Charles Alfred "Al" Taliaferro ( ; August 29, 1905 – February 3, 1969), was an American Disney comics artist who produced Disney comic strips for King Features Syndicate. Taliaferro is best known for his work on the Donald Duck comic strip. Many of his strips were written by Bob Karp.
Family background
The Taliaferros trace their origins to Northern Italy and were one of the early families who settled in the Colony of Virginia during the 17th century. The family name, originally , literally means 'Ironcutter' in the Italian language.
Early career
After his family moved to Glendale, California, Taliaferro studied at the Art Institute of Los Angeles, California. Following his graduation, Taliaferro was hired as a designer for light fixtures. In January 1931, Taliaferro was hired by Walt Disney Studios as an animator, but soon transferred to the comic strip department.
At the time, Disney comics were limited to the Mickey Mouse comic strip, with Floyd Gottfredson as its main artist. Taliaferro was hired as an inker for Gottfredson's drawings. Taliaferro also served as the inker for a model sheet for the Mickey Mouse character. The model sheet would later be featured in Disney merchandising. He initially pitched the idea to Roy O. Disney, who rejected it. Taliaferro then produced three weeks-worth of episodes for a Donald Duck comic strip, brought them to Roy Disney, and asked him to offer the strip to King Features Syndicate for publication. King Features had syndicated all Disney comic strips up to this point. Roy Disney was not particularly interested in the project, but his brother Walt Disney could see potential in the project. Taliaferro's original sample stories were rejected due to having "weak gags". Taliaferro co-operated with writer Merrill De Maris to create new sample stories, but these were also rejected. Taliaferro then co-operated with writer Homer Brightman, and this time the sample stories were approved. Taliaferro's idea was greenlit and the new Donald Duck comic strip was about to begin. plus two Bucky Bug stories in WDC&S #39 (Dec. 1943) and #60 (Sept. 1945) and a one-page Donald and Goofy gag based on No Sail in the latter. Two children's books with Disney characters he illustrated are Donald and His Cat Troubles (1948) and Donald Duck and the Hidden Gold (1951).
In 2015, IDW Publishing began three series of hardcover reprints of Taliaferro's Disney comics under their imprint The Library of American Comics:
- Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Daily Newspaper Comics
- Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Sunday Newspaper Comics
- Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics
Legacy
Animation historian Jim Korkis noted that Taliaferro designed the mascot Litternaut in 1967 who adorned the public trash receptacles in Glendale into the 1970s and to this day is the official mascot of the Committee for a Clean & Beautiful Glendale.
Taliaferro was posthumously honored with a Disney Legends award in 2003.