Known For
Visual Effects
Born
Sep 03, 1905
Died
Oct 25, 1988
Place of Birth
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Credits
50 titles
Eric Larson
Biography
Born to Peter and Nora Larson. In 1915 his family moved to Salt Lake City, where he became interested in journalism and also secretly took drawing lessons. In 1925, he entered the University of Utah, later moving to Los Angeles to look for a job in journalism and writing, unfortunately unsuccessfully. He then decided to rekindle his ambition to become an artist, and was offered a job at Walt Disney Productions in 1933, as an `in-betweener'. Later the same year, he married Gertrude Jannes (although sadly, the couple remained childless). Animator Hamilton Luske recognized Larson's talent and promoted him to assistant animator; Luske, who had joined the studio two years previously, later became his mentor. Further promotion followed, with Eric as animator on Walt Disney's first feature length cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937); along with future veteran animators Milt Kahl and James Algar, he animated the forest animals that followed Snow White throughout. In 1940, he was promoted to animation director for Pinocchio (1940), and in that film he created the kitten, Figaro, who became one of his favorite characters. In Fantasia (1940), he created the centaurs and the horses in the "Pastoral Symphony" segment of the musical feature. By 1942, he had become a supervising animator for Bambi (1942) along with fellow workers Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Milt Kahl, with whom he had worked on Snow White. In Bambi, he created Friend Owl, and subsequently worked on birds for the next two assignments, creating the mad Aracuan Bird in The Three Caballeros (1944), and Sasha the Bird in Make Mine Music (1946). Larson also worked on Fun and Fancy Free, Song of the South, Melody Time, and So Dear to My Heart (1949). He later became part of the Animation Board, and Walt Disney appointed him as one of his Nine Old Men, who consisted of Les Clark, Woolie Reitherman, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery and Marc Davis; all considered to be Walt's most trusted associates. -From IMDB
Known For
Filmography
Taking Flight: The Making of Dumbo
Himself (archive footage)
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Pinocchio': No Strings Attached
Self (Archive Footage)
The Pixar Story
Self (archive footage)
From Walt's Table: A Tribute to Disney's Nine Old Men
Self (Archive Footage)
Net Games
Set Designer
The Making of Bambi: A Prince is Born
Self - Supervising Animator, 'Bambi' (archive footage)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Animation
Robin Hood
Animation
The Aristocats
Animation
It's Tough to Be a Bird
Animation
Understanding Stresses and Strains
Animation
The Jungle Book
Animation
Mary Poppins
Animation
The Sword in the Stone
Animation
A Symposium on Popular Songs
Animation
The Coyote's Lament
Animation
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Animation
Sleeping Beauty
Animation
Lady and the Tramp
Animation
Peter Pan
Animation
Lambert the Sheepish Lion
Animation
Alice in Wonderland
Animation
Cinderella
Animation Director
So Dear to My Heart
Animation
Church Welfare in Action
Director
Melody Time
Animation
Once Upon a Wintertime
Animation
Little Toot
Animation
Song of the South
Animation Director
Peter and the Wolf
Animation
A Knight for a Day
Animation
African Diary
Animation
Tiger Trouble
Animation
The Three Caballeros
Animation
The Flying Gauchito
Animation
Bambi
Supervising Animator
Fantasia
Animation
Pinocchio
Animation
The Hockey Champ
Animation
Farmyard Symphony
Animation
The Whalers
Animation
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Animation
Three Little Wolves
Animation
Cock o' the Walk
Animation
On Ice
Animation
Who Killed Cock Robin?
Animation
Mickey's Service Station
Animation Production Assistant
The Tortoise and the Hare
Animation Production Assistant
Two-Gun Mickey
Animation