Cal Dalton (December 2, 1908 – June 9, 1974) 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 ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Work

Dalton's first commercial animation work was in 1930 at the ill-fated Romer Grey Studios. He later worked on an animated short version of '' The Wizard of Oz'' that was produced by Ted Eshbaugh's independent animation studio in 1933. Afterwards, Dalton left to work at Leon Schlesinger Productions, with his first project being 1934's '' Viva Buddy''. All together, Dalton worked on 33 Warner Bros. cartoons as part of their animation department. In 1938, following

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

's departure, Dalton was promoted to director; for unknown reasons, he was never allowed to be sole director, and shared his duties initially with Cal Howard, and then

Ben Hardaway Joseph Benson Hardaway (May 21, 1895 – February 5, 1957) was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was sometim ...

. Dalton later admitted feeling aggrieved about the fact that while he was meant to be nominally in charge of Freleng's former unit, he tended to be overshadowed by the presence of the more experienced Hardaway. Cal Dalton's major contribution to the legacy of Warner Bros. animation was having co-directed '' Hare-um Scare-um'' in 1939 with Hardaway. The short featured a gray and white

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

that served as the prototype for

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

. Dalton directed or co-directed a total of 17 Warner Bros. cartoons from 1938 through 1940. He spent the rest of his years at Warner Bros. doing strictly animation work before leaving the studio in 1947. Dalton's last project was ''

The Goofy Gophers ''The Goofy Gophers'' is a 1947 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Bob Clampett and Arthur Davis (animator), Arthur Davis. The short was released on January 25, 1947, and is the first appearance of the Goofy Gophers. Plot An anthro ...

'' (1947), which was the first cartoon to feature those characters. He also did some uncredited animation in the

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

cartoon called '' Mexican Joyride'' (1947).

References

External links

* 1908 births 1974 deaths American animated film directors {{Animator-stub