Wilson David "Pete" Burness (June 16, 1904 – July 21, 1969) was an

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

n animator and animation director. He was perhaps best known for his work on the

Mr. Magoo Mr. Magoo, whose first name is "Quincy", is a fictional cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced for many years by Jim Backus, Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comi ...

series. He also contributed to the ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

'' series, ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'', ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'', and '' Rocky and His Friends''.

Biography

Burness was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. His animation career began in 1930, working for Romer Grey and Ted Eshbaugh on '' Goofy Goat Antics'' and the unreleased '' Binko the Cub''. In 1933 he transferred to

Van Beuren Studios The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the ...

, where he animated the film adaption of ''

The Little King ''The Little King'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip created by Otto Soglow, which ran from 1930 to 1975. Its stories are told in a style using images and very few words, as in pantomime. Publication history Soglow's character first appear ...

''. Burness transferred to

Harman-Ising Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were an American animation team and company known for founding the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios. In 1929, the studio was founded under the name Harman-Ising Productions, producing ''Looney T ...

in 1936 and to the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (also commonly referred to as MGM Cartoons) was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsi ...

in 1938. He animated ''Tom and Jerry'' at MGM until 1947. Burness worked briefly for

Warner Brothers 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 ...

in 1948 and 1949, animating a number of ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts, under

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

and

Bob McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePat ...

. He left Warner to become a director for

United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio and later distribution company founded in 1941 as Industrial Film and Poster Service by former Walt Disney Productions employees. Beginning with industrial a ...

, animating the popular ''Mr. Magoo'' series. Two of his Mr. Magoo shorts, '' When Magoo Flew'' (1954) and ''Mr. Magoo's Puddle Jumper'' (1956), won Academy Awards for Best Short Subject. In 1958 Burness left UPA to join

Jay Ward Productions Jay Ward Productions, Inc. (sometimes shortened to Ward Productions) is an American animation studio based in Costa Mesa, California. It was founded in 1948 by American animator Jay Ward. As of 2022, the studio was headed by Ward's daughter, Ti ...

as director of ''Rocky and his Friends'' and ''

Hoppity Hooper ''Hoppity Hooper'' is an American animated television series produced by Jay Ward, and sponsored by General Mills, originally broadcast on ABC from September 12, 1964, until 1967. It is one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons and Jay W ...

''. While working for Jay Ward he co-wrote and was hired to direct '' 1001 Arabian Nights'', a feature film featuring Mr. Magoo. Following disputes with producer

Stephen Bosustow Stephen Reginald Bosustow (November 6, 1911 in Victoria, British Columbia – July 4, 1981) was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of United Productions of America (UPA) and pr ...

, he left the project and was replaced by

Jack Kinney John Ryan Kinney (March 29, 1909 – February 9, 1992)Lenburg (2006), pp. 180 was an American animator, director and producer of animated shorts. Kinney is the older brother of fellow Disney animator Dick Kinney. Early life Jack Kinney was born ...

. Burness died of pancreatic cancer in 1969.

References

Sources

External links

* 1904 births 1969 deaths American animated film directors Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Warner Bros. Discovery people Warner Bros. people Warner Bros. Cartoons people Animators from Los Angeles 20th-century American artists Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people {{US-animator-stub