Gilbert H. Turner (September 11, 1913 – March 19, 1967) 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 ...

, comic book artist and producer.

Career

He started out working at

Walt Disney Animation 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 eventually moved over to other studios, such as

Hugh Harman Hugh Harman (August 31, 1903 – November 25, 1982) was an American animator. He was known for creating the Warner Bros. Cartoons and MGM Cartoons and his collaboration with Rudolf Ising during the golden age of American animation. Career He ...

's and Jam Handy in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He also worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons in Hollywood 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 ...

and for Bill Hanna and

Joe Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

at the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to a ...

. He worked for various Holloywood cartoon studios, such as Disney, Warner Bros. Cartoons, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (MGM),

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative o ...

, UPA, Hanna-Barbera and

Format Films Format Films was a television animation studio which was founded by Herbert Klynn in 1959 with Jules Engel as vice president, Bob McIntosh and Joseph Mugnaini, all of whom were animators. It was most active during the 1960s, producing episodes o ...

. He also drew comic books based on characters from these studios.

Biography

Turner was born in 1913. He worked as an ice cream salesman before starting as an animator at

Disney Studios The Walt Disney Studios is an American film and entertainment studio, and is the Studios Content segment of the Walt Disney Company. Based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California, the studio is best known for its multifacete ...

in January 1933. His stay was so brief that no credit known for his work there survived. He joined Harman-Ising Studios a year later, which would eventually evolve into the animation department of Warner Brothers. After working at Hugh Harman's studio, he moved to work at the studio of

Jam Handy Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy (March 6, 1886 – November 13, 1983) was an American Olympic breaststroke swimmer, water polo player, and founder of the Jam Handy Organization (JHO), a producer of commercially sponsored motion pictures, slidefilms (l ...

. Despite a short period at Jam Handy's studio, which specialized in industrial and promotional films, he returned to Warners in 1938, where he remained until the mid-1940s, primarily under the direction of

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 '' ...

. He worked anonymously on Looney Tunes classics such as ''

The Trial of Mr. Wolf ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1941), ''

Rhapsody in Rivets ''Rhapsody in Rivets'' is a 1941 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on December 6, 1941. Plot At a busy urban construction site in a world of anthropomorphic animals, an appreciative crowd of ...

'' (1941), ''

The Wabbit Who Came to Supper ''The Wabbit Who Came to Supper'' is a 1942 ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. It was released on March 28, 1942, and directed by Friz Freleng. Plot Elmer's hunting dogs have Bugs cornered when Elmer receives a teleg ...

'' (1942), ''

Fresh Hare ''Fresh Hare'' is a Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, written by Michael Maltese, and produced by Leon Schlesinger. It was released to theatres on August 22, 1942. Plot In this short, the rotund early-1940s ver ...

'', ''

Pigs in a Polka ''Pigs in a Polka'' is a 1942 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon series directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on February 2, 1943. The film is a parody of two Walt Disney Productions films: 1933's ''Three Little Pigs (film), Thr ...

'' (1943) and ''

Little Red Riding Rabbit ''Little Red Riding Rabbit'' is a 1944 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny. It is a parody, sendup of the Little Red Riding Hood story, and is the first time in which Mel Blanc receives a voi ...

'' (1944). Around 1948 Turner joined

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, where he was an animator on

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

's ''What Price Fleadom?'' (1948) and a few '

Barney Bear ''Barney Bear'' is an American series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy bear who often is in pursuit of nothing b ...

' shorts by

Preston Blair Preston Erwin Blair (October 24, 1908 – April 19, 1995) was an American character animator, best remembered for his work at Walt Disney Productions and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. A native of Redlands, California, Blair began his a ...

and

Michael Lah Michael Richard Lah (September 1, 1912 – October 13, 1995) was an American animator of Slovene origin. He is best remembered for his work at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, primarily as a member of Tex Avery's animation unit. He first ...

. Between 1953 and 1955 he briefly worked at Walter Lantz' studio on several '

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...

' and '

Chilly Willy Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive penguin. He was created by director Paul Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953, and developed further by Tex Avery in the two subsequent films following Smith's debut entry. The character ...

' shorts, before joining UPA for an equally brief time as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

on the ' Mr. Magoo' series until the end of the decade. Turner concluded his animation career at the Hanna-Barbera Studios, where he worked on TV series like ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

''. He also directed several episodes of ''

The Alvin Show ''The Alvin Show'' is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. ''The Alvin Show'' aired for one season, from October 4, 1961, ...

