Arthur Harold Babitsky (October 8, 1907 – March 4, 1992), better known as Art Babbitt, was an American animator, best known for his work at the Walt Disney Productions animation unit. He received over 80 awards as an animation director and animator, and also developed the character of Goofy. Babbitt worked as an animator or animation director on films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo, among others. Outside of Disney, he also animated The Wise Quacking Duck for Leon Schlesinger Productions.
Early life
Babbitt was born to a Jewish family in the Little Bohemia section of Omaha, Nebraska, but moved to Sioux City, Iowa after he finished kindergarten. After graduating from Sioux City Central High in 1924 at the age of 16, Art decided to move to New York to take on the role of breadwinner after his hard-working father had an accident on duty and became paralyzed as a result.
Career
Art Babbitt began his career in New York City working for Paul Terry's Terrytoons studio. But in the early 1930s he moved to Los Angeles followed by his fellow Terrytoon colleague Bill Tytla, and secured a job animating for the Walt Disney Studio, which was expanding at the time.
Disney Studio
Babbitt began his career at Disney as an assistant animator, but his talent was spotted and he was soon promoted to animator.
At the Disney Studio, Babbitt animated the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a job described by Disney animator Andreas Deja as "one of the toughest assignments" on the film.
For his part in the strike, Babbitt earned Walt Disney's enmity. Disney was forced to rehire Babbitt after the strike was over, along with many other strikers, but by then the two men disliked one another. Babbitt worked with director Jack Kinney, another "Goofy man" (meaning that they worked together on the Goofy shorts), as Disney began to look for ways to be rid of Babbitt. "If he gets in your way, let me know", Disney said to Kinney. Babbitt was fired more than once but was reinstated upon winning his court case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which became final when the Supreme Court of the United States declined Disney's appeal.
WWII
After serving with the U.S. Marines in the Pacific War during World War II, Babbitt returned to Disney for a time, following an "unfair labor practices" suit brought by Babbitt against Disney. Disney was forced to rehire him after the war, but Babbitt did not stay long. Later he was part of Hanna-Barbera's commercial wing.
Known in the animation world as one of the art's most accomplished teachers, in 1973 Canadian animator Richard Williams brought Babbitt to his London studio in Soho Square to deliver a series of lectures on animation acting and technique that subsequently became famous among animators. Some of Babbitt's final work was on the characters King Nod and Phido, the vulture, in Williams' film The Thief and the Cobbler. His third wife until his death was actress Barbara Perry. His step-daughter from Barbara is Laurel James. In the late 1980s, a British television documentary titled Animating Art was broadcast, celebrating Babbitt's life and work. The documentary was produced and directed by Imogen Sutton (Richard Williams' wife), and features extensive interviews with Babbitt and his then employer, Williams. Babbitt was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2007.
The Academy Film Archive holds a small collection of personal films belonging to Babbitt. The archive has preserved a number of Babbitt's home movies from this collection, including one of the 1938 Academy Awards.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Credits
! Characters
|-
| 1937 || Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs || Animator ||Evil Queen / Doc
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1940 || Pinocchio || Animation Director ||Geppetto || rowspan="2" | Animator ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1947 || Bootle Beetle (Short) ||
|-
|Fun and Fancy Free || Character Animator ||Bongo