Paul J. Smith (March 15, 1906 – November 17, 1980) 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

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Biography

Smith began as a cel painter for The Walt Disney Studio in August 1926, then moved up to an animator when he remembered he did not work behind a curtain, but a back room. On May 5, 1928, when all the

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie) is an animated series, animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short film ...

cartoons for

Charles Mintz Charles Bear Mintz (November 5, 1889 – December 30, 1939)''Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American film producer and distributor who assumed control over Margaret J. Winkler's Winkler Pict ...

were completed, Smith left the payroll, moving to Screen Gems. Smith worked for

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1949 and then from 1950 to 1972, and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures. The studio was originally formed as Universal Carto ...

for much of his career, as well as working at

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

. By 1953, Smith was promoted to director after the Lantz studio was able to build up enough staff for a second unit, eventually becoming the lead director of the

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

shorts along with Don Patterson,

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the car ...

Jack Hannah John Fredrick Hannah (January 5, 1913 – June 11, 1994) was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts. He worked for Disney and Walter Lantz. Biography Hannah was born on January 5, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. After attend ...

and Sid Marcus. Smith's direction is often regarded as "meat and potatoes", as he didn't innovate his style beyond the traditional string of gags. By the late 1960s, Smith became the sole director of the Lantz studio's output: the cartoon series ''Woody Woodpecker'', ''

Chilly Willy Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive penguin. He was created by director Paul Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953, and developed further by Tex Avery in the two subsequent films following Smith's debut entry. The character ...

'', and ''

The Beary Family ''The Beary Family'' (also known as ''The Beary's Family Album'') is an American animated and cartoon animal theatrical series created by Jack Hannah for Walter Lantz Productions. Twenty-eight shorts were made from 1962 to 1972, when the studio c ...

''. Smith stayed with Lantz until the studio was closed in 1972. Smith died in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Van Nuys City Hall, Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley ...

on November 17, 1980. He was the brother of animators Frank Smith and Hank Smith and the uncle of actor and film director

Charles Martin Smith Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American actor, director and writer based in British Columbia, Canada. His breakout role was as Terry "The Toad" Fields in George Lucas' film ''American Graffiti'' (1973), which he reprised ...

.imdb.com
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References

External links

*
A Paul J. Smith Scrapbook
1906 births 1980 deaths American animated film directors Warner Bros. Cartoons people Walter Lantz Productions people Walt Disney Animation Studios people {{US-animator-stub