Leon Schlesinger Productions
Which employer did Jack King (animator) work for from 1933 to 1936?
Jack King ( animator ) James Patton Jack King ( November 4 , 1895 – October 4 , 1958 ) was an American animator and short film director best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions . Career . According to Jeff Lenburgs assessment of him , King was an early pioneer of animation . His films were nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . He started his career in the silent film era . He spent most of his career working at Walt Disney Productions ( later known as the Walt Disney Animation Studios ) . He directed many well-regarded films . King was born in 1895 in Birmingham , Alabama . He started his animation career in 1920 , working at Bray Productions animation studio . He directed the Judge Rummy series ( 1920-1921 ) for the International Film Service . The silent animated series was based on the comic strip Judge Rummy by Tad Dorgan . His early films also included Kiss Me ( 1920 ) , Why Change Your Husband ( 1920 ) , and The Chicken Thief ( 1921 ) . The series reportedly ended in 1921 . King successfully made the transition from silent to sound cartoons and relocated to the West Coast of the United States , where he joined the Disney studio on June 17 , 1929 as an animator . His animation film credits include several Silly Symphony animated shorts , which Lenburg describes as cartoon fables . Among Kings Disney film credits was the short film The Three Little Pigs ( 1933 ) , which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . King remained with Disney until May 17 , 1933 . In 1933 , animation producer Leon Schlesinger was setting up a new animation studio , Leon Schlesinger Productions , which would continue producing the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series for Warner Bros . The studio was set on the Warner lot on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles , California . Schlesinger was in need of a new staff for his studio and started hiring people who used to work for other animation studios . Among them was King , who was probably the first Disney animator Schlesinger hired . By June 1933 , Schlesinger had rounded out his staff and started work on producing animated short films . Tom Palmer had been appointed production manager and director , with King as the head animator . Among the staff were two of Kings former associates from Disney , animators Paul Fennell and Bill Mason . According to animation historian Michael Barrier , Schlesinger placed former Disney animators in charge of the studio in hopes of effectively competing with the Disney studio . Tom Palmer left the studio after completing only two short films . He was replaced as director by Earl Duvall , a former story man for both Disney and Harman and Ising . Duvall himself left the studio after completing five short films . Schlesinger was in need of new directors , and even composer Bernard B . Brown received credits for directing two Merrie Melodies shorts . By early 1934 , Schlesinger appointed Friz Freleng as the main director of the Merrie Melodies series and King as the main director of the Looney Tunes series . King handled many of the studios animated short films starring Buddy , and was responsible for the final year of Buddy films . By 1935 , Buddy was being phased out in favor of new characters ; among them was Beans , an anthropomorphic cat . King directed A Cartoonists Nightmare , Beans first starring role . King directed a total of eight animated shorts featuring Beans . Michael Barrier describes Beans under Kings direction as resembling Mickey Mouses incarnation of the early 1930s . Their designs were certainly similar , with both characters having a white face and black body , but in characterization Beans was a pint-sized hero resembling the plucky , boyish , and heroic Mickey featured in The Klondike Kid ( 1932 ) and The Mail Pilot ( 1933 ) . Also in 1935 , the studio gained a third full-time director working in addition to Freleng and King : Tex Avery , a former inker for the short-lived Winkler Studio and Universal Studio Cartoons . Avery directed a single film starring Beans , Gold Diggers of 49 ( 1935 ) ; he would use Porky Pig as the main star of his following films . Meanwhile , King continued using Beans as the main star of his own films . In 1936 , Beans and most of the characters introduced the previous year , with the exception of Porky Pig , ceased being used by the studio . Barrier suggests that Leon Schlesinger may have been giving Avery a vote of confidence , when deciding to keep only Porky as a continuing character and to drop Beans . This decision came at the expense of King and his work . King directed two films featuring characters Ham and Ex : The Phantom Ship ( 1936 ) and The Fire Alarm ( 1936 ) . The characters were a pair of troublesome puppies and were intended to serve as series stars . In 1936 , King started directing films in the new Porky Pig series . Other films in the series were directed by Tex Avery and Frank Tashlin . King directed only three animated shorts starring Porky Pig . By April 1936 , King was hired by the Disney studio again , this time as a director . Part