James Algar (June 11, 1912 – February 26, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked 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 1 ...

for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He was born in

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

and died in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

Controversy

Algar directed an Oscar-winning documentary '' White Wilderness,'' which contains a scene that supposedly depicts a mass lemming migration, and ends with the lemmings leaping into the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

. In 1982, the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

news magazine program '' The Fifth Estate'' broadcast a documentary about animal cruelty in Hollywood called ''Cruel Camera'', focusing on ''White Wilderness'', as well as the television program ''

Wild Kingdom ''Wild Kingdom'', also known as ''Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom'', is an American documentary television program that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and it was revived in 2002. The show's second ...

''.

Bob McKeown Robert Duff McKeown, (; born October 10, 1950) is a Canadian investigative reporter and former all-star and championship Gridiron football, football player. He has also worked with NBC and CBS. McKeown returned to the CBC in November 2002 to ...

, the host of the CBC program, discovered that the lemming scene was filmed at the

Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...

near downtown

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, and not in the Arctic Ocean as implied by the film. McKeown interviewed a lemming expert, who claimed that the particular species of lemming shown in the film is not known to migrate, much less commit mass suicide.

Selected filmography

* ''

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 T ...

'' (1937 - animator) * ''

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 ...

'' (1940 – director) * ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...

'' (1942 - director) * ''

Victory Through Air Power ''Victory Through Air Power'' is a 1942 non-fiction book by Alexander P. de Seversky. It was made into a 1943 Walt Disney animated feature film of the same name. Theories De Seversky began his military life at a young age. After serving in ...

'' (1943 – director) * '' Seal Island'' (1948 – director) * '' The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad'' (1949 – director) (The Wind in the Willows segment) * ''

In Beaver Valley ''In Beaver Valley'' is a 1950 American short documentary film directed by James Algar. The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the '' True-Life Adventures'' series of nature documentaries. It won an Oscar in 1951 for Best Short Subjec ...

'' (1950 – director) * ''

Nature's Half Acre ''Nature's Half Acre'' is a 1951 American short documentary film directed by James Algar. In 1952, it won an Oscar at the 24th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the '' True-Life A ...

'' (1951 – director) * ''

The Olympic Elk ''The Olympic Elk'' is a 1952 American short documentary film directed by James Algar and produced by Walt Disney as part of the '' True-Life Adventures'' series of nature documentaries. Summary A photographic study of the Olympic elk which abo ...

'' (1952 – director and writer) * '' Bear Country'' (1953 – director and writer) * ''

Prowlers of the Everglades ''Prowlers of the Everglades'' is a 1953 American short documentary film directed by James Algar. The film was produced by Ben Sharpsteen as part of the '' True-Life Adventures'' series of nature documentaries. It was shot in Technicolor Tech ...

'' (1953 – director and writer) * ''

The Living Desert ''The Living Desert'' is a 1953 American nature documentary film that shows the everyday lives of the animals of the desert of the Southwestern United States. The film was written by James Algar, Winston Hibler, Jack Moffitt (uncredited) and T ...

'' (1953 – director and writer) * ''

The Vanishing Prairie ''The Vanishing Prairie'' is a 1954 American documentary film directed by James Algar and released by Walt Disney Productions. The theme music was given a set of lyrics by Hazel "Gil" George. It was rechristened as "Pioneer's Prayer" in '' Wes ...

'' (1954 – director and writer) * ''

The African Lion ''The African Lion'' is a 1955 American documentary film directed by James Algar. It was released by Walt Disney Productions as part of its '' True-Life Adventures'' series. The film, which was shot over a 30-month period in Kenya, Tanganyika and ...

'' (1955 - director and writer) * ''

Secrets of Life ''Secrets of Life'' is a 1956 American documentary film written and directed by James Algar. The documentary follows the changing world of nature, the sky, the sea, the sun, planets, insects and volcanic action. The documentary was released on No ...

'' (1956 – director and writer) * '' White Wilderness'' (1958 – director and writer) * ''

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

'' (1958 – director) * ''

Jungle Cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littoral ...

'' (1960 – director and writer) * '' Ten Who Dared'' (1960 – producer) * ''

The Legend of Lobo ''The Legend of Lobo'' is a 1962 American animal-adventure film that follows the life and adventures of Lobo, a wolf born and raised in southwestern North America. Based upon "Lobo the King of Currumpaw" by Ernest Thompson Seton from the author' ...

'' (1962 – director, producer and writer) * ''

The Incredible Journey ''The Incredible Journey'' (1961), by Scottish author Sheila Burnford, is a children's book first published by Hodder & Stoughton, which tells the story of three pets as they travel through the Canadian wilderness searching for their beloved m ...

'' (1963 – writer) * ''

The Gnome-Mobile ''The Gnome-Mobile'' is a 1967 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. Based on the 1936 book ''The Gnomobile'' by Upton Sinclair, it was one of the last films personally supervised by ...

'' (1967 – producer) * '' The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures'' (1975 – director, producer and writer) * ''

Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distin ...

'' (1999 – director)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Algar, James 1912 births 1998 deaths American male screenwriters American film producers People from Modesto, California Film directors from California Screenwriters from California Walt Disney Animation Studios people Directors of Golden Bear winners 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters Disney Legends