Donald in Mathmagic Land

Ham Luske, a business major, with no formal art education, was the first animator cast by Walt Disney on his daring new project, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the Studio’s first full-length animated feature film. In a memo dated late 1935, Walt wrote, “From now on Ham Luske is definitely assigned to Snow White.”

As the film’s supervising animator, Ham was responsible for the most difficult character of all – Snow White. The audience had to believe in her for the picture to be a success, which led to the use of such groundbreaking techniques as live-action reference films. Ham adeptly directed live-action model (actress Margie Bell) on film, which artists then referred to as they brought the character to life.

Animator and fellow Disney Legend Ollie Johnston recalled, “Ham’s careful planning and shooting of the live-action footage, always with the idea in mind of how it would be used in animation, resulted in a very convincing character.” So much so that Snow White was a box-office smash that forever changed the face of animation.

Born Hamilton S. Luske, in Chicago on October 16, 1903, he earned his degree from the University of California at Berkeley. An innately gifted artist, Ham’s first professional job was as a cartoonist for the Oakland Post-Inquirer.

In 1931, he joined The Walt Disney Studios, animating animals for the early Mickey Mouse short “The Barnyard Broadcast.” Three years later, he significantly advanced the art of personality animation with his portrayal of Max Hare in the 1935 Academy Award®-winning “Silly Symphony,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and Jenny Wren in “Who Killed Cock Robin?” Film star Mae West, who served as inspiration for Wren, was so impressed with the caricature’s performance that she wrote a letter to Walt complimenting him on the animation.

Ham’s ability to develop an easy-to-follow step-by-step system for planning a scene, made him a natural teacher of younger animators and under his guidance, many new artists were developed.

Then, after the success of “Snow White,” Ham’s career turned toward directing and during World War II, he directed government training films, such as “Weather At War,” and later, educational films, such as “Donald in Mathmagic Land.” He also served as supervising co-director on “Pinocchio” and sequence director on “Fantasia,” “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “101 Dalmatians” and the cartoon sequences featured in “Mary Poppins.”

Ham later moved into television, serving as associate producer and director on such series as “Disneyland,” “Walt Disney Presents” and “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.”

On February 18, 1968, Ham Luske died in Los Angeles, California. —Disney Legends

While in high school, Les Clark worked a summer job at a lunch counter near the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood, where Walt and Roy Disney used to eat. One day, Les got up the courage to ask Walt for a job.

He recalled Walt’s reply, “Bring some of your drawings in and let’s see what they look like.” So I copied some cartoons and showed them to Walt. He said I had a good line and why don’t I come to work on Monday. I graduated [from high school] on a Thursday and went to work [the following] Monday."

Les, who was the first of Walt Disney’s legendary “Nine Old Men” (an affectionate term Franklin D. Roosevelt coined for his Supreme Court Justices, which Disney adopted when referring to his key animators), spent the next 48 years of his life animating and directing for Disney.

Born in Ogden, Utah, in 1907, Les attended elementary school in Twin Falls, Idaho, until his family moved to Los Angeles, where he graduated from Venice High School. In 1927, he joined the company’s Ink and Paint Department and by 1929, won his first animation assignment on Disney’s first Silly Symphony “The Skeleton Dance.” Before long, Les developed an adept hand at animating Mickey Mouse, beginning with one scene in Mickey’s debut film “Steamboat Willie.” Other memorable scenes he animated include the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in “Fantasia,” when Mickey’s sleeves keep falling down as he brings the brooms to life.

Les animated or directed on nearly 20 features, including “Pinocchio,” “Dumbo,” “Saludos Amigos,” “So Dear to My Heart,” “101 Dalmatians,” “Song of the South,” “Fun and Fancy Free,” “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan” and “Lady and the Tramp,” as well as more than 100 shorts.

After Les served as sequence director on “Sleeping Beauty,” Walt asked him to direct television specials and educational films. For two decades, Les directed dozens of such productions, including “Donald in Mathmagic Land” and “Donald and the Wheel.”

Like Walt, Les didn’t believe in resting on his laurels, but in always expanding his talent. As Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston recalled in their book Disney Animation: The Illusion of life, “Les quietly went ahead perfecting what he did best, constantly at art class working hard to improve and learn. There was much admiration for this quiet, thoughtful man, who came in with no art background yet through sheer determination and desire not only kept up, but helped advance the art with his refinements of many fundamentals.”

Les Clark retired from Disney in 1976; he died in September 1979. —Disney Legends