Eric Larson

For persons with similar names, see Erik Larson (disambiguation).

Eric Larson
Born	Eric Cleon Larson September 3, 1905 Cleveland, Utah, U.S.
Died	October 25, 1988(1988-10-25) (aged 83) La Cañada Flintridge, California, U.S.
Occupation	Animator
Years active	1933–1986
Known for	One of Disney's "Nine Old Men" Creation of Disney's Winnie the Pooh
Spouse	Gertrude Jannes Larson ​ ​ (m. 1933; died 1975)​

Eric Cleon Larson (September 3, 1905 – October 25, 1988) was an American animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933, and was one of "Disney's Nine Old Men".

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Utah, Larson was the son of Danish immigrants Peter, a clothing salesman, and Nora. He worked on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Melody Time, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Throughout the years, Larson has animated characters on classics like The Aristocats and Robin Hood and also provided the titles on The Rescuers (along with Mel Shaw and Burny Mattinson). In the 1980s his work was minor, but he served as animation consultant on animated films and shorts like Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Black Cauldron, and The Great Mouse Detective.

In 1973, he began a recruitment training program that brought a new generation of animators into the Disney studio. Many well-known figures in animation today went through Larson's training program, including Brad Bird, Don Bluth, Chris Buck, Tim Burton, Randy Cartwright, Ron Clements, Andreas Deja, Gary Goldman, Ed Gombert, Mark Henn, Dan Haskett, Glen Keane, Bill Kroyer, John Lasseter, John Musker, Phil Nibbelink, Richard Rich, Burny Mattinson, Melvin Shaw, Jeffrey J. Varab, John Pomeroy, Joe Ranft, Jerry Rees, Henry Selick and Tad Stones among many others.

Larson was married to Gertrude Larson. By his retirement in 1986, he was the longest-working employee at Disney, having worked there for 53 years. He died on October 25, 1988, at the age of 83.

Filmography

Year	Title	Credits	Characters
1934	Two-Gun Mickey	Assistant animator
1935	The Golden Touch	Animator
	Mickey's Service Station
	The Tortoise and the Hare	Assistant Animator
	Who Killed Cock Robin?
	Cock o' the Walk	Animator
	On Ice
	Mickey's Fire Brigade
1936	Three Little Wolves
1937	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs		Forest Animals, Seven Dwarfs on deer
1938	Farmyard Symphony
	The Whalers
1939	The Ugly Duckling
1940	Pinocchio	Animation Director	Figaro, Cleo, Marionettes, Donkeys
	Fantasia	Animation Supervisor - Segment "The Pastoral Symphony"
1942	Bambi	Supervising Animator	Thumper, Friend Owl
	Donald's Gold Mine	Animator
1943	The Grain That Built a Hemisphere (Documentary short)
1945	The Three Caballeros		"The Flying Gauchito", Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, Panchito, Aracuan
	Tiger Trouble (Short)
	African Diary (Short)
1946	A Knight for a Day (Short)
	Make Mine Music		"Casey at the Bat", "Peter and the Wolf"
	Song of the South	Directing Animator
1947	Fun and Fancy Free	Animator
1948	Melody Time	Directing Animator	"Once Upon A Wintertime", "Johnny Appleseed" and "Little Toot"
1949	So Dear to My Heart	Animator
	The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
1950	Cinderella	Directing Animator	Cinderella, Prince Charming
1951	Alice in Wonderland		Alice, Dinah, Caterpillar, Queen Of Hearts
1952	Lambert the Sheepish Lion (Short)	Animator
1953	Peter Pan	Directing Animator	Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook
1955	Lady and the Tramp		Lady, Tramp, Beaver, Peg
1959	Sleeping Beauty	Sequence Director
1961	One Hundred and One Dalmatians	Directing Animator	Pongo, Perdita, Puppies, Colonel, Tibbs
1962	A Symposium on Popular Songs (Short)	Animator
1963	The Sword in the Stone	Character Animator	Wart, Merlin, Archimedes, Sir Ector, Madam Mim
1964	Man's Search for Happiness (Short)	Animator
	Mary Poppins		Forest animals, Racers
1966	Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (Short)
1967	The Jungle Book	Character Animator	Mowgli, Bagheera, Vultures
1968	Understanding Stresses and Strains (Short)	Animator
1969	It's Tough to Be a Bird (Documentary short)
1970	The Aristocats	Character Animator	Roquefort, Kittens, Scat Cat
1971	Bedknobs and Broomsticks	Animator	Ballroom Fish, Elephant Soccer Player, Crocodile Soccer Player,
1973	Robin Hood	Character Animator	Robin Hood, Little John, Vultures
1974	Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (Short)	Directing Animator
1977	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Animator	Kanga, Roo, Winnie The Pooh, Christopher Robin,
	The Rescuers	Titles/Animator
1956 - 1979	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV Series)	Animator	17 Episodes
1981	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV Series)		Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life - Himself
	The Fox and the Hound	Animation Consultant
1983	Mickey's Christmas Carol (Short)
1984	DTV: Golden Oldies (Video)	Animator
1985	The Disney Family Album (TV Series documentary)	Eric Larson	Himself
	The Black Cauldron	Animation Consultant
1986	The Great Mouse Detective

External links

• Eric Larson at IMDb
• Disney Legends