Erdman Penner (January 17, 1905 - November 10, 1956) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

screenwriter and producer, known for his work with

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, including writing the screenplays for ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess ...

'', ''

Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Ha ...

'' among others.

Life and career

Penner was born into a

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...

family in

Rosthern, Saskatchewan Rosthern is a town at the juncture of Highway 11 and Highway 312 in the central area of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located roughly halfway between the cities of Prince Albert and Saskatoon. History Mennonite settlers, led by Gerhard Ens, b ...

in 1905 to Dr. Erdman Penner (1873–1960) and Blanche Penner (1880–1962). Penner studied at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, American Academy of Art in Chicago and the American School for Writers in Hollywood. He was hired by Walt Disney Productions in 1935, where he wrote and adapted stories for ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', ''Fantasia'', ''Cinderella'', ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'' and others. He also wrote song lyrics for ''Peter Pan'' and was an associate producer on ''Lady and the Tramp''. He died on November 10, 1956 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, USA.

References

1905 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male screenwriters Mennonite writers Canadian Mennonites Writers from Saskatchewan Walt Disney Animation Studios people Canadian expatriates in the United States {{Canada-screenwriter-stub