Rudolph Larriva (February 12, 1916 – February 19, 2010) 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 ...

from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Early life

Born in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, which his parents moved out at the age of two, he attended several grammar schools, and graduated from

John C. Fremont High School John C. Fremont High School is a Title 1 co-educational public high school located in South Los Angeles, California, United States. Fremont serves several Los Angeles neighborhoods and the unincorporated community of Florence-Graham; some sec ...

with a major in

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

, but never went to college. He was of Mexican descent.

Career

Larriva worked at a number of studios, including

Format Films Format Films was an animation studio which was founded by Herbert Klynn in 1959 with Jules Engel as vice president, Bob McIntosh and Joseph Mugnaini, all of whom were animators. History It was most active during the 1960s, producing episodes o ...

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 ...

, and

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, but is best known for his work 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 ...

and UPA. He was an animator in

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 ...

' unit, starting in 1939 with the short ''Dog Gone Modern''. He later animated for shorts like ''

Elmer's Pet Rabbit ''Elmer's Pet Rabbit'' is a 1941 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on January 4, 1941, and features Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny. Plot Elmer Fudd buys Bugs Bