Another WB animator has passed away

[Jave]

Jack Bradbury, an animator for the Friz Freleng unit during the mid-forties (credits include "Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk", "Meatless Flyday" and "Stage Door Cartoon") passed away at the age of 89. Rest in Peace.

More info on http://www.cartoonbrew.com (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/)

[duck dodgers]

he also worked for comic books and,among the many things did many disney stories featuring uncle scrooge and donald duck,with his unique particular style of drawing

[rodney]

Bradbury had a sketchy style in his comic work. It's very distinctive, and I've always liked the way he drew Donald and the kids.

[Sogturtle]

Jack Bradbury's career in animation lasted (depending on how you count it) either ten or twelve years. In Sept. 1934 he received a letter from Disney's Ben Sharpsteen complimenting his submitted drawings and inviting him to come (at his own expense) all the way from Seattle to endure a trial without pay lasting a couple of weeks... And with NO guarantee of employment by Disney whatsoever. Bradbury easily passed his trial period as novice inbetweener and went on the Disney payroll as inbetweener in early Nov. 1934, by his recollection at "the princely sum of $15 per week" *(he was thrilled to get out of rainy Seattle). From 1935 through 1938 he reportedly shows up as inbetweener or assistant animator on Disney films ranging from "The Band Concert" and "The Tortoise And The Hare" up through "The Old Mill" and finally "Snow White". The RELEASE year of 1938 finally saw him promoted to full animator and indeed we find him animating on "Ferdinand The Bull" and "The Farmyard Symphony" before rapidly being bumped up to feature animator on "Pinocchio", "Fantasia", and even on "Bambi". He was NOT one of the animators laid off or fired in 1941 in the strike aftermath. According to his recollection he left Disney after "the War" began, but company records show him there till late Nov. 1941, shortly BEFORE WWII began. He further remembered going to work in the shipyards then "for 8 or 9 months", but Disney records show him being recalled to work there for two months commencing in early March 1942. It's unknown what he was animating on for those two months though... Sooooo Bradbury's TOTAL time as Disney full ANIMATOR would likely total up to just about 4 years.

In an interview Bob Clampett would recall that NONE of the Disney animators (excepting Art Babbitt) were able to keep up with the Schlesinger requirements of both quality animation and huge amounts of footage (in comparison to Disney feature requirements of footage). Jack Bradbury was a very notable exception to this statement of Clampett's, and Bradbury joined Leon's straight from his final Disney employment. Even more notable is that he was IMMEDIATELY given SCREEN CREDIT on the Freleng cartoon then in production "Jack-Wabbit And The Beanstalk" (it's model sheet is indeed dated May 1942 though it came out a full year later). This is almost certainly due his prestige as having been a Disney feature animator on Disney's three most recent feature films (the only other person I know of to be given screen-credit that fast at Schlesinger's was ART DAVIS). Although there are only three Warner cartoons from release years 1943 and 1944 that bear Bradbury's name, almost certainly he animated on all or almost all the Freleng cartoons up through the latter part of 1946 (Bob Cannon left the studio at the same time and his name fails to appear on anything after Jan. 1945). Sooooooo with that in mind, although people term Jack Bradbury's stay at Warner's as "brief" and "only about two years", it really totals up to three years worth of cartoons (near as I can figure).

Warner animator Gil Turner was the man who first got Bradbury into drawing comics for Jim (James F.) Davis's setup with the eastern publishers. This evolved into Turner and Bradbury teaming up with Jim Davis on animating a film for Carry-Weston for the army, and then one for Cathedral Films. Gil Turner then went to work for MGM and Jack Bradbury concentrated all of his attention on comics, both drawing and writing. From what he recalled in a 1979 interview, the work with Jim Davis slowed down in about 1947 and he contacted another former associate from Warner Brothers, Thomas (Tom) McKimson, recently hired as a high honcho at Western Publishing, and thus began his long association drawing Disney comics (about 6 years after leaving Walt's studio). As mentioned by writer Mark Evanier, another former Warner associate-a guy by the name of Clampett :p insisted that Jack Bradbury be the man to draw his Beany and Cecil comic book. Bradbury pointed out that Clampett even had him draw a Beany and Cecil newspaper strip for him but that it was never sold (the same thing happened to a Bozo the Clown newspaper strip later).

