Robert Jarvis Bentley (11 March 1907 – 28 November 2000) was an American animator who worked for

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 ...

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

, 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 ...

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

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 ...

, UPA,

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

and

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...

among others.

Early life

Bentley was born in

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 ...

on March 11, 1907, the eldest child of three to John Harrison Bentley, Jr. and Hannah Helen Jarvis Bentley. John Harrison Bentley died in 1918, and later Hannah Helen married pioneer animator Leslie Elton, although this marriage did not last.

Career

Bentley started his animation career in 1929 as an assistant animator at the Van Beuren cartoon studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, later working for Les Elton's independent studio on his 1931 cartoon "Simon the Monk". He moved to the West Coast in 1935 to work briefly at Walt Disney's studio, then spent the next few years as a full-fledged animator in

Frank Tashlin Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator and filmmaker. He was best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' ...

's unit at

Leon Schlesinger Leonardo Schlesinger ( ; May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation The gold ...

's cartoon studio for

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 ...

In 1939, Bentley, along with other Tashlin animators like Joe D'Igalo and Nelson Demorest, moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

to work for

, as they were hiring experienced West Coast animators to tool up for their first animated feature,

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...

. In the early 40s, Bentley returned to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to animate for the Walter Lantz studio on

Andy Panda Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947, and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The title ...

and

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 ...

cartoons, and by the mid-40s was a top animator of both

's and Dick Lundy's animation units at MGM's cartoon studio. Bentley spent the majority of the 50s animating back at Lantz's studio, before being hired by

to work primarily on TV animation. From then on, he bounced between stints at numerous television animation studios like DePatie-Freleng and

, where he contributed to such animated productions as '' Star Trek: The Animated Series'' (1973–1974), ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

'' (1967), and others.

Selected filmography

Little Beau Porky ''Little Beau Porky'' is a 1936 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon short directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on November 14, 1936, and stars Porky Pig. In the cartoon, Porky is in the French Foreign Legion as a camel scrubber, ...

Porky's Romance ''Porky's Romance'' is a 1937 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on April 3, 1937, and stars Porky Pig and Petunia Pig, in her debut appearance. Plot The cartoon opens with an introduction of P ...

* Porky's Railroad * The Case of the Stuttering Pig *

The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos ''The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos'' is a 1937 ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on December 4, 1937. Plot The cartoon starts with an owl named "Owl Kott" (satirizing Alexander Woollcott's ''Town Crier' ...

* Wholly Smoke * The Fresh Vegetable Mystery *

* Fightin Pals * Under the Spreading Blacksmith Shop * Good-Bye Mr. Moth * Nutty Pine Cabin *

Ration Bored This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 2024 cartoons (195 Woody shorts and 9 miscellaneous shorts) during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Prod ...

Uncle Tom's Cabaña ''Uncle Tom's Cabaña'' is a 1947 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery. The short is a parody of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'', and is Avery's second parody of the novel, the first being '' Uncle Tom's Bun ...

* Slap Happy Lion * King-Size Canary * Little 'Tinker * Barney's Hungry Cousin * Maw and Paw *

Hot Noon (or 12 O'Clock for Sure) This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 2024 cartoons (195 Woody shorts and 9 miscellaneous shorts) during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Produ ...

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 ...

The Three Little Pups Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer carto ...

* Sleepy-Time Squirrel * Homesteader Droopy * Bird-Brain Bird Dog * The Farm of Tomorrow * Witch Crafty * Private Eye Pooch * Bedtime Bedlam * After the Ball * Chief Charlie Horse *

Woodpecker from Mars This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 2024 cartoons (195 Woody shorts and 9 miscellaneous shorts) during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Produ ...

* Niagara Fools * Red Riding Hoodlum * Round Trip to Mars *

Mister Magoo ''Mister Magoo'' is an American animated television series which was produced from November 7, 1960 to February 2, 1962. Each episode includes five four-minute shorts and was either aired together with bumpers as a single half-hour show, or was s ...

(TV Series) * Pistol Packin' Woodpecker *

The Yogi Bear Show ''The Yogi Bear Show'' is an American comedy animated television series, and the first entry of the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. A spin-off of '' The Huckleberry Hound Show'', the show centers on the adventu ...

(TV Series) *

Beetle Bailey ''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...

(TV Series) * Linus the Lionhearted (TV Series) *

The Marvel Super Heroes ''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 Comics, Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on Amer ...

(TV Series) *

The Archie Show ''The Archie Show'' (also known as ''The Archies)'' is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, ''The Archie Show'' aired Saturday morning ...

(TV Series) * The Batman/Superman Hour (TV Series) *

Fantastic Voyage ''Fantastic Voyage'' is a 1966 American science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. The film is about a submarine crew who is shrunk to microsco ...

(TV Series) * Here Comes the Grump *

(TV Series) *

Doctor Dolittle Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 '' The Story of Doctor Dolittle''. He is a physician who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in th ...

(TV Series) * Don't Hustle an Ant with Muscle *

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

Lassie's Rescue Rangers ''Lassie's Rescue Rangers'' is an animated television series produced by Filmation and featuring Lassie, running from 1972 to 1973. The hour-long pilot, ''Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain'', was part of '' The ABC Saturday Superstar Movi ...

(TV Series) * Mission: Magic! (TV Series) * My Favorite Martians (TV Series) * Star Trek: The Animated Series *

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Robert 1907 births 2000 deaths American animators Warner Bros. Discovery people Warner Bros. people Warner Bros. Cartoons people Hanna-Barbera people Fleischer Studios people Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people Walter Lantz Productions people