Retta Davidson (November 1, 1921 in
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...
– June 12, 1998 in
Carlsbad, California
Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...
) was a
United States 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 ...
. She is best known as one of the few women animators for
Walt Disney Studios during
the Golden Age of American animation.
Career
After graduating from
high school in 1939, Davidson joined Disney as an inker and painter, where she worked on ''
Pinocchio'', ''
Bambi'', ''
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 ''
Sleeping Beauty''.
The Disney studios were affected by the resultant labor shortage from
World War II, and many of their lead animators were drafted to serve in the
First Motion Picture Unit. In 1941, the studio asked members of the Ink and Paint Department to submit artwork to be considered for animation training and jobs in the animation department. Davidson was one of a group of ten women accepted to the program.
Davidson worked as an animator for a year before taking leave from the studio in 1942 to enlist in the
United States Navy, which she served in for four years. She returned to Disney Studios after the war, where she worked as an animator until 1966.
After leaving Disney, she provided freelance animation work for advertising agencies, as well as for
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 ...
(including work on ''
Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century''). Davidson is also known for her work on the
1978 animated adaption of ''
The Lord of the Rings'', ''
The Great Mouse Detective'' (1986) and ''
Heavy Metal'' (1981).
Retta Davidson - Biography - IMDb
/ref>
In 1980, Davidson was invited back to Disney to work on the feature-length animated films '' The Fox and the Hound'' (1981) and '' The Black Cauldron'' (1985) as coordinating animator. After their release, she continued to work at the studio as a trainer for new animators until her retirement in 1985.
Retta Davidson was sometimes credited as Redda Davidson. She should not be confused with Retta Scott
Retta Scott (February 23, 1916August 26, 1990) was an American artist. She was the first woman to receive screen credit as an animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Early life and education
Scott was born in Omak, Washington on February ...
, another female animator at Disney.
References
External links
*
The Mystery of the Female Disney Animator
Remembering Retta Davidson
by Floyd Norman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Retta
20th-century American women artists
1921 births
1998 deaths
Animators from California
People from Arcadia, California
American women animators
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
United States Navy personnel of World War II