Thomas Jacob McKimson (March 5, 1907 – February 14, 1998) was an American animator, best known for his work at the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio. He was the older brother of animators

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and Charles McKimson. Tom McKimson was born in Denver, Colorado, but relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with his family in the 1920s. He attended Otis Art Institute (now called

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aerospace headquarte ...

) in the 1920s. He began his career in animation in 1929, when he joined the Walt Disney Studio, becoming an assistant to animator Norm Ferguson. He left Disney a year later to work briefly for Romer Grey, then joined

Harman-Ising Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were an American animation team known for founding the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios. Early history Harman and Ising first worked in animation in the early 1920s at Laugh-O-Gram Studio, Wal ...

Studios around 1932. After Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. for

MGM 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 ...

, McKimson became a member of

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

's animation unit, where he is credited as a layout artist and the original design for

Tweety Bird 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 th ...

. McKimson also provided layout designs for Arthur Davis's unit after he took over Clampett's unit by 1945. During his time at Warner Bros., McKimson also worked for

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

, providing illustrations for the

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 '' ...

and Road Runner comic books. McKimson also illustrated the

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

daily comic strip from 1949 to 1953 in collaboration with his brother Charles and artist

Pete Alvarado Peter J. Alvarado Jr. (February 22, 1920 – December 27, 2003) was an American animation and comic book artist. Alvarado's animation career spanned almost 60 years. He was also a prolific contributor to Western Publishing's line of comic books. B ...

, using the collective pseudonym "Al McKimson." He left Warners in 1947 when Don Smith replaced him as layout artist for Davis' unit. He would become an art director for Dell's parent company

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 1972. McKimson was active in the

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

fraternity. He was the Master of Melrose Lodge No. 355 in Hollywood in 1954 and a founding member of Riviera Lodge No. 780 in Pacific Palisades, California in 1956, and later an Inspector and the Grand Tyler of the Grand Lodge of California. He was also a polo enthusiast, playing on the same team as

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

animator Ray Abrams.''Los Angeles Times'', Sept. 10, 1934 McKimson died on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

, 1998 in

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...

at the age of 90. Less than a month before his 91st birthday.

Notes

External links

*
Thomas McKimson at the Comiclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKimson, Thomas 1907 births 1998 deaths American animators American comics artists Warner Bros. Cartoons people Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)