Myron Waldman (April 23, 1908 – February 4, 2006) 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 ...
, best known for his work at
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...
.
Early life
Waldman was born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
on April 23, 1908. He was a graduate of the
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...
, where he majored in Art.
Career
Waldman started his first work in 1930 at Fleischer Studio. At Fleischer he worked on
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...
,
Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. Gruelle re ...
, ''
Gulliver's Travels
''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar. He was head animator on two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
Hunky and Spunky
''Hunky and Spunky'' were fictional characters, appearing in the series of animated short subjects produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1938 to 1941. Filmed in Technicolor (three-strip), the series revolves around a mother bur ...
'' (1939).
Waldman made the transition when Fleischer Studios was acquired by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
and reorganized as
Famous Studios
Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contro ...
in 1942. At Famous he worked mostly on the
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio.
T ...
series.
Waldman served three years in the U.S. Army (1939-1942). Features animation biography and examples of work.
In 1943, Waldman partnered with writer Steve Carlin to produce the '' Happy the Humbug''
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
.
In 1943, his ''
wordless novel
The wordless novel is a narrative genre that uses sequences of captionless pictures to tell a story. As artists have often made such books using woodcut and other relief printing techniques, the terms woodcut novel or novel in woodcuts are ...
'', one of the first, ''Eve: A Pictorial Love Story'' was a critical success.
In 1957, he left Famous to become an animation director at Hal Seeger Productions where he worked on the revival of the ''
Out of the Inkwell
''Out of the Inkwell'' is an American major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929.
History
The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced from 191 ...
'' series, as well as
Milton the Monster
''Milton the Monster,'' also called ''The Milton the Monster Show,'' is an American Saturday morning animated cartoon TV series that ran on ABC from October 9, 1965, to September 8, 1968. It was produced and directed by Hal Seeger.
Overview
The s ...
, until his retirement in 1968.
In 1986 Waldman received the
Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Award
In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...
, and in 1997 was given the
Winsor McCay Award
The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, profession ...
for his lifetime work in the field of animation.
Waldman made limited edition cel, drawing characters on which he worked, Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman.
Personal life
Waldman met his wife, Rosalie, when she was an animation checker at the Fleischer Studio in the early 1940s, and had two sons, Robert and Steve. Waldman died of
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
on February 4, 2006, at the age of 97 at a hospital in
Bethpage, New York
Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2010 United States Cen ...
.
Filmography (As head animator)
* 1961: ''Cape Kidnaveral''
* 1960: ''The Planet Mouseola'' with Jack Ehret
* 1958: ''Spook and Span'' with Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1957: ''Ice Scream'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1957: ''Ghost of Honor'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1957: ''Peakaboo'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1957: ''Hooky Spooky'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1957: ''Spooking About Africa'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1956: ''Line of Screammage'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1956: ''Dutch Treat'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1955: ''Red White and Boo'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1955: ''Bull Fright'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1955: ''Spooking with a Brouge'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1955: ''Keep Your Grin Up'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1955: ''Hide and Shriek'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1954: ''Boo Ribbon Winner'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1954: ''Boos and Arrows'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1954: ''The Oily Bird'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1954: ''Puss 'n Boos'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1954: ''Zero the Hero'' with Larry Silverman
* 1954: ''Boo Moon'' with Nick Tafuri, Larry Silverman, Gordon Whittier
* 1953: ''Boos and Saddles'' with Larry Silverman
* 1953: ''Do or Diet'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1953: ''Little Boo Peep'' with Larry Silverman
* 1953: ''Herman the Catoonist'' with Larry Silverman
* 1953: ''By the Old Mill Scream'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1953: ''Winner by a Hare'' with Tom Golden
* 1953: ''Spook No Evil'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1953: ''Frightday the Thirteenth'' with Larry Silverman
* 1952: ''Feast and Furious'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1952: ''Forest Fantasy'' with Larry Silverman
* 1952: ''Cape Fright'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1952: ''Spunky Skunky'' with Larry Silverman
* 1954: ''Dizzy Dinosaurs'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1952: ''The Deep Boo Sea'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1951: ''Casper takes a Bow-Wow'' with Larry Silverman
