Ben Sharpsteen

Benjamin Luther "Ben" Sharpsteen was an American film animator, director, and producer for Disney, where remained for 33 years from 1929 to 1962 when he formally retired, but returned on occasion for a few projects. He won two Academy Awards for his work on the True-Life Adventures documentaries Ama Girls and White Wilderness.
Born in 1895 in the state of Washington, Sharpsteen worked as an inker for Hearst International. He subsequently enjoyed tenures at various animation studios, including Fleischer and Paramount before settling at Disney. While there, he started as an animator for many Silly Symphonies before becoming a director for shorts and later films, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pniocchio, and Dumbo. Upon becoming a supervisor, he oversaw productions, like Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and Alice in Wonderland before becoming involved with the Disney anthology series from 1954 and received much acclaim for his contributions to the True-Life Adventures series.
Outside of Disney, Sharpsteen created a museum documenting the history of California's first millionaire, Sam Brannan, and the history of the Upper Napa Valley as well as more on Sharpsteen's life and work at the Sharpsteen Museum located in Calistoga, California.
He died in Sonoma County, California. In 1998, Sharpsteen was posthumously named a Disney Legend.
==Filmography==
Year 	Film 	Position
1929 	When the Cat's Away 	animator
1929 	The Karnival Kid 	animator - uncredited
1929 	Mickey's Choo-Choo 	assistant animator - uncredited
1929 	The Plowboy 	animator - uncredited
1929 	Jungle Rhythm 	animator
1930 	Cannibal Capers 	animator - uncredited
1930 	Frolicking Fish 	animator - uncredited
1930 	The Fire Fighters 	animator - uncredited
1930 	Arctic Antics 	animator
1930 	Midnight in a Toy Shop 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	The Shindig 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	The Chain Gang 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	Monkey Melodies 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	The Gorilla Mystery 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	The Picnic 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	Winter 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	Pioneer Days 	Animator - uncredited
1930 	Playful Pan 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	The Birthday Party 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Birds of a Feather 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Traffic Troubles 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Mother Goose Melodies 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	The China Plate 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	The Cat's Out 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Egyptian Melodies 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Fishin' Around 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	The Beach Party 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Mickey Cuts Up 	Animator - uncredited
1931 	Mickey's Orphans 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	The Duck Hunt 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Mickey in Arabia 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Just Dogs 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Mickey's Nightmare 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Trader Mickey 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	The Whoopee Party 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Touchdown Mickey 	Animation supervisor - uncredited
1932 	The Klondike Kid 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Babes in the Woods 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Santa's Workshop 	Animator - uncredited
1932 	Mickey's Good Deed 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Building a Building 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	The Mad Doctor 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Birds in the Spring 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Mickey's Mellerdrammer 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Ye Olden Days 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Father Noah's Ark 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Mickey's Gala Premier 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Mickey's Mechanical Man 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Old King Cole 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Puppy Love 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Lullaby Land 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	Giantland 	Animator - uncredited
1933 	The Night Before Christmas 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Shanghaied 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	The Grasshopper and the Ants 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Funny Little Bunnies 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Gulliver Mickey 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	The Hot Chocolate Soldiers 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Hollywood Party 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	The Wise Little Hen 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	The Flying Mouse 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Peculiar Penguins 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Mickey Plays Papa 	Animator - uncredited
