Camping Out

In 1930, David Hand joined The Walt Disney Studios as its 21st and most ambitious young animator. It didn’t take long for Walt Disney to notice his knack for getting things done, and so he moved Dave (as he was called by his friends) into directing animated shorts such as, “Pluto’s Judgement Day” “Alpine Climbers” and “Little Hiawatha.” Later, in 1933, Walt promoted him to Production Supervisor of the Studio, and around that same time, entrusted Dave with directing the first full-length animated feature “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

As animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston recalled in their book Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Dave “was cavalier in transforming Walt’s dreams into animation.” Dave knew enough to recognize quality, and if Walt said, “Let’s get that into the picture,” Dave would make sure that it got in and just that way. If Walt said, “We can save money here; let’s keep the cost down,” Dave would use every shortcut in the book. He never confused his own views or ambitions with Walt’s."

Born in 1900, in Plainfield, New Jersey, Dave attended the Chicago Art Institute. After school, he landed a job at the J.R. Bray Studio in New York, where he met Max Fleischer, for whom he later animated the “Out of the Inkwell” series. In 1928, Dave took interest in The Walt Disney Studios, which had produced “Steamboat Willie,” the first animated cartoon to have synchronized sound. Purely on spec, he decided to visit California and apply for a job at the Studio.

During his 14 years with the company, Dave worked on about 70 shorts and three features. He served as animator on the first color cartoon, “Flowers and Trees,” which won an Oscar® for Best Cartoon in 1933. He later directed “Who Killed Cock Robin?,” which was nominated for an Academy Award® and “Three Orphan Kittens,” which won an Oscar® in 1936. He also served as supervising director on the feature “Bambi,” and animation supervisor on “Victory Through Air Power,” which was his last Disney project.

In 1944, Dave was invited to England by J. Arthur Rank to set up an animation studio. There, he won a five-year contract, creating the “Animaland” and “Musical Paintbox” series, and became known as the American who influenced a generation of British animators. In 1951, he returned to the United States to pursue a career in industrial filmmaking.

Dave Hand died October 11, 1986, in San Luis Obispo, California. —Disney Legends