John H. Freeman (December 14, 1916 – January 1, 2010) was a character animator for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

, and others. He was born in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

Career

Freeman worked as an animator for Disney for a total of 16 years beginning at the age of 22. He also worked with Marvel Studios and directed several After School Specials for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. As an animator, story director, and often the animator director, he worked on projects such as '' Fantasia'', ''

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) ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

My Little Pony 'n Friends ''My Little Pony'' is an American animated series produced by Sunbow Entertainment, Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions and animated by Toei Animation and AKOM based on the My Little Pony toys released by Hasbro. The series featured as the ...

'', ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

'', ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'', and more. Born December 14, 1916, in

, and died January 1, 2010, in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, where he resided with his wife, Lois Cameron Freeman, who survives him as well as three daughters, Catherine, Melissa and Marci. Mr. Freeman also has two grandsons, Jason and Casey. He received a Character Animator credit on Lady and the Tramp in 1955. Received a Golden Award in 1992 from the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Animation Guild. Also won an award from

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

for his direction of the series,

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...

, for Best Saturday Morning Animation show. John Freeman began his animation career at

Walt Disney Productions 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 ...

when he was 22 years old. He had been honing his skills as a cartoonist and in preparation for his interview at the studio, he made his own "reel," a demonstration of his artistic ability. He was hired within twenty minutes. After a brief stint in the army (drafted) he returned to work at the Disney studio, where he began as an inbetweener on ''Fantasia'' and worked at Disney's for sixteen years, animating on features such as ''Peter Pan'', ''Lady and the Tramp'', and also animated some Disney 'shorts'. He was a "story man" and often was the point or front person for promoting various Disney projects. For example, some of his drawings and other artwork for Lady and the Tramp were published in the Chevrolet Friends magazine in 1955. John also innovated the amphitheater-style of seating while teaching life drawing at Disney's wherein the artists could view and sketch the model from various vantage points. John went on to work at TV Spots in San Francisco in 1956, where he immediately went to work laying out, animating, and completing camera-ready finished drawings for four one-minute spots within one week on six hours sleep, and met the deadline for all four agencies. "Everybody was happy as hell. Those people up there thought I was

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...

or something." His animation, direction, and/or writing ability shone in some notable TV specials such as ''

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown ''It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'' is a 1966 American animated Halloween television special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. The third ''Peanuts'' special, and the second holiday-themed special, to be created, i ...

'', ''Clerow Wilson and the Miracle of P.S. 14'', ''The Incredible, Indelible, Magical Physical, Mystery Trip'', '' Dr. Seuss on the Loose'', '' The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas'' and '' The Hoober-Bloob Highway''. While at the Disney studio, he worked with

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

on production at

. Numerous other projects include ''Transformers'', ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

'', and several afternoon specials for television. In 1981, John Freeman was also asked to travel to Madrid, Spain, to animate on Katy the Caterpillar at the Moro Creativos Asociados Studio. Other studios where he lent his talents were: Hanna Barbera Productions, Marvel Productions (Studios),

Ruby-Spears Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was an American entertainment production company founded by veteran writers and '' Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, in 1977, before closing in 1996. S ...

, Ed Graham, Pantomime, and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=john-h-freeman&pid=138309453#sthash.IUdGoert.dpuf

Death

Freeman died in Burbank, California on January 1, 2010, at the age of 93.

TV specials

* ''

'' (1966) * ''Clerow Wilson and the Miracle of P.S. 14 '' (1972) * ''The Incredible, Indelible, Magical Physical, Mystery Trip'' (1973) * '' Dr. Seuss on the Loose'' (1973) * '' The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas'' (1973) * '' The Hoober-Bloob Highway'' (1975)

TV series

* ''

Bailey's Comets ''Bailey's Comets'' is an animated cartoon series that aired on CBS. The second season consisted entirely of reruns. The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and was created by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng in association with ...

'' (1973-1975) * '' The Oddball Couple'' (1975)

References

External links

* * http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=john-h-freeman&pid=138309453 {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, John 1916 births 2010 deaths Animators from Washington (state) Artists from Spokane, Washington Walt Disney Animation Studios people