Eric Gurney (1910–1992) was a Canadian-American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

. He immigrated to the US in 1938 to work with

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 ...

, where he was a story writer and a collaborator on several Disney films. Turning freelance in 1948, he did cartoon illustrations for

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s and advertising campaigns. Gurney is well known for his humorous illustrations in books for children and adults. He received the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

Advertising and Illustration Award for 1961 and 1971 for his work.

Early life

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Eric Gurney grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where he began a career as a commercial artist. In 1938 he immigrated to the US to work with

The Walt Disney Company 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 ...

, where he was a story writer and collaborated on several Disney films, including '' Pinocchio, Bambi,

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 ...

,'' and ''

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

'' cartoons. Turning freelance in 1948, he did cartoon illustrations for magazines and advertising campaigns, notably for the Ethyl Corporation.

Illustrating career

Gurney is best known for his humorous illustrations in books for children and adults. He illustrated ''Punctured Poems'' (1971) by

Richard Armour Richard Willard Armour (July 15, 1906 – February 28, 1989) was an American poet and prose writer who wrote more than 65 books. Life and works Armour was born in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California the only child of Harry W. and Sue Wheelock Ar ...

; ''How to Live with a Neurotic Dog'' (1960) (text by Stephen Baker); ''How to Live with a Calculating Cat'' (1962) (text by William Nettleton); an edition of ''Sportsmanlike Driving'' (1965), a

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

published by the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 m ...

, and many other titles, whose total sales number in the millions. He received the

Advertising and Illustration Award for 1961 and 1971 for his work. His first wife, Nancy Gurney, was his collaborator on several books including ''The King, the Mice, and the Cheese'' (1965) and ''Gurney's Guide to Feathered Friends'' (1968). He was also the illustrator of other notable

Beginner Books Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel. Their first book was Dr. Seuss's ''The Cat in the Hat'' (19 ...

including '' The Digging-est Dog'' and ''Hand Hand Fingers Thumb''. After her death, Gurney married a second Nancy. They also collaborated on ''The Return of the Calculating Cat''. In later years they resided in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

References

External links

Eric Gurney
– website 1910 births 1992 deaths American cartoonists American screenwriters Animation screenwriters Artists from Winnipeg Canadian cartoonists Walt Disney Animation Studios people Writers from Winnipeg 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century American screenwriters Canadian emigrants to the United States {{Canadian-comics-creator-stub