Arthur Jack Zander (May 3, 1908 – December 17, 2007) was an

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animator whose career lasted from the "

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

" of theatrical animation into the 1980s.

Biography

Jack Zander was born on May 3, 1908, in Kalamazoo, Michigan as Arthur Jack Zander. His first job in Animation was at the Romer Grey Studio in 1930. One year later he joined

The Van Beuren Corporation The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the ...

followed by

Terrytoons Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...

in 1936. He joined 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 ...

in 1937, and worked on MGM cartoons based on comic strips, including '' The Captain and the Kids'' and '' Count Screwloose''. He also worked on

Harman-Ising Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were an American animation team known for founding the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios. Early history Harman and Ising first worked in animation in the early 1920s at Laugh-O-Gram Studio, ...

cartoons at MGM, including ''The Little Goldfish'' (1939), ''

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

'' (1939), ''The Mad Maestro'' (1939) and the ''

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 but ...

'' series. Among other cartoons he helped animate were '' Puss Gets the Boot'' (1940), '' The Midnight Snack'' (1941), ''

The Night Before Christmas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

'' (1941), '' Fraidy Cat'' (1942), '' Fine Feathered Friend'' (1942), ''

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'' (1943) and '' Sufferin' Cats!'' (1943). He left MGM in 1942. In 1970, he formed Zander's Animation Parlour in

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where he made commercials for

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, the

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Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...

Arm & Hammer Arm & Hammer is a brand of baking soda-based consumer products marketed by Church & Dwight, a major American manufacturer of household products. The logo of the brand depicts the ancient symbol of a muscular arm holding a hammer inside a red ci ...

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

Visine Visine is a brand of eye drops produced by Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson acquired Visine, along with Pfizer's entire consumer healthcare portfolio, in December 2006. In some countries it is called Vispring. Visine Original The active i ...

, and more until his retirement. In 1984, he created "Tippi Turtle", an obnoxious character who enjoyed playing practical jokes, in three animated shorts ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''.Tippi Turtle at SNL Archives

Awards

Zander was nominated for an Outstanding Animated Program Emmy in 1981 for ''Gnomes'', and in 1984 he won the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists' Golden Award.

Death

Zander died at his home in New York on December 17, 2007.

Footnotes

References

July 2007 interview with ''Animation World''

External links

* 1908 births 2007 deaths People from Kalamazoo, Michigan Animators from Michigan American animated film producers Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people {{US-animator-stub