1934 	Two-Gun Mickey 	Director - uncredited
1935 	Mickey's Service Station 	Director - uncredited
1935 	The Cookie Carnival 	Director - uncredited
1935 	Mickey's Fire Brigade 	Director - uncredited
1935 	On Ice 	Director - uncredited
1935 	Cock o' the Walk 	Director
1935 	Broken Toys 	Director - uncredited
1936 	Moving Day 	Director - uncredited
1936 	More Kittens 	Director
1936 	Mickey's Circus 	Director - uncredited
1936 	Donald and Pluto 	Director - uncredited
1937 	The Worm Turns 	Director
1937 	Don Donald 	Director -uncredited
1937 	Moose Hunters 	Director -uncredited
1937 	Hawaiian Holiday 	Director - uncredited
1937 	Clock Cleaners 	Director - uncredited
1937 	Pluto's Quin-puplets 	Director - uncredited
1937 	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	Sequence DirectorPost-Production Coordinator - uncredited
1938 	Mickey's Trailer 	Director - uncredited
1938 	Polar Trappers 	Director - uncredited
1938 	The Fox Hunt 	Director
1940 	Pinocchio 	Supervising Director
1940 	Fantasia 	Production SupervisorProducer - uncreditedSegment Director - uncredited
1941 	Dumbo 	Supervising Director
1947 	Fun and Fancy Free 	Production Supervisor
1948 	Melody Time 	Production Supervisor
1948 	Seal Island 	Production Supervisor
1949 	The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad 	Production Supervisor
1950 	Cinderella 	Production Supervisor
1950 	In Beaver Valley 	Production Supervisor
1951 	Alice in Wonderland 	Production Supervisor
1951 	Nature's Half Acre 	Production Supervisor
1952 	The Olympic Elk 	Production Supervisor
1952 	Water Birds 	Director
1953 	Bear Country 	Associate Producer
1953 	The Alaskan Eskimo 	Associate Producer
1953 	Prowlers of the Everglades 	Associate Producer
1953 	The Living Desert 	Associate Producer
1954-1972	The Magical World of Disney 	Himself: "The Disneyland Story"ProducerDirectorSequence DirectorProduction Supervisor
1954 	The Vanishing Prairie 	Associate Producer
1954 	Siam 	Producer
1955 	Switzerland 	Director
1955 	The African Lion 	Associate Producer
1955 	Men Against the Arctic 	Associate Producer
1956 	The Blue Men of Morocco 	Associate Producer
1956 	Secrets of Life 	Producer
1956 	Sardinia 	Director
1956 	Samoa 	Director
1957 	Lapland 	Director
1958 	Portugal 	Producer
1958 	Ama Girls 	Producer
1958 	White Wilderness 	Producer
1959 	Mysteries of the Deep 	Production AssociateDirector
1960 	Islands of the Sea 	Production AssociateDirector
1970 	Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? 	Production Supervisor
1975 	The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures	Producer
1980 	Mickey Mouse Disco 	Director
2000 	Fantasia 2000 	Production Supervisor - Segment "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
==Gallery==
Disney animators at work.jpg|From left: Dick Lundy, Norman Ferguson, Jack King, Burt Gillett, Merle Gilson, and Sharpsteen
The disney bowling team.jpg|The Disney Bowling Team: Standing, from left: Les Clark, SharpsteenKneeling, from left: Gilson, Ub Iwerks, Johnny Cannon
Disney staff 1930 (1).jpg|Left to Right: King, Iwerks, Walt Disney, Carl Stalling, GillettKneeling, from left, Sharpsteen, Lundy, Gilson, and Ferguson
Disney staff in January 1930 (2).jpg|Standing, from left: Clark, King, Sharpsteen, Jack Cutting, Gillett, Iwerks, Win Smith, Wilfred Jackson, William Cottrell, Floyd GottfredsonKneeling, from left, Lundy, Charles Byrne, Carlos Manriquez, Ferguson, Gilson, Chuck Couch, Stalling, Cannon, W. Disney
Disney staff in January 1930.jpg|Left to Right: W. Disney, Stalling, Sharpsteen, Iwerks, Clark, Gillett, Cannon, Wilfred JacksonStanding: King
Disney staff 1931 (1).jpg|Standing from left: Edmond Seward, Frank Churchill, Otto Englander, Sharpsteen, Bert Lewis, Gilles "Frenchy" de Tremaudan, Clark, Rudy Zamora, Jackson, King, Tom Palmer, Cutting (behind Palmer), Cannon, Ferguson, Webb SmithSeated, from left: David Hand, Ted Sears, Lundy, Gillett, W. Disney
Disney staff 1931 (2).jpg|1931; Standing from left: Smith, Seward, Englander, Zamora, Hand, Palmer, Cutting, W. Disney, Churchill, Cannon, SharpsteenSeated from left: King, Lundy, Sears, Ferguson, de Tremaudan, Jackson, Clark, Gillett, Lewis
Fantasia crew at work.jpeg|Left to right: Paul Satterfield, Jackson, Sharpsteen, James Algar, and Bill Roberts going over storyboards for Fantasia.
1954-disneyland-story-23.jpg|Sharpsteen in "The Disneyland Story".
==External links==
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Category:Males
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Category:People from Washington
Category:American people
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Category:Goofy
Category:Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Category:Pinocchio
Category:Fantasia
Category:Dumbo
Category:Fun and Fancy Free
Category:Melody Time
Category:The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Category:Cinderella
Category:Alice in Wonderland
Category:True-Life Adventures
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