Jack Dunham (September 19, 1910 – August 16, 2008) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

who worked for

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

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 ...

during his career. Dunham was born in

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...

, on September 19, 1910. He began his career by working on

animated shorts A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

of ''

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 19 ...

'' for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

in 1932 and later with

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

. Dunham also worked as an animator on several other Walter Lantz Production

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

s, including '' Night Life of the Bugs'' and ''The Fun House'', which were both released in 1936, and ''

Dumb Cluck Dumb may refer to: A human state * Muteness, the condition of being unwilling or unable to speak * Stupidity, a lack of intelligence Songs * "Dumb" (Faith Evans song), 2012 * "Dumb" (Nirvana song), a 1993 song from Nirvana's album ''In Uter ...

'' and ''Duck Hunt'', which were both produced in 1937. He also worked on an episode of '' Meany, Miny and Moe'' and '' The Country Store'', which was released in 1937. Dunham was hired by the

in 1932 (before the Social Security Administration and public records existed), where he worked as an inbetweener, an industry term for an animator's assistant, on the film ''

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 ...

''. Dunham also worked on such films as ''

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 ...

'' 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 ...

'' among others and later joined

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. During this time he handled productions in Mexico for ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. It is the List of ...

'' and ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action/animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on ...

''. He remained a producer/ unit manager until his departure from Disney in 1947. Dunham moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1955 for a management position at Associated Screen News of Canada in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. He later enjoyed a career creating both animated and

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

commercials in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and Montreal. Dunham created the official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the St-Hubert BBQ

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

, the St. Hubert rooster. St-Hubert is a chain of

rotisserie Rotisserie, also known as spit-roasting, is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit – a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This metho ...

chicken based in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Dunham also produced St-Hubert's first

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. The St. Hubert rooster is still used as the mascot and logo for the St-Hubert chain as of 2009. An article in the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'' in March 2006 revealed that Dunham and his wife, Dorothy Stewart, a former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

, were homeless following their eviction from their Montreal apartment in February 2006. The ''Gazette'' reported, "

Social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

agencies are trying to place the couple in a

care facility A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

, but that could take awhile." Dunham and his wife, who had been married for 51 years at the time, were taken to the St. Luc Hospital to live following the publication of the article. Their move to the government-run hospital was reportedly against the couple's will. Jack and Dorothy escaped from the facility, but were found by police in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and returned. Jack Dunham died on August 16, 2008, at the age of 97. Erroneous reports list him as passing on March 15, 2009. The error in the date and age at the time of his death is because Quebec's Public Curator didn't notify Dunham's friend and only listed contact of his passing until March 15 the following year.

References

External links

*
YouTube: Interviews with Jack Dunham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunham, Jack 1910 births 2008 deaths Walt Disney Animation Studios people Animators from North Dakota Canadian animators American animators American animated film producers Canadian animated film producers American television producers Canadian television producers People from Bismarck, North Dakota Artists from Montreal American emigrants to Canada