Martha Goldman Sigall (April 17, 1917 – December 13, 2014) was an American inker and painter who worked in the Hollywood

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

industry for 53 years. Sigall moved to California from Buffalo, New York, in 1926 and by chance lived around the corner from

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant r ...

's Pacific Title and Art company. From about the age of 12, she ran errands for the staff there and was put to work as an apprentice painter on July 13, 1936 at

Leon Schlesinger Productions Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

, home of

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

and

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

. Sigall worked first as a cel painter, then later as an inker until 1944. After leaving Schlesinger, she worked for Graphic Films, a small animation house in Hollywood. Sigall went on to work for

MGM studios 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 ...

in the cartoon unit, and then became an assistant in the camera room. She eventually compiled over fifty years in the business. Sigall wrote a memoir, ''Living Life Inside The Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation'' (University Press of Mississippi, 2005). Her book explores the creation of such characters as

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 '' ...

Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...

and Road Runner. Sigall has also contributed commentary to the ''Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume One'' DVD set, along with

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955, in New York City) is an American animation historian, author, blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''The 50 Greatest C ...

. She was part of several documentaries. One, made by Teleductions, called ''Cartoons Go to War.'' Another was ''Extremes and Inbetweens: A Tribute to

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

.'' In 2004, Sigall received the

June Foray Award The June Foray Award is a juried award given to individuals in recognition of a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation. The award is given by the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood ...

from

ASIFA-Hollywood ASIFA-Hollywood, an American non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA" (the International Animated Film Association). Its purpose is to ...

for her lifetime of work in the animation field. In 2010, Sigall helped solve the mystery of some vintage production cels on the PBS series ''

History Detectives ''History Detectives'' is a documentary television series on Public Broadcasting Service, PBS. It features investigations made by members of a small team of researchers to identify and/or authenticate items which may have historical significance or ...

''. Sigall died on December 13, 2014, aged 97.

References

External links

IMDB Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigall, Martha 1917 births 2014 deaths American animators Artists from Buffalo, New York American women animators 21st-century American memoirists 21st-century American women writers American women memoirists Warner Bros. Cartoons people 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists

References

Further reading

External links