of the reason he returned to Disney was the promise that he would be able to direct cartoons in color , which he had been unable to do previously . Friz Freleng and Tex Avery were the only directors that Schlesinger allowed to direct color films for much of the 1930s . At Disney , King emerged as the director of a new series of short films , featuring Donald Duck as the protagonist . Lenburg notes that King was one of the principal directors of the Donald Duck series , but not the only one ( other directors of this series included Ben Sharpsteen , Dick Lundy , Jack Hannah , and Jack Kinney ) . King made his directorial debut at Disney with the film Modern Inventions ( 1937 ) . It was also his first time directing a Donald Duck animated film . King directed more than forty films featuring Donald Duck , among them were the Academy Award-nominated Good Scouts ( 1938 ) , Truant Officer Donald ( 1941 ) , and Donalds Crime ( 1945 ) . One of his films was a propaganda film , The Spirit of 43 ( 1943 ) , created in association with the United States Department of the Treasury . Kings last film was The Trial of Donald Duck ( 1948 ) . King retired from Disney in 1948 and spent ten years in retirement . He died on October 4 , 1958 in Los Angeles . Filmography . - Why Change Your Husband ( director ) ( 1920 ) - Kiss Me ( Short ) ( 1920 ) - Too Much Pep ( director ) ( 1921 ) - The New Champ ( director and animator ) ( 1925 ) - Scents and Nonsense ( animator ) ( 1926 ) First Disney period ( 1929-1933 ) . - The Plowboy ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1929 ) - Cannibal Capers ( Short ) ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - Frolicking Fish ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - The Fire Fighters ( animator ) ( 1930 ) - Monkey Melodies ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - The Chain Gang ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - Night ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - Midnight in a Toy Shop ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - The Gorilla Mystery ( animator ) ( 1930 ) - Winter ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - The picnic ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - Pioneer Days ( animator ) ( 1930 ) - Playful Pan ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1930 ) - The Birthday Party ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - Birds of a Feather ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - Traffic Troubles ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1931 ) - Mother Goose Melodies ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - The China Plate ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - Blue Rhythm ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1931 ) - The Beach Party ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - Mickey Cuts Up ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - Mickeys Orphans ( animator ) ( 1931 ) - The Duck Hunt ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - Mickey in Arabia ( animator ) ( animator - uncredited ) - Just Dogs ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - Flowers and Trees ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - Mickeys Nightmare ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1932 ) - Trader Mickey ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - The Whoopee Party ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - Bugs in Love ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1932 ) - Babes in the Woods ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - Santas Workshop ( animator ) ( 1932 ) - Birds in the Spring ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1933 ) - The Mad Doctor ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1933 ) - Three Little Pigs ( animator ) ( 1933 ) - Mickeys Gala Premier ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1933 ) Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies period ( 1933-1936 ) . - Sittin on a Backyard Fence ( animator ) ( 1933 ) - Buddys Show Boat ( animator ) ( 1933 ) - Buddys Beer Garden ( animator ) ( 1933 ) - Ive Got to Sing a Torch Song ( animator ) ( 1933 ) - Buddys Day Out ( animator - uncredited ) ( 1933 ) - Beauty and the Beast ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - Pettin in the Park ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - Buddy the Gob ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - Honeymoon Hotel ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - Viva Buddy ( director ) ( 1934 ) - Buddys Circus ( director ) ( 1934 ) - Buddy the Woodsman ( director ) ( 1934 ) - Buddy the Detective ( director ) ( 1934 ) - Buddy and Towser ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - Buddys Garage ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - Buddys Bearcats ( director ) ( 1934 ) - Buddy the Dentist ( animator ) ( 1934 ) - I Havent Got a Hat ( Short ) ( animator ) ( 1935 ) - Hollywood Capers ( director ) ( 1935 ) - A Cartoonists Nightmare ( director ) ( 1935 ) - Buddy the Gee Man ( director ) ( 1935 ) - Buddy Steps Out ( director ) ( 1935 ) - Buddys Bug Hunt ( director ) ( 1935 ) - Buddys Lost World ( director ) ( 1935 ) - The Phantom