Nat Falk (June 28, 1898 – September 9, 1989) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

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 ...

. His 1941 book ''How to Make Animated Cartoons'' was one of the first instructional books on

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

in the United States, covering the work of a wide variety of animation studios including

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and

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 ...

Early life and education

Nathan Isaac Falk was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, in 1898 to

Lithuanian Jewish {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...

parents. He began drawing at a young age, becoming the art editor of ''The Club'', the magazine of the Alliance Athletic and Literary Club of the Jewish Educational Alliance in Baltimore, in 1917. He studied art at the Maryland Institute, and then at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Career

In the 1920s Falk moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he drew illustrations for various newspapers and magazines, on subjects ranging from health tips to anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

political satire. He also illustrated book covers, including for the long-running

Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The fi ...

and

Don Sturdy Don Sturdy is a fictional character in the ''Don Sturdy'' series of 15 American children's adventure novels published between 1925 and 1935 by Grosset & Dunlap. The books were credited to Victor Appleton, a house name used by the Stratemeyer ...

series. In 1933 Falk published ''Magic Mother Goose'', an illustrated collection of

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

rhymes accompanied by a " magic glass" for viewing a hidden image in each picture. The following year he released ''Russian Folk Tales'', a collection of six

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

folk stories Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes materia ...

for children, with Yock Schwab. He published his best-known work, ''How to Make Animated Cartoons: The History and Technique'', in 1941''.'' It covered virtually all U.S. animation studios in existence at the time and included a foreword by Paul Terry, the founder of

and creator of such characters as

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. He is an anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorrow''. Th ...

. The book was one of the first of its kind available in the early

golden age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period that began with the popularization of Sound film, sound synchronized cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts started to lose popularity to the newer medi ...

, and it influenced future animators including Richard Williams, who led the animation of ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

.'' Because recordings of many early animated cartoons have not survived, ''How to Make Animated Cartoons'' also serves as a useful record of the period in animation history.

Personal life

In 1925, Falk married Katherine Sagal. The couple had two sons, the military historian Stanley L. Falk and the physicist David S. Falk. He died in New York in 1989, at age 91.

Selected works

* ''Magic Mother Goose'' (1933) * ''Russian Folk Tales'' (1934) * ''How to Make Animated Cartoons'' (1941) * ''It's Fun to Draw'' (contributed, 1944)

External links

''How to Make Animated Cartoons'' on Animation Resources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falk, Nat 1898 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jewish American animators Jewish American illustrators 20th-century American illustrators Jewish American non-fiction writers