Abraham Levitow (July 2, 1922 – May 8, 1975) was an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and MGM Animation/Visual Arts. He is best known for his work under

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

' direction.

Career

Levitow was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to William Levitow and Sarah Schlafmitz. He began working as an in-betweener and assistant animator at Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1940 at the age of 17. Levitow briefly left Warner Brothers when he was drafted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

working on training films, in which during that time he met

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

and became close friends with him. Levitow returned to the studio, working as an assistant animator for Ken Harris under the

unit, and he was later promoted to animator in 1950 and would receive his first animations credit in 1953 for the cartoon Wild Over You. He worked steadily for Jones over the remainder of the 1950s, and directed several cartoons for release in 1959, including the Pepé Le Pew cartoon "Really Scent". While working under Jones, he made characters' joints more angular than most other animators. Those characters with fur ( Wile E. Coyote and

Claude Cat Claude Cat is an animated cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Brothers. Character biography Claude Cat had his origins in several other cat characters used by animator Chuck Jones ...

, for example) looked especially shaggy in Levitow's scenes. Some of Levitow's most distinctive work came within a few years of his promotion to director -- he animated the first minute of What's Opera, Doc? and a laughing Porky Pig in

Robin Hood Daffy ''Robin Hood Daffy'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on March 8, 1958, and stars Daffy Duck as Robin Hood and Porky Pig as Friar Tuck. It was th ...

. Levitow joined UPA in 1958 to work on the Mr. Magoo feature '' 1001 Arabian Nights'', staying behind even after the studio was sold to Henry G. Saperstein. In 1962, he directed the first feature-length animated television special, '' Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol''. 1962 also saw the release of his theatrical feature '' Gay Purr-ee'', with the voices of Robert Goulet,

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

, and others. By 1962, he was working with Jones at MGM as an animator and a director in the

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

series. He co-directed the feature film ''

The Phantom Tollbooth ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961 in literature, 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly recei ...

'' with Chuck Jones at MGM. In addition, he worked with UPA on more Mr. Magoo cartoons, including '' The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'', and also collaborated with Chuck again on the program Curiosity Shop through Format Films. He animated on the Chuck Jones-produced ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'', directed by Richard Williams at Williams' London studio in 1971. In 1972, he and producer Dave Hanson founded Levitow/Hanson Films. The studio produced several animated pieces for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', the most notable being Willie Wimple. His last completed project was ''B.C.: The First Thanksgiving'', which aired in November of 1973. At the time of his death on May 8, 1975, Levitow was in line to direct the animated feature film '' Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure''. The project was taken over by Richard Williams when Levitow died from a bone tumor during pre-production at the age of 52.

References

External links

*
Official website

Abe and Charlotte Levitow collection
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:Levitow, Abe American animated film directors American comedy film directors 1922 births 1975 deaths Animators from Los Angeles American military personnel of World War II Film directors from Los Angeles