Richard Huemer (January 2, 1898 – November 30, 1979) was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation.

Career

While as an artist-illustrator living in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City, Huemer first began his career in animation at the

Raoul Barré Vital Achille Raoul Barré (January 29, 1874 – May 21, 1932) was a Canadian and American cartoonist, animator of the silent film era, and painter. Initially known as a political cartoonist, he originated the French Canadian comic strip, then cro ...

cartoon studio in 1916. He joined the Fleischer Studio in 1923 where he developed the

Koko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...

character. He redesigned the "Clown" for more efficient animation production and moved the Fleischer's away from their dependency upon the Rotoscope for fluid animation. Huemer created Ko-Ko's canine companion, Fitz. Most importantly, Huemer set the drawing style that gave the series its distinctive look. Later he moved to Hollywood and worked as an animator and director for the Charles Mintz studio creating the character

Scrappy Scrappy is a cartoon character created by Dick Huemer for Charles Mintz's Screen Gems Studio (distributed by Columbia Pictures). A little round-headed boy, Scrappy often found himself involved in off-beat neighborhood adventures. Usually paired ...

. He subsequently moved to the Disney Studio, where he remained for the duration of his career, except for a three-year hiatus from 1948–51 when he pioneered animated TV commercials and created with

Paul Murry Paul Murry (November 25, 1911 – August 4, 1989) was an American cartoonist and comics artist. He is best known for his Disney comics, which appeared in Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics from 1946 to 1984, particularly the Mickey Mouse and Goo ...

''The Adventures of Buck O'Rue'' comic strip. Some of Huemer's most creative work was done in partnership with

Joe Grant Joe Grant (May 15, 1908 – May 7, 2005) was an American artist and writer. Biography Born in New York City, Grant worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios as a character designer and story artist beginning in 1932 on the Mickey Mouse shor ...

; examples include '' Fantasia'' (story director), ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...

'' (screenplay), and several propaganda films to advance the U.S. war effort during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Atypically, Huemer and Grant submitted ''Dumbo'' to Walt Disney not as a completed storyboard, but as a series of storyboard "chapters," each ending in a cliffhanger. This was intended to pique Disney's enthusiasm for the project, and it worked. Huemer was at the Disney organization from April 16, 1933, to February 28, 1973.

Awards and accomplishments

Huemer was given a

Mousecar The Mousecar is an in-house award given by The Walt Disney Company for a variety of reasons, including service to the company as well as to the community as a whole. The award was first presented by Disney founder Walt Disney to his brother R ...

by the Disney Studio in February 1973 at a ceremony attended by a number of his peers. He accepted 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 ...

at the

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in Film, cinema and television. Originally ...

in October 1978 and was introduced by

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 ...

. On October 10, 2007, Huemer's son Dr. Richard P. Huemer accepted the Disney Legends award that was given in his father's name.''Disney Legends Ceremony October 10, 2007,''
DVD, Disney Media Services,

Filmography

Director

*''

Goofy and Wilbur ''Goofy and Wilbur'' is a 1939 animated cartoon short produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures on March 17, 1939. Although the cartoon is billed as a '' Mickey Mouse'' cartoon (as said on the theatrical poster), it wa ...

'' (1939) *''

The Whalers ''The Whalers'' is a cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by RKO Radio Pictures on August 19, 1938, and featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. The short was directed by David Hand and Dick Huemer. It featured the vo ...

