Arthur Stevens (May 1, 1915 – May 22, 2007) was an animator, director and producer for

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

Career

Art Stevens was an animator at Walt Disney Productions during the Golden Age of American Animation. Stevens began his career

inbetweening Inbetweening, also known as tweening, is a process in animation that involves creating intermediate frames, called inbetweens, between two keyframes. The intended result is to create the illusion of movement by smoothly transitioning one image in ...

on the 1940 film '' Fantasia''. After doing in-between work on several films, he received his first screen credit in 1953 as a character animator on ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

''. During his career, Stevens contributed to the storyboards and animation in many Disney cartoon shorts and feature films including

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honor ...

's critically acclaimed 1950s television documentaries ''

Man in Space "Man in Space" is an episode of the American television series ''Disneyland'' which originally aired on March 9, 1955. It was directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. This ''Disneyland'' episode (set in Tomorrowland), was narrated partly by Kimb ...

'', '' Man and the Moon'' and '' Mars and Beyond''. Stevens was also an animator on the Oscar-winning shorts ''

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'' is a 1953 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols. A sequel to the first ''Adventures in Music'' cartoon, the 3-D short '' Melody'' ( ...

'' (1953) and ''

It's Tough to Be a Bird ''It's Tough to Be a Bird'' is a 1969 American animated educational short film directed by Ward Kimball and produced by Walt Disney Productions. The short won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoons in 1970 and was nominated for a BAF ...

'' (1969). In 1977, Stevens co-directed ''

The Rescuers ''The Rescuers'' is a 1977 American animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The 23rd Disney animated feature film, its story follows Bernard and Bianca, two members ...

''. He then co-produced and co-directed ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...

'' (1981) and contributed story work during early production of '' The Black Cauldron'' (1985). Stevens retired in 1983, after 43 years at the Disney animation studio.

Personal life

Stevens was born in Roy, Montana. He was married to his wife, Penny, for 68 years, with whom he had two sons Craig and Kent. Stevens died of a heart attack in

Studio City, California Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 192 ...

in 2007.

Filmography as director

*''

'' (1977) *''

'' (1981)

References

* *

External links

* 1915 births 2007 deaths American animators American film producers American animated film directors American animated film producers Walt Disney Animation Studios people Artists from Montana Film directors from Montana {{US-animator-stub