Raymond Patterson (November 23, 1911 – December 30, 2001) was an American animator, producer, and director. He was born in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a metonymy, shorthand reference for the Cinema of the United States, U.S. film industry and the people associated with i ...

, and was the younger brother of animator Don Patterson.

Career

Patterson's earliest works in animation were for Charles B. Mintz's Krazy Kat/Screen Gems studio, where he started as an inker in 1929. He remained at Mintz for eleven years. In 1940, he moved to the Walt Disney Studio, where he animated on ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

'' and ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

'', as well as several

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

shorts (''Bone Trouble'' and ''Pluto's Playmate''). By 1942, he mostly worked on Donald Duck shorts such as '' Donald Gets Drafted''. Patterson left Disney in 1941 during an animation strike. He would briefly reunite with

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

before moving to the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to ...

, with his first short for them being ''

War Dogs Dogs in warfare have a very long history starting in ancient times. From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, messengers, mercy dogs, and trackers, their uses have been varied and some continue to exist in modern militar ...

''. While he mostly worked in the studio's

Hanna Hannah or Hanna may refer to: People, biblical figures, and fictional characters * Hannah (name), a female given name of Hebrew origin * Hanna (Arabic name), a family and a male given name of Christian Arab origin * Hanna (Irish surname), a fami ...

Barbera Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high le ...

unit, he occasionally provided animation for

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...

's unit in the 1950s (as well as Avery's substitute director Dick Lundy). He worked on several

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

-winning animation shorts: ''

Mouse Trouble ''Mouse Trouble'' is a 1944 American one-reel animated cartoon short and is the 17th ''Tom and Jerry'' short produced by Fred Quimby. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with music direction by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was ...

'' (1944), ''

Quiet Please! This is a complete list of the 164 shorts in the ''Tom and Jerry'' series produced and released between 1940 and 2014. Of these, 162 are theatrical shorts, one is a made-for-TV short, and one is a 2-minute sketch shown as part of a telethon. ...

'' (1945), '' The Little Orphan'' (1948), and ''

Johann Mouse ''Johann Mouse'' is a 1953 American one-reel animated cartoon and the 75th ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon, released in theaters on March 21, 1953 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The short is directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, composed by Scott Bradl ...

'' (1952). Patterson (along with his colleague Irven Spence) would briefly leave MGM in the mid 40's. During this period, he would help organize and educate animators from David Hand's Gaumount British Animation Studio. He and Spence would later move back to MGM in the late 40's. Patterson left MGM in 1953 and was briefly hired by

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

. He (and former Tex Avery animator Grant Simmons) would direct two shorts, ''Broadways Bow Wows'' and ''Dig that Dog''. Patterson and Simmons later left

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative ...

and co-founded their own studio,

Grantray-Lawrence Animation Grantray-Lawrence Animation was an animation studio active from 1954 to 1968 and founded by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson (hence "Grant-Ray"), and Robert L. Lawrence. This animation company produced commercials and low-budget animated television ...

, which he operated until 1967. GrantRay-Lawrence's early work was providing animation for television commercials, including the original "Winston Tastes Good" campaign. The company later moved on to producing such animated television series as '' Spider-Man'' and ''

The Marvel Superheroes ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on United States, U.S. ...

.'' After GrantRay-Lawrence folded in 1967, Patterson joined his former bosses at

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer t ...

, where he worked as a supervising director on several animated television series. Patterson was eventually promoted to vice president in charge of animation direction, a position he held until his retirement in 1993. Patterson was awarded the 1999

Winsor McCay Award The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, professio ...

by the International Animated Film Society,

ASIFA-Hollywood ASIFA-Hollywood, an American non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA" (the International Animated Film Association). Its purpose is to ...

for his lifetime of contributions to the animation field.

Personal life and death

Ray was married to June Walker Patterson. June worked at Disney as a cel painter. They had four daughters. Patterson died of natural causes in

Encino, California Encino ( Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north through Sepulved ...

on December 30, 2001, a month after his 90th birthday.

References

External links

*
Death notice at the Animation Guild website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Ray 1911 births 2001 deaths Animators from California American directors American animated film directors American animated film producers Walt Disney Animation Studios people Hanna-Barbera people People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people Walter Lantz Productions people