Ray Patterson (animator)

Raymond "Ray" Patterson (November 23, 1911 – December 30, 2001) was an American animator, producer, and director. Patterson was born in Hollywood, California, and was the younger brother of animator Don Patterson.

Ray Patterson
Born(1911-11-23)November 23, 1911
Hollywood, California
DiedDecember 30, 2001(2001-12-30) (aged 90)
Encino, California
OccupationAnimator
EmployerScreen Gems (1929-1939)
Walt Disney Animation Studios (1940-1943)
MGM (1943-1954)
Grantray-Lawrence Animation (1954-1967)
Hanna-Barbera (1967-1993)

Career

Early career

Patterson's earliest works in animation were for Charles B. Mintz's Krazy Kat/Screen Gems studio, where he started as an inker in 1929. He remained at Mintz for ten years.[1]

Walt Disney Studio

In 1940, he moved to the Walt Disney Studio, where he animated on Fantasia and Dumbo, as well as several Pluto shorts (Bone Trouble and Pluto's Playmate). By 1942, he mostly worked on Donald Duck shorts such as Donald Gets Drafted.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Patterson left Disney in 1943 to work at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, his first short for them being War Dogs. While he mostly worked in the studio's Hanna-Barbera unit, he occasionally provided animation for Tex Avery's unit (as well as Avery's substitute director Dick Lundy). He worked on several Academy Award-winning animation shorts: Mouse Trouble (1944), Quiet Please! (1945), The Little Orphan (1948), and Johann Mouse (1952).

Grantray-Lawrence Animation

Patterson left MGM in 1954 to co-found (with former MGM colleague Grant Simmons) Grantray-Lawrence Animation, which he operated until 1967. GrantRay-Lawrence's early work was providing animation for television commercials, including the original "Winston Tastes Good" campaign. The company later moved on to producing such animated television series as Spider-Man and The Marvel Superheroes.[2]

Hanna-Barbera

After GrantRay-Lawrence folded in 1967, Patterson joined his former bosses at Hanna-Barbera, where he worked as a supervising director on several animated television series. Patterson was eventually promoted to Vice President in charge of animation direction, a position he held until his retirement in 1993.

Awards and honors

Patterson was awarded the 1999 Winsor McCay Award by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood for his lifetime of contributions to the animation field.

Death

Patterson died of natural causes, in Encino, California on December 30, 2001, a month after his 90th birthday.

Filmography
Year Title Credits Characters
1940FantasiaAnimator - Segment "Dance of the Hours"
1941DumboAnimator
1973Charlotte's WebAnimator
1990Jetsons the MovieAnimation Director
1993Once Upon a ForestTiming Director

In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Trash of the Titans" (1998), the commissioner of sanitation is named Ray Patterson and played by Steve Martin. In the episode of Family Guy entitled "Road to Rupert" (2007), Patterson became archive footage as Jerry's visible.

Notes
  1. "Ray Patterson, 90; Cartoon Animator of Tom and Jerry, Pluto", Los Angeles Times, pp. B–11, January 9, 2002
  2. "Ray Patterson, 90; Cartoon Animator of Tom and Jerry, Pluto", Los Angeles Times, pp. B–11, January 9, 2002


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