Retta Davidson (November 1, 1921 in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

– June 12, 1998 in

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is north of downtown San Diego and south of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of ...

) was a

United States 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 ...

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 ...

. She is best known as one of the few women animators for Walt Disney Studios during

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

Career

After graduating from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in 1939, Davidson joined Disney as an inker and painter, where she worked on ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

'', ''

Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

'', and ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

''. The Disney studios were affected by the resultant labor shortage from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and many of their lead animators were drafted to serve in the

First Motion Picture Unit The 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit), originally known as the First Motion Picture Unit, Army Air Forces, was the primary film production unit of the United States Army Air Forces, U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II, and w ...

. In 1941, the studio asked members of the Ink and Paint Department to submit artwork to be considered for animation training and jobs in the animation department. Davidson was one of a group of ten women accepted to the program. Davidson worked as an animator for a year before taking leave from the studio in 1942 to enlist in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, which she served in for four years. She returned to Disney Studios after the war, where she worked as an animator until 1966. After leaving Disney, she provided freelance animation work for advertising agencies, as well as for

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 ...

(including work on '' Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century''). Davidson is also known for her work on the 1978 animated adaption of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', ''

The Great Mouse Detective ''The Great Mouse Detective'' (released as ''Basil the Great Mouse Detective'' in some countries and ''The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective'' during its 1992 re-release) is a 1986 American animated mystery adventure film produced by W ...

'' (1986) and '' Heavy Metal'' (1981).Retta Davidson - Biography - IMDb
/ref> In 1980, Davidson was invited back to Disney to work on the feature-length animated films ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a r ...

'' (1981) and '' The Black Cauldron'' (1985) as coordinating animator. After their release, she continued to work at the studio as a trainer for new animators until her retirement in 1985. Retta Davidson was sometimes credited as Redda Davidson. She should not be confused with Retta Scott, another female animator at Disney.

References

External links

*
The Mystery of the Female Disney Animator

Remembering Retta Davidson
by Floyd Norman {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Retta 20th-century American women artists 1921 births 1998 deaths Animators from California People from Arcadia, California American women animators Walt Disney Animation Studios people United States Navy personnel of World War II