Ship ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Boom Boom ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1936 ) - The Fire Alarm ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Alpine Antics ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Westward Whoa ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Fish Tales ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Shanghaied Shipmates ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Porkys Pet ( director ) ( 1936 ) - Porkys Moving Day ( director ) ( 1936 ) Second Disney period ( 1937-1949 ) . In this period , almost all the films in which King worked belong to the Donald Ducks series - Modern Inventions ( director ) ( 1937 ) - Donalds Ostrich ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1937 ) - Self Control ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1938 ) - Donalds Better Self ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1938 ) - Donalds Golf Game ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1938 ) - Good Scouts ( director ) ( 1938 ) - Donalds Nephews ( uncredited ) ( director and animator ) ( 1938 ) - The Autograph Hound ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1939 ) - Donalds Penguin ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1939 ) - Donalds Cousin Gus ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1939 ) - The Hockey Champ ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1939 ) - Donalds Lucky Day ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1939 ) - Fire Chief ( director ) ( 1940 ) - Window Cleaners ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1940 ) - Tugboat Mickey ( animator ) ( 1940 ) - Donalds Vacation ( director ) ( 1940 ) - Mr . Duck Steps Out ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1940 ) - Donalds Dog Laundry ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1940 ) - Chef Donald ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1941 ) - Old MacDonald Duck ( director ) ( 1941 ) - Truant Officer Donald ( director ) ( 1941 ) - Early to Bed ( director ) ( 1941 ) - Timber ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1941 ) - Bellboy Donald ( director ) ( 1942 ) - Sky Trooper ( director and animator ) ( 1942 ) - The Vanishing Private ( director ) ( 1942 ) - Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line ( short ) ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1942 ) - Donald Gets Drafted ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1942 ) - Donalds Snow Fight ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1942 ) - Home Defense ( director ) ( 1943 ) - The Old Army Game ( director ) ( 1943 ) - Fall Out Fall In ( director ) ( 1943 ) - The Spirit of 43 ( short documentary ) ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1943 ) - The Plastics Inventor ( director ) ( 1944 ) - Commando Duck ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1944 ) - Contrary Condor ( director ) ( 1944 ) - Donald Duck and the Gorilla ( uncredited ) ( director and animator ) ( 1944 ) - Trombone Trouble ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1944 ) - Old Sequoia ( director ) ( 1945 ) - Cured Duck ( director ) ( 1945 ) - Donalds Crime ( director ) ( 1945 ) - The Clock Watcher ( director ) ( 1945 ) - Defense Against Invasion ( uncredited ) ( director ) ( 1946 ) - Dumb Bell of the Yukon ( director ) ( 1946 ) - Wet Paint ( director ) ( 1946 ) - Donalds Double Trouble ( director ) ( 1946 ) - Wide Open Spaces ( director ) ( 1947 ) - Donalds Dilemma ( director ) ( 1947 ) - Sleepy Time Donald ( director ) ( 1947 ) - The Trial of Donald Duck ( direction ) ( 1948 ) - Donalds Dream Voice ( director ) ( 1948 ) - Drip Dippy Donald ( director ) ( director ) ( 1948 ) - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr . Toad ( Animator : Segment The Wind in the Willows ) ( 1949 ) - Disneyland - Donalds Award ( director ) ( 1957 ) - Donalds Weekend ( 1958 ) ( sequence director ) - Donald Duck and his Companions ( segment Donalds Vacation ) ( director ) ( 1960 ) - Inside Donald Duck ( 1961 ) ( segment director ) After his death . - Mickey Mouse Disco ( Short ) ( 1980 ) - DTV : Golden Oldies ( Video ) ( original material ) ( 1984 ) - DTV : Pop & Rock ( Video ) ( original material ) ( 1984 ) - DTV : Rock , Rhythm & Blues ( Video ) ( original material ) ( 1984 ) - An Officer and a Duck ( Video ) ( segment Donald Gets Drafted ) ( 1985 ) - DTV Valentine ( TV Movie ) ( original material ) ( 1986 ) - Lifestyles of the Rich and Animated ( TV Movie ) ( segment Drip Dippy Donald , uncredited ) ( 1991 ) - Mickeys House of Villains ( Video ) ( segment Donald Duck and the Gorilla ) ( 2001 ) - ToonHeads ( TV Series documentary ) ( 2 episodes ) ( 2003 ) - The Early Career of Porky Pig ( original material ) - The Worst Cartoons Ever Made ( original material ) - Behind the Tunes : Crash ! Bang ! Boom ! - The Wild Sounds of Treg Brown ( Video documentary short ) ( original material ) ( 2004 ) - Behind the Tunes : Bosko , Buddy and the Best of Black and White ( Video documentary short ) ( original material ) ( 2005 ) - Cartoon Alley ( TV Series documentary ) ( 1 episode ) ( 2005 ) - The Early Days of Warner Brothers Cartoons ( original material ) ( 2005 )