Wolfgang Reitherman, also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a famed Disney animator, director, and producer, and one of Disney's Nine Old Men.
Personal life[]
Born in Munich, Germany, Reitherman's family moved to America when he was a child. After attending Pasadena Junior College and briefly working as a draftsman for Douglas Aircraft, Reitherman returned to school at the Chouinard Art Institute, graduating in 1933.
Reitherman had three sons named Bruce, Robert, and Richard, the first of whom did both speaking and singing voices of Mowgli in The Jungle Book, and the first voice of Christopher Robin (in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree), and the other two were two of the voice actors of Arthur in The Sword in the Stone (the third of whom being the late Rickie Sorensen).
Career[]
Reitherman began working for Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts, including The Band Concert, Music Land, and Elmer Elephant. Later, Reitherman would also work on a number of Goofy cartoons.
All in all, Reitherman worked on various Disney feature films produced from 1937, until his retirement in 1981, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (the Magic Mirror) to The Fox and the Hound (co-producer). He did Monstro the Whale in Pinocchio, the climactic dinosaur fight in Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in Fantasia, the Headless Horseman chase in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow section in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the Crocodile in Peter Pan, and Maleficent as a dragon in Sleeping Beauty. Beginning with 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, "Woolie", as he was called by friends, served as Disney's chief animation director. One of Reitherman's productions, the 1969 short Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Because the rightful winner, Walt Disney himself, didn't live to receive said Academy Award, Reitherman accepted it instead. He also served as a producer and sequence director, and starred as himself in a 1941 short entitled The Reluctant Dragon. All three of Reitherman's sons — Bruce, Richard and Robert — provided voices for Disney characters, including Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Christopher Robin in the Winnie the Pooh films, and Arthur Pendragon in The Sword in the Stone.
Reitherman directed several Disney animated feature films including, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), Robin Hood (1973), and The Rescuers (1977). He is also known for reusing animation in movies directed by him. According to Floyd Norman, this was just one of his trademarks, and had nothing to do with time or cost savings: "Woolie was our director on The Jungle Book. Reuse was just Woolie's thing. He never did it to save money. I really don't think the 'Old Guard' ever had any interest in saving money. I was never a big fan of reuse, but it wasn't my place to tell these old guys what to do. One final thought. It never seemed to bother Walt, and I never heard him complain about reuse."
Why Wouldn't Wolfgang Reitherman direct an Disney Animated Movie Based on "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" with predominantly computer-generated (CGI) while all the characters were traditionally animated?
Wolfgang Reitherman was a traditional animator who believed in the power of hand-drawn animation. He was a pioneer in the field of animation, and he helped to create some of the most beloved Disney films of all time, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and The Jungle Book. Reitherman was not a fan of computer-generated animation. He believed that it could not capture the same level of emotion and artistry as hand-drawn animation. He also believed that CGI was too expensive and time-consuming. In 1979, Reitherman was approached by Disney to direct an animated film based on the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The film would have been a hybrid of CGI and traditional animation, with the characters being hand-drawn and the backgrounds being computer-generated. Reitherman turned down the offer. He said that he could not in good conscience direct a film that used CGI. He believed that it would be a betrayal of his artistic principles. Reitherman's decision was met with mixed reactions. Some people praised him for standing up for his beliefs, while others criticized him for being out of touch with the times. Ultimately, Reitherman's decision was his own. He was a true artist, and he believed in the power of hand-drawn animation. He was not willing to compromise his principles, even for a project as big as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The film was eventually directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord, and it was a critical and commercial success. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and it won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Motion Picture. Despite its success, the film remains a controversial topic. Some people believe that it would have been even better if it had been entirely hand-drawn, while others believe that the CGI was necessary to create the film's unique visual style. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide whether or not they believe that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a good film. However, there is no doubt that Wolfgang Reitherman's decision to turn down the project was a courageous one. He stood up for his beliefs, even when it meant turning down a major opportunity.
Death[]
He was killed in a car accident near his home in Burbank in 1985, at the age of 75. In 1989, he was posthumously named a Disney Legend.
Characters Animated by Reitherman[]
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Animator (Magic Mirror)
- Pinocchio - Animation Director (Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, and Monstro the Whale)
- Fantasia - Animation Supervisor (Dinosaur Fight in Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring)
- Dumbo - Animation Director (Timothy Q. Mouse, Additional Characters)
- Saludos Amigos - Animator (Goofy)
- Fun and Fancy Free - Directing Animator (Additional Characters)
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad - Directing Animator (Mr. Winkle, Brom Bones, The Headless Horseman, Ichabod's horse)
- Cinderella - Directing Animator (Additional Characters)
- Alice in Wonderland - Directing Animator (Additional Characters)
- Peter Pan - Directing Animator (Captain Hook and Tick-Tock the Crocodile)
- Lady and the Tramp - Directing Animator (Tramp, The Stray Dogs, and The Rat)
Disney Director[]
- The Goofy Success Story (1955)
- The Truth About Mother Goose (1957)
- Goliath II (1960)
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
- Aquamania (1961)
- The Sword in the Stone (1963)
- Dracula (1965)
- Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
- The Man Called Flintstone (1966)
- The Jungle Book (1967)
- Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
- The Aristocats (1970)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
- The Rescuers (1977)
Disney Producer[]
- The Aristocats (1970)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
- The Rescuers (1977)
- The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Miscellaneous Crew[]
- Sleeping Beauty (1959) (sequence director)
- Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959) (sequence director)
Gallery[]
External links[]
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