John David Wilson (7 August 1919 – 20 June 2013) was an English artist, animator and producer. He owned his own

production studio A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video. These groups ...

, Fine Arts Films.

Early years

Wilson was born on 8 August 1919 in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, England. He was educated at the Watford Grammar School for Boys, Harrow Art School and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

; among his teachers was Robin Darwin.

World War II

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 ...

, Wilson served with the London Rifle Brigade. He was badly wounded in the African Campaign in 1941; while recuperating in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

he spent time drawing cartoons. Some of these were brought to the attention of a printer in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

who offered him a job; due to the seriousness of his injury he was discharged from the army and accepted the job.

Death

He died in Blackpool, England in 2013. In his last years, he had suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Credits

Film

*''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'' (1946) *''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' (1953) *''

Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 ''Cosmopolitan (magazine) ...

'' (1955) *''Journey to the Stars'' (shown at The 1962 Seattle World's Fair) (1962) *''The Early Birds'' (1968) *'' Shinbone Alley'' (1970) *'' Grease'' (1978) (titles)John David Wilson, animator on 'Lady and the Tramp,' 'Grease,' dies at 93 – TODAY
/ref> *''You Gotta Serve Somebody'' (1983) *'' FernGully: The Last Rainforest'' (1992)

Television

*'' Mr. Magoo'' (TV series) (1953) *'' Petrushka'' (segment on Sol Hurok Music Hour) (1956) *'' The Sonny and Cher Show'' (TV series) (1970–73) *''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...

'' (TV series) (1972–76) *''COS w/Bill Cosby'' (TV series) (1976) *'' Stanley, the Ugly Duckling'' (TV show) (1982) *'' Peter Pan and the Pirates'' (TV show) (1990) *''

Space Cats ''Space Cats'' is a 1991–92 American animated comedy television series (with some live-action puppetry sequences) created by Paul Fusco, that aired on Saturday mornings on NBC. It depicts alien felines helping mankind. Charles Nelson Reilly ...

'' (TV show) (1991) *'' The Specialists'' (TV show) (1992) *''

Madeline ''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature fi ...

'' (TV show) (1994)

References

External links

Fine Arts Films Official website
*
Documentary on Dailymotion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, John David Alumni of the Royal College of Art British Army personnel of World War II Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England English animators English film producers British animated film producers 1919 births 2013 deaths People from Wimbledon, London People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys