Thornton Hee (March 26, 1911 – October 30, 1988) was an American animator, director, and teacher. He taught character design and caricature.
Career
Hee worked at
Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1935–36 as a character designer. He designed many of the celebrity caricatures used in ''
The CooCoo Nut Grove'' (1936) and ''
The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos
''The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos'' is a 1937 '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on December 4, 1937.
Plot
The cartoon starts with an owl named "Owl Kott" (satirizing Alexander Woolcott's ''Town Crier' ...
'' (1937). A 1936 Christmas card that he drew, featuring caricatures of the Schlesinger animators, was used to design the
gremlins in the 1944 animated short ''
Russian Rhapsody.''
Hee joined
Walt Disney Animation Studios around 1937. He is most recognized for directing the ''
Dance of the Hours'' segment of ''
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 ...
''. He left after the
strike, but returned to work there twice, from 1940 to 1946, and again from 1958 to 1961. Hee also worked for
United Productions of America (1951 to 1958) and
Terrytoons (1961 to 1963).
Hee was one of the co-founders, with
Jack Hannah, of the Character Animation program at the
California Institute of the Arts. He later served as chairman of the Film Arts Department.
Hee provided the illustrations during the opening credits of ''
The Life of Riley'' television show of the 1950s.
Notes
External links
*
A Timely Letter From T. Hee''
1911 births
1988 deaths
American animators
American film directors
American animated film directors
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
Animators from Oklahoma
Artists from Oklahoma
Warner Bros. Cartoons people
Terrytoons people
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