Eric Cleon Larson (September 3, 1905 – October 25, 1988) was an American animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933, and was one of the "

Disney's Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to ''The Rescuers'' (1977), ...

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Utah, Larson was the son of Danish immigrants Peter, a clothing salesman, and Nora.1920 United States Federal Census He worked on such films as ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''Pinocchio'', ''Fantasia'', ''Bambi'', ''The Three Caballeros'', ''Make Mine Music'', ''Melody Time'', ''Cinderella'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Peter Pan'', ''Lady and the Tramp'', ''Sleeping Beauty'', ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'', ''The Sword in the Stone'', ''The Jungle Book'', and ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh''. 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 Mel Shaw (born Melvin Schwartzman; December 19, 1914 – November 22, 2012) was an American animator, design artist, writer, and artist. Shaw was involved in the animation, story design, and visual development of numerous Disney animated films, ...

and Burny Mattinson). In the 1980s his work was minor, but he served as animation consultant on animated films and shorts like ''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 Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, 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 sequen ...

Chris Buck Christopher James Buck (born February 24, 1958) is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directing ''Tarzan'' (1999), '' Surf's Up'' (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), ''Fro ...

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

, Randy Cartwright, Ron Clements, Andreas Deja, Gary Goldman, Ed Gombert, Mark Henn, Dan Haskett, Glen Keane, Bill Kroyer,

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...

John Musker John Edward Musker (born November 8, 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director Ron Clements and is best known for writing and directing the Disney films '' The Great ...

, Phil Nibbelink, Richard Rich, Burny Mattinson, Melvin Shaw, Jeffrey J. Varab, John Pomeroy, Joe Ranft, Jerry Rees,

Henry Selick Charles Henry Selick Jr. (; born November 30, 1952) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, production designer, and animator who is best known for directing the stop-motion animation films ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

and

Tad Stones Edward T. "Tad" Stones (born May 28, 1952) is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, producer and director, best known for his work for The Walt Disney Company, where he worked from 1974 to 2003. His most notable credits for Dis ...

among many others. Larson was married to Gertrude Larson. By his retirement in 1986, he was the longest-working employee at Disney, having worked there for 53 years. He died on October 25, 1988, at the age of 83.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Disney Legends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Eric 1905 births 1988 deaths People from Emery County, Utah American people of Danish descent Animators from Utah Walt Disney Animation Studios people Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)