One Hundred and One Dalmatians

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