel'' in 1934. He only completed work on five animated short films. Three of them were part of the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'', and two of them were part of the ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' series. However, after a drunken argument with producer

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant r ...

, Duvall left the studio. The departures of Palmer and Duvall left Schlesinger in need of new directors. Even composer

Bernard B. Brown Bernard B. Brown (July 24, 1898 – February 20, 1981) was an American sound engineer and composer, who wrote the scores for many early animated cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures. ...

received credits for directing two ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts. By early 1934, Schlesinger appointed Friz Freleng as the main director of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series and Jack King as the main director of the ''Looney Tunes'' series.

Death

Duvall died in 1950.

Filmography

As Director/Supervisor.imdb Filmography
/ref> * '' Buddy's Garage'' 1934 (short) * '' Honeymoon Hotel'' 1934 (short) * '' Sittin' on a Backyard Fence'' 1933 (short) * '' Buddy's Show Boat'' 1933 (short) * '' Buddy's Beer Garden'' 1933 (short)

References

External links

*
His profile in Lambiek Comiclopedia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duvall, Earl 1898 births 1969 deaths American comics artists American film directors American animators American animated film directors Walt Disney Animation Studios people Warner Bros. Cartoons directors Disney comics artists