'' (1938) *''Scrappy's Auto Show'' (1933) *''Hollywood Babies'' (1933) *''Sandman Tails'' (1933) *''Movie Struck'' (1933) *''The World's Affair'' (1933) *''Technocracked'' (1933) *''The Match Kid'' (1933) *''False Alarm'' (1933) *''Beer Parade'' (1933) *''Scrappy's Party'' (1933) *''Sassy Cats'' (1933) *''The Wolf at the Door'' (1932) *''The Bad Genius'' (1932) *''Flop House'' (1932) *''The Great Bird Mystery'' (1932) *''Black Sheep'' (1932) *''Camping Out'' (1932) *''Fare Play'' (1932) *''Battle of the Barn'' (1932) *''Stepping Stones'' (1932) *''The Pet Shop'' (1932) *''Railroad Wretch'' (1932) *''The Treasure Runt'' (1932) *''Minding the Baby'' (1932) *''The Chinatown Mystery'' (1932) *''Showing Off'' (1931) *''The Dog Snatcher'' (1931) *''Sunday Clothes'' (1931) *''Little Pest'' (1931) *''Yelp Wanted'' (1931) *''The Museum'' (1930)

Writer

Features

*'' Alice in Wonderland'' (1951) *''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...

'' (1946) *''

Make Mine Music ''Make Mine Music'' is a 1946 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the eighth Disney feature animated film, released on April 20, 1946. During World War II, much of Walt Disn ...

'' (1946) *'' Saludos Amigos'' (1943) *''

'' (1941) *'' The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941) *'' Fantasia'' (1940) (story director)

TV shows (some dates uncertain)

*''Disneyland'': "An Adventure in Art" (1958) #5694 *''Disneyland'': "Tricks of Our Trade" (1956) #5664 *''Disneyland'': "The Plausible Impossible" (1956) #5644 *''Disneyland'': "The Story of the Animated Drawing" (1955) #5605 *"Concerto con Doodle" (195?) (never aired) *''The Roy Williams Show'' (c. 1950)

Cartoons

*''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'' (1953)* *''Melody'' (1953) *''Chicken Little'' (1943) *''Reason and Emotion'' (1943) *''Education for Death'' (1942) *''

Der Fuehrer's Face ''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'' or ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' ) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, ...

'' (1942)* *''

The New Spirit ''The New Spirit'' is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and released by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry. The cartoon, which stars Donald D ...

'' (1942)

Animator

*''Wynken, Blynken and Nod'' (1938) *''Lonesome Ghosts'' (1937) *''Little Hiawatha'' (1937) ...a.k.a. ''Hiawatha'' (1937) *''Don Donald'' (1937) *''Mickey's Elephant'' (1936) *''Alpine Climbers'' (1936) *''Mickey's Rival'' (1936) *''Mickey's Polo Team'' (1936) *''Broken Toys'' (1935) *''Music Land'' (1935) *''Mickey's Garden'' (1935) *''Water Babies'' (1935) *''The Band Concert'' (1935) *''The Tortoise and the Hare'' (1934)* *''The Goddess of Spring'' (1934) *''Peculiar Penguins'' (1934) *''The Wise Little Hen'' (1934) *''Funny Little Bunnies'' (1934) *''The Grasshopper and the Ants'' (1934) *''The China Shop'' (1934) *''The Night Before Christmas'' (1933) *''Giantland'' (1933) *''The Steeplechase'' (1933) *''The Pied Piper'' (1933) *''Puppy Love'' (1933) *''Lullaby Land'' (1933) *''By the Light of the Silvery Moon'' (1927) *''Koko In 1999'' (1927) *''Hell Is Freezing Over'' (c. 1926) *''Koko the Barber'' (1925) *''Oh Mabel'' (1924) :''More for Fleischer, Associated Animators, and Raoul Barré – to be updated later.'' : * Denotes AMPAS ("Academy") Award.

Miscellaneous at Disney's

Books

*''Baby Weems'' *''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' *''True Life Adventures''

Newspaper features

*''True-Life Adventures'' (March 14, 1955 – February 27, 1973)

Phonograph records

*''The Who-zis and The What-zis'' *''Melody'' *''Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom'' *''A Christmas Adventure in Disneyland''

References

Sources

Huemer.com
Note to editors, this link does not work

External links

Disney Legends ImageAnnie Award Image
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huemer, Dick 1898 births 1979 deaths Animators from New York (state) Walt Disney Animation Studios people Screen Gems Fleischer Studios people