Ohhhhh and I should add this... Jack Bradbury would in 1951 (along with Campbell Grant) find himself drawing Bugs Bunny again... This time in a [I]BIG GOLDEN BOOK written by Annie North Bedford entitled "Bugs Bunny's Book" and which is essentially 8 stories chronicling Bugsy's travels around the woild...

[Cartman]

Jack Bradbury's career in animation lasted (depending on how you count it) either ten or twelve years. In Sept. 1934 he received a letter from Disney's Ben Sharpsteen complimenting his submitted drawings and inviting him to come (at his own expense) all the way from Seattle to endure a trial without pay lasting a couple of weeks... And with NO guarantee of employment by Disney whatsoever. Bradbury easily passed his trial period as novice inbetweener and went on the Disney payroll as inbetweener in early Nov. 1934, by his recollection at "the princely sum of $15 per week" *(he was thrilled to get out of rainy Seattle). From 1935 through 1938 he reportedly shows up as inbetweener or assistant animator on Disney films ranging from "The Band Concert" and "The Tortoise And The Hare" up through "The Old Mill" and finally "Snow White". The RELEASE year of 1938 finally saw him promoted to full animator and indeed we find him animating on "Ferdinand The Bull" and "The Farmyard Symphony" before rapidly being bumped up to feature animator on "Pinocchio", "Fantasia", and even on "Bambi". He was NOT one of the animators laid off or fired in 1941 in the strike aftermath. According to his recollection he left Disney after "the War" began, but company records show him there till late Nov. 1941, shortly BEFORE WWII began. He further remembered going to work in the shipyards then "for 8 or 9 months", but Disney records show him being recalled to work there for two months commencing in early March 1942. It's unknown what he was animating on for those two months though... Sooooo Bradbury's TOTAL time as Disney full ANIMATOR would likely total up to just about 4 years.

In an interview Bob Clampett would recall that NONE of the Disney animators (excepting Art Babbitt) were able to keep up with the Schlesinger requirements of both quality animation and huge amounts of footage (in comparison to Disney feature requirements of footage). Jack Bradbury was a very notable exception to this statement of Clampett's, and Bradbury joined Leon's straight from his final Disney employment. Even more notable is that he was IMMEDIATELY given SCREEN CREDIT on the Freleng cartoon then in production "Jack-Wabbit And The Beanstalk" (it's model sheet is indeed dated May 1942 though it came out a full year later). This is almost certainly due his prestige as having been a Disney feature animator on Disney's three most recent feature films (the only other person I know of to be given screen-credit that fast at Schlesinger's was ART DAVIS). Although there are only three Warner cartoons from release years 1943 and 1944 that bear Bradbury's name, almost certainly he animated on all or almost all the Freleng cartoons up through the latter part of 1946 (Bob Cannon left the studio at the same time and his name fails to appear on anything after Jan. 1945). Sooooooo with that in mind, although people term Jack Bradbury's stay at Warner's as "brief" and "only about two years", it really totals up to three years worth of cartoons (near as I can figure).

Warner animator Gil Turner was the man who first got Bradbury into drawing comics for Jim (James F.) Davis's setup with the eastern publishers. This evolved into Turner and Bradbury teaming up with Jim Davis on animating a film for Carry-Weston for the army, and then one for Cathedral Films. Gil Turner then went to work for MGM and Jack Bradbury concentrated all of his attention on comics, both drawing and writing. From what he recalled in a 1979 interview, the work with Jim Davis slowed down in about 1947 and he contacted another former associate from Warner Brothers, Thomas (Tom) McKimson, recently hired as a high honcho at Western Publishing, and thus began his long association drawing Disney comics (about 6 years after leaving Walt's studio). As mentioned by writer Mark Evanier, another former Warner associate-a guy by the name of Clampett :p insisted that Jack Bradbury be the man to draw his Beany and Cecil comic book. Bradbury pointed out that Clampett even had him draw a Beany and Cecil newspaper strip for him but that it was never sold (the same thing happened to a Bozo the Clown newspaper strip later).

Ohhhhh and I should add this... Jack Bradbury would in 1951 (along with Campbell Grant) find himself drawing Bugs Bunny again... This time in a [i]BIG GOLDEN BOOK written by Annie North Bedford entitled "Bugs Bunny's Book" and which is essentially 8 stories chronicling Bugsy's travels around the woild...
That's quite an interesting biography.:)