'' for

in the early 1960s before passing away in 1967. Although mainly active in animation, Turner also worked as a comics artist from the mid-1940s on. Together with Jim Davis he worked freelance through the Sangor Shop for companies like Better Publications, Dearfield Comics and ACG (' Little Pancho Vanilla') and funny animal comics for Coo Coo, Giggle, Barnyard and Ha-Ha. At Dell Comics he mainly drew comics based on Warner Brothers characters like '

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

', '

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...

' and 'Sniffles & Mary Jane', followed by stories about the MGM character Barney Bear. During this same period he also scripted 'Barney' comics which were illustrated by

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck ...

. Barks, however, couldn't really identify with the characters and often rewrote dialogue and plot developments to fit his own personality. Eventually he departed from the series, leaving Turner in charge of both text and illustration. One of Turner's innovations was Barney's antagonistic neighbour Mooseface McElk. Turner was also a regular contributor to Dell's '

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American Comics anthology, anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mic ...

' from 1947 on, where he was one of the original artists to create stories about the Big Bad Wolf and his good-natured son Lil' Bad Wolf. Colleagues who also drew comics about these wolves around the same time were Carl Buettner, Roger Armstrong,

Harvey Eisenberg Harvey Eisenberg (February 11, 1911 – April 22, 1965) was an American animator and comic book artist. Best known for his work with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio and later at their own Hanna-Barbera ...

Jack Bradbury John Morin "Jack" Bradbury (December 27, 1914 - May 15, 2004) was an American animator and comic book artist. Bradbury began working for Disney at age 20 and was responsible for key scenes in films like ''Pinocchio'', ''Fantasia'' and ''Bambi''. ...

, Ken Champin and

Paul Murry Paul Murry (November 25, 1911 – August 4, 1989) was an American cartoonist and comics artist. He is best known for his Disney comics, which appeared in Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics from 1946 to 1984, particularly the Mickey Mouse and Goofy ...

. Turner drew comics starring 'Mickey Mouse', '

Bucky Bug Bucky Bug is a beetle who appears in Disney comics. He first appeared in the ''Silly Symphony'' Sunday comic strip, and later appeared as a regular feature in the comic book ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories''. Silly Symphony Bucky Bug first appe ...

' and '

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

'. While Turner predominantly drew comics based on characters others created he also had two original newspaper comics of his own, namely 'Trudy' (1947–1948), 'Chico' (1948–1949) published in the teen magazine Cookie and 'Holly Wood' (1950) which could be read in the weekly Redwood Journal from California. In the 1960s, Turner settled in Los Angeles, where he died in 1967 at the age of 53.

Filmography

: Animator 1933. * Warner Bros. Cartoons: Animator 1938–1944 (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies). * Carry-Weston (independent studio with Jack Bradbury a.o.): Educational films for the government. 1944–1946. *

: Animator 1934–1936, 1948–1949 (Tex Avery and Barney Bear). *

: Animator 1953–1956 (Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy, Maw and Paw). * UPA: Animator 1956–1957 and director 1958–1961 (Mr. Magoo). *

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 ...

: Animator 1961 (Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss). *

: Director 1961–1962 (The Alvin Show). * '' The Man from Button Willow'', 1965 * Hanna-Barbera: Storyboard artist 1967 (The Flintstones). * Comic strips & Illustrations: Editorial Art Syndicate/Sangor Shop: Script and artwork for Standard Comics, American Comics Group and Dearfield Comics 1944–1948 (Homer Hound, Bugsy Bear Family, Ringo, Happy a.o.). * Script and artwork for his own newspaper strip Chico 1948–1949. *

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...

: Artwork for characters from Disney (

Li'l Bad Wolf The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales that include some of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales.'' Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory an ...

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

), MGM (

) and Warner Bros. (

) 1947–1957.

References

External links

*
Writing the Dell Way
Turner's October 25, 1952, letter to the wife of

outlining based on his experience the formula to scripting for

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Gil 1913 births 1967 deaths American comics artists Animators from Wisconsin Filmmakers from Milwaukee People from Greater Los Angeles American animated film directors American animated film producers American cartoonists Annie Award winners Film producers from Wisconsin Warner Bros. Cartoons people Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people Walt Disney Animation Studios people Hanna-Barbera people Walter Lantz Productions people