Don Figlozzi (January 17, 1909 – June 21, 1981) 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

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. A veteran of

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

and member of the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, he spent the first half of his career in animation and the second half at the New York ''Daily News'', where his cartoons, signed "Fig," became a fixture. Historian Harvey Deneroff of the Savannah College of Art and Design suggests that Figlozzi may have created the first animations to be used on television.''Interview with Don Figlozzi'', by Harvey Deneroff, Sunday, June 10, 1972. Museum of the Moving Image Oral History Project.

Biography

Personal life and education

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Italian immigrant parents Frank and Constantina, Figlozzi began his artistic education with the Landon cartoon course and attended

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

and

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

. He married Anne Giannatasio (January 13, 1908 - March 16, 2005) and had two children, Constance (November 25, 1940 - ) and Donald Jr. (August 8, 1944 - ). He has five living grandchildren, Thomas and Donald Shelford & Peter, Lindsey, and Brett Figliozzi. It's been suggested that "Figlozzi" was Don's surname used exclusively for his professional animation career.

Fleischer Studios

Figlozzi joined

in May, 1931 where he worked as an animator on ''Popeye'' films.

World War II

During the

Second World War 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 ...

, Figlozzi worked on training films for the Army Signal Corps.

WPIX TV

As Graphic Art Director for

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...

TV, Figlozzi was one of the first television animators.

Disney

While employed at

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, Figlozzi worked as an animator. Some of the most notable animations he worked on were Thumper (Bambi) and Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio).

Terrytoons

Figlozzi participated in the 1947

Terrytoons Terrytoons, Inc. was an American animation studio headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, which was active from 1929 until its closure in December 1972 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in-name only). Founded by Paul Te ...

strike.

Daily News

For the New York ''Daily News'', Figlozzi illustrated columns for writers Bob Sylvester and Charles McHarry. Figlozzi also worked as an editorial cartoonist and created an ongoing cartoon gag strip entitled, ''FIGure This''.

Awards

Figlozzi was a two-time prize winner (second and third place) in ''Time'' magazine's ''As Seen By'' cartoon contest. Member,

.''National Cartoonists Society Album, 1980 Edition'', compiled by Charles Green and Mort Walker. The Museum of Cartoon Art, 1980.

Bibliography

* ''Scramblegrams'' by Tom Figlozzi and Don Figlozzi. Ace Books, 1973.

Illustrations for books by others

* ''Animals and Statues I Have Interviewed'', by Phil Santora. Phaedra, 1969. File:Figlozzi_FIGureThis.jpg, FIGure This cartoon panel by Don Figlozzi

References

External links

Harvey Deneroff: Don Figlozzi, the First TV Animator?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Figlozzi, Don 1909 births American comic strip cartoonists Artists from Brooklyn 1981 deaths Fleischer Studios people