Though the Walt Disney Corporation has become one of the world's biggest media conglomerates, they are best known for their timeless animated films. The secret to their success has been their fantastic animators, dating back to Art Babbit, Bill Tytla, and Ub Iwerks, who worked with Walt Disney on his Silly Symphony cartoons. Every generation since has learned from and improved on animation techniques, resulting in the fluid and ever-changing Disney style.

Many of Disney's animators proved that they weren't just limited to animating characters. Either trough remaining with Disney or spreading their wings with other companies or their own, these talented individuals helped to pave the way for today's diverse climate of animated films.

Wolfgang Reitherman

Wolfgang Reitherman acting out storyboards for The Sword in the Stone

Called Wolly by his friends, Reitherman joined Disney in the early 30s and would end up becoming one of the collections of master animators known as the Nine Old Men. Some of his iconic characters include the Magic Mirror, Monstro the whale, the Headless Horseman, and the alley dogs who fought the Tramp. He also served in the United States Air Force during World War II.

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During the 1960s, Walt focused more on his theme parks than animated films, so Reitherman took the helm of director starting with 101 Dalmations. To save time and money, he began tracing over existing animations and repeating sequences multiple times in the same film, which was controversial among his fellow animators. He left Fox and the Hound due to its legendary troubled production and retired in 1981.

Richard Williams

Richard Williams, the director behind the Thief and the Cobbler and Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Born in Toronto, Canada, Richard Williams' life was changed forever when he saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He absorbed everything he could about the Golden Age of animation and learned from the likes of Milt Kahl of the Nine Old Men, and Ken Harris from the early Loony Toons shorts. Today, he is best known as the animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which pioneered new techniques for blending hand-drawn animation into live-action films.

Unfortunately, Williams was kept from further success by his perfectionism, which resulted in him going over budget and missing deadlines on his projects, usually for the sake of showcasing more animation. This is best seen in what he hoped would be his masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler, which was in development for over thirty years. After its failure, Williams quietly retired from filmmaking, but kept animating and educating others until his death.

Tim Burton

Tim Burton wearing some glasses

During Disney's dark age following Walt's death, the Nine Old Men were beginning to think about retiring. New animators were brought in from the California Institute of the Arts to learn under the nine and be their replacements. Among them was the king of gothic horror films himself, Tim Burton.

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Burton worked as a character animator from Fox and the Hound to The Black Cauldron, and helmed live-action shorts like Vincent and Frankenweenie. Due to Disney's conservative nature at the time, they disliked Burton's macabre style and cut ties with him. Fortunately, his shorts landed him a job as the director of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which was the beginning of a long and creative career.

Brad Bird

Brad Bird Press Photo

When Brad Bird arrived at Disney in the late 70s, he was vocal about his dislike for the company's policies at the time, which forbid anybody from taking risks. This got him fired after two years, and though Bird was still passionate about making good animated content, he struggled to find work in film. Fortunately, he found success in television on shows like Amazing Stories and The Simpsons.

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In the 90s, Bird tried to pitch some of his comic-themed ideas to movie studios, and was finally accepted by WarnerBros to direct The Iron Giant. While not a commercial success, it gained a strong cult following, and this opened the door to Pixar, where Bird directed The Incredbles, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles 2. He has also released a few live-action films, such as Tomorrowland.

Don Bluth

Don Bluth surrounded by some of his characters: Mrs. Brisby, Charlie, Fievel Mousekewitz, Anastasia Romanoff, and Dirk the Daring

Ever since he saw Snow White as a boy, Don Bluth knew he wanted to work for Disney. Despite coming from a low-income family, Bluth taught himself to draw and eventually got his shot, working under John Lounsbury, one of the Nine. However, Bluth would leave Disney for a time to do missionary work in Argentina, and would return to find the company vasty different.

Unsatisfied with Disney animation in the 70s, Bluth led a mess exodus and went to form his own studio. Their first film, The Secret of NIMH, was released in 1981 to remind audiences of the power of hand drawn animation. Its success led to a prominent career over two decades that contributed to the Disney Renaissance.

Richard Rich

The Swan Princess, The King and I, and Alpha and Omega, all directed by Richard Rich

At around thirty years old, Richard Rich was perhaps Disney's youngest director when he joined Fox and the Hound. Unfortunately, his next directorial project was the Black Cauldron, which nearly destroyed Disney animation and cost Rich his job. To stay in business, he opened his own animation studio, Crest Animation Productions, which produced The Swan Princess and Alpha and Omega franchises.

Related: https://collider.com/the-black-cauldron-disney-why-it-flopped-controversy-explained/Rich is kind of an anomaly in the world of animation. His movies never do terribly well, but he keeps making more of them simply because he enjoys making new stories for his characters. Interestingly, he graduated with a degree in Musical Theater instead of animation, which might explain why so many of his films are musicals.

Glen Keane

Glen Keane with storyboards for Over the Moon

Joining Disney in 1974, Glen Keane was trained by Ollie Johnson, the member of the Nine who animated Mr. Smee in Peter Pan. When the Nine retired, Keane became a character animator and would work on some of Disney's beloved characters in their Renaissance. Among his best are Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, and Tarzan.

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Keane was set to direct Tangled as far back as 2003, but stepped down due to his health. Two years after its release he left Disney due to creative differences with management and Disney's size compared to when he started. He animated a few shorts before releasing his first feature film with Netflix and Sony, Over the Moon.

Phil Nibbelink hard at work on Romeo and Juliet Sealed With a Kiss

Phil Nibbelink joined Disney in the 80s and quickly established himself as a talented animator. He worked on The Fox and The Hound, The Black Cauldron, and The Great Mouse Detective, which landed him the role of directing animator for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Afterwards, he joined Steven Spielberg and his animation company, Amblimation.

Nibbelinks would serve as the co-director for An American Tail: Feivel Goes West, and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, which showcased his own style of slapstick humor. Unfortunately, Amblimation would only produce three films before Spielberg closed it and went to co-found DreamWorks. Nibbelkins filled his time by working on independent flash projects, including Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss, and most recently worked on the tv show Wolverine and the X-Men.

Bill Kroyer

Bill Kroyer, the director of FernGully: the Last Rainforest

Bill Kroyer joined Disney in 1977 to work on Fox and the Hound, but left when he refused to work on Black Cauldron. He would then go on to head the CGI sequences in Tron. This convinced Kroyer to combine 3D and 2D animation into his future work.

With his wife Susan, Kroyer founded Kroyer Films and released the short Technological Threat, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1988. His directorial debut came in 1992 with the release of FernGully: The Last Rainforest. Unfortunately, Kroyer's studio would not last, but he would serve as animation supervisor for several films before settling into his current profession as a teacher in California.

John Musker

John Musker, who co-directed The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet, The Princess and the Frog, and Moana with Ron Clements.

Getting his start making cartoons for his school newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, John Musker joined Disney shortly after graduation. He worked under Frank Thomas, one of the Nine Old Men, before animating sequences in Fox and the Hound and Black Cauldron. Here, he met his friend and co-director, Ron Clements.

The two would get their chance to direct on The Great Mouse Detective, which was a modest success. Their next project, The Little Mermaid, would kickstart the Disney Renaissance, and the duo would follow it up with Aladdin and Hercules. While their passion project Treasure Planet, was one of Disney's biggest box-office bombs, they would bounce back with The Princess and the Frog, and Moana.

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