Karyl Ross "Ken" Harris (July 31, 1898 – March 24, 1982) was an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...

best known for his work at

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

under the supervision of director

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

Life and career

Ken Harris was born in Tulare County, California. He finished his education at an unknown college in Stockton, New Jersey. Harris started as a race car builder and driver with his brother, who had a garage. Harris and his brother had to spend $4,000 dollars on a race track. He raced at Ascot three times in 1926. One time he went 113 miles. Around the time he was a racer, he started being an assistant service vice manager and selling cars at a

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

agency before the agency eventually closed down. His first job as an artist was for Sid Ziff, where he sold some cartoons to him here and there. Then he worked for the '' Los Angeles Herald Examiner'', from 1927 to around 1930, when he joined the ill-fated Romer Grey studio. Harris finally ended up at Leon Schlesinger Productions under the

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ...

unit. This lasted for a short while until he was relocated into the

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director. He was best k ...

unit. Eventually, Tashlin left and the unit was taken over by

. The association with Jones and Harris began in 1937 and lasted until 1962, the longest time an animator spent with a director at the studio. Harris briefly animated for the UPA short ''The Brotherhood of Man''. Harris would sometimes go play tennis and buy a new car, according to Jerry Beck and assistant for Jones named Corny Cole. Jones described him as "a virtuoso. Ken Harris did it all." Dan Backslide, one of the characters from the Jones short '' The Dover Boys'', was a caricature of Harris. After Jones left Warner's, Harris worked with former animator Phil Monroe on two cartoons before Warner Bros. closed its cartoon department. In 1963, Harris worked briefly for

on the titles of '' The Pink Panther'' (1963), then for

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

on their first feature film ''

Hey There It's Yogi Bear! ''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' is a 1964 American animated musical comedy film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released by Columbia Pictures. The film stars the voices of Daws Butler, Don Messick, Julie Bennett, Mel Blanc, and J. Pat O ...

'' (1964), then rejoined Jones at MGM for three years. After work as an animator on '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' (1966) — directed by Jones, a longtime friend of Dr. Seuss — Harris came to the studio of independent animator Richard Williams in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1967. There he served as William's mentor as well as his employee. Harris's credits with him included ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...

'' (1971) — as animator of Ebenezer Scrooge — the opening titles of '' The Return of the Pink Panther'' (1975), and the still-unfinished animated feature ''

The Thief and the Cobbler ''The Thief and the Cobbler'' is an unfinished animated fantasy film co-written and directed by Richard Williams. Originally conceived in the 1960s, the film was in and out of production for nearly three decades due to independent funding and ...

'' (animating the Thief of the title, which is very reminiscent of Harris's earlier work animating

Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, ...

for Jones). Among the many scenes Harris animated: Mama Bear doing an outrageous tap-dance (which Chuck Jones, who directed the cartoon, and who was Harris' longtime collaborator, has said was inspired by

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American story man for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director Chuck Jones, notably " ...

, "who could really dance that way") in ''

A Bear For Punishment ''A Bear for Punishment'' is a 1951 animated Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 20, 1951, and stars the Three Bears. Plot In the Three Bear's cave, Henry Bear is woken up from slumb ...

''; Wile E. Coyote consuming earthquake pills in ''

Hopalong Casualty ''Hopalong Casualty'' is a 1960 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' theatrical animated short, directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 8, 1960, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a play on the Hopalong Cassidy ...

''; as well as the lengthy dance sequence in '' What's Opera, Doc?''. Harris died on March 24, 1982, from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

in Woodland, California, at 83 years of age.

Awards

At the 1981 Annie Awards, ASIFA-Hollywood awarded Ken the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement in the field of animation.

References

External links

*
Official site of Ken Harris
Retrieved December 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ken 1898 births 1982 deaths Animators from California American animated film directors American cartoonists Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from Parkinson's disease People from Tulare County, California Artists from Los Angeles Warner Bros. Cartoons people