* 1951: ''Vegetable Vaudeville'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1951: ''Casper Comes to Clown'' with Gordon Whittier, Larry Silverman
* 1951: ''Boo Scout'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1951: ''Too Boo or Not to Boo'' with Larry Silverman
* 1951: ''Miners Forty-Niners'' with Larry Silverman
* 1951: ''Mississippi River'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1950: ''Once Upon a Rhyme'' with Larry Silverman
* 1950: ''Fresh Yeggs'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1950: ''Fiesta Time'' with Larry Silverman
* 1950: ''Boos in the Nite'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1950: ''Pleased to Eat You'' with Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1950: ''Teacher's Pest'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1950: ''The Land of the Lost Jewels'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1949: ''Snow Foolin'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1949: ''The Big Drip'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1949: ''Strolling Thru the Park'' with Larry Silverman
* 1949: ''For Me and My Gal'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1949: ''Toys Will Be Toys'' with Gordon Whittier
* 1949: ''Spring Song'' with Larry Silverman
* 1949: ''A Haunting We Will Go'' with Irving Dressler
* 1949: 'The Little Cut-Up'' with George Whittier
* 1948: ''The Land of the Lost'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1948: ''There's Good Boos Tonight'' with Morey Reden, Nick Tafuri
* 1948: ''Flip Flap'' with Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1948: ''The Dog Show-Off'' with Gordon Whittier, Nick Tafuri, Irving Dressler, and Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1947: ''Santa's Surprise'' with Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1947: ''A Bout with a Trout'' with Gordon Whittier, Nick Tafuri, Irving Dressler, Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1947: ''Loose in a Caboose'' with Gordon Whittier, Nick Tafuri, Irving Dressler, Wm.B. Pattengill
* 1947: ''Musica-Lulu'' with Gordon Whittier, Nick Tafuri, Irving Dressler
* 1943: ''The Mummy Strikes'' with Graham Place
* 1942: ''Japoteurs'' with Nick Tafuri
* 1942: ''The Magnetic Telescope'' with Tom Moore
* 1942: ''Billion Dollar Limited'' with Frank Endres
* 1941: ''
Mr. Bug Goes to Town
''Mr. Bug Goes to Town'' (also known as ''Hoppity Goes to Town'' and ''Bugville'') is a 1941 American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California ...
'' (sequence director)
* 1941: ''Twinkletoes in Hat Stuff'' with Sam Stimson
* 1941: ''Twinkletoes in Hat Stuff'' with Sam Stimson
* 1941: ''Copy Cat'' with William Henning
* 1941: ''Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle'' with Sidney Pillet
* 1941: ''Raggedy Ann and Andy'' with
Joe Oriolo
Joseph Oriolo (February 21, 1913 – December 25, 1985) was an American cartoon animator, writer, director and producer, known as the co-creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost and the creator of the ''Felix the Cat'' TV series. He provided the vo ...
, William Henning, Arnold Gillespie
* 1941: ''Problem Pappy'' with Sidney Pillet
* 1940: ''Springtime in the Rockage'' with Dick Williams
* 1940: ''You Can't Shoe a Horsefly'' with Sam Stimson
* 1940: ''Ants in the Plants'' with George Moreno
* 1939: ''Rhythm on the Reservation'' with Graham Place
* 1939: ''The Barnyard Brat'' with Tony Pabian
* 1938: ''The Playful Polar Bears'' with Graham Place
* 1938: ''All's Fair at the Fair'' with Graham Place
* 1938: ''Hunky and Spunky'' with Graham Place
* 1938: ''The Lost Kitten'' with Lillian Friedman
* 1938: ''Honest Love and True'' with Lillian Friedman
* 1938: ''Riding the Rail'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1937: ''Educated Fish'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1937: ''The New Deal Show'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1937: ''The Candid Cancidate'' with Lillian Friedman
* 1937: ''Peeping Penguins'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1937: ''Pudgy Picks a Fight!'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1937: ''Pudgy Takes a Bow-Wow'' with Lillian Friedman
* 1937: ''Bunny Mooning'' with Edward Nolan
* 1936: ''Making Friends'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1936: ''Be Human'' with Lillian Friedman
* 1936: ''Training Pigeons'' with Edward Nolan
* 1936: ''Hawaiian Birds'' with Sam Stimson
* 1936: ''You're Not Built that Way'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1936: ''Betty Boop and Little Jimmy'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1936: ''Not Now'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1936: ''Betty Boop and the Little King'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1935: ''Henry the Funniest Living American'' with Sam Stimson
* 1935: ''Making Stars'' with Edward Nolan
* 1935: ''No! No! A Thousand Times No!!'' with Edward Nolan
* 1935: ''Stop that Noise'' with Edward Nolan
* 1935: ''Taking the Blame'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1935: ''A Little Soap and Water'' with Edward Nolan
* 1935: ''A Language All My Own'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1935: ''Judge for a Day'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1935: ''Baby Be Good'' with Edward Nolan
* 1934: ''When My Ship Comes In'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1934: ''Keep in Style'' with Edward Nolan
* 1934: ''Betty Boop's Prize Show'' with
Lillian Friedman
Lillian Friedman Astor (born April 12, 1912 – July 9, 1989) was the first American female studio animator, working at for the Fleischer Brothers' studio, inking and eventually animating various Betty Boop cartoons, as well as one Popeye ...
* 1934: ''Betty Boop's Little Pal'' with Edward Nolan
* 1934: ''There's Something about a Soldier'' with Edward Nolan
* 1934: ''Love thy Neighbor'' with Edward Nolan
* 1934: ''Betty Boop's Trial'' with Hicks Lokey
* 1934: ''This Little Piggie Went to Market'' (uncredited)
* 1934: ''Can You Take It?'' with Tom Johnson
* 1934: ''Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing'' with Tom Johnson
Filmography (As animator)
* 1985: ''See & Sing: Christmas Favorites''
* 1985: ''See & Sing: Songs of America''
* 1985: ''See & Sing: Silly Songs''
* 1985: ''See & Sing: All-Time Favorites''
* 1967: ''Batfink – This is Your Life''
* 1967: ''Father Time Bomb''
* 1967: ''Ego A-Go-Go''
* 1967: ''Blankenstein''
* 1967: ''The Copycat Bat''
* 1967: ''Unhappy Birthday''
* 1967: ''Hugo the Crimefighter''
* 1967: ''Double Double Crossers''
* 1967: ''Backwards Box''
* 1967: ''Robber Hood''
* 1967: ''The Kangarobot''
* 1967: ''Topsy Turvy''
* 1967: ''The Beep Booper''
* 1967: ''Goldstinger''
* 1967: ''Take Indian Taker''
* 1967: ''The Mark of Zero''
* 1967: ''Spin the Batfink''
* 1967: ''A Living Doll''
* 1967: ''Go Fly a Bat''
* 1967: ''Myron the Magician''
* 1967: ''The Dirty Stinker''
* 1967: ''Nuts of the Round Table''
* 1967: ''The Sonic Boomer''
* 1967: ''Ebenezer the Freezer''
* 1966: ''The Short Circuit Case''
* 1963: ''Boy Pest With Osh''
* 1939: ''Gulliver's Travels'' (uncredited)
* 1933: ''Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party'' with Willard Bowsky
* 1933: ''I Like Mountain Music'' with Willard Bowsky
* 1933: ''I Heard'' with Willard Bowsky
* 1933: ''Boilesk'' with Willard Bowsky
* 1933: ''Betty Boop's Birthday Party'' with Seymour Kneitel
* 1933: ''Popular Melodies'' with
Willard Bowsky
Willard Gustav Bowsky (September 26, 1907 – November 27, 1944) was an American animator best known for his work at Fleischer Studios in New York City and Miami, Florida, where he worked on cartoons featuring Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor, and ...
* 1932: ''Sing a Song'' with Seymour Kneitel
* 1932: ''Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie'' with Seymour Kneitel
* 1931: ''By the Light of the Silvery Moon'' with Seymour Kneitel
Filmography (As self)
* 1995: ''Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons''
A&E Biography
''Biography'' is an American documentary television series and media franchise created in the 1960s by David L. Wolper and owned by A&E Networks since 1987. Each episode depicts the life of a notable person with narration, on-camera interview ...
* 2008: ''Directing the Sailor: The Art of Myron Waldman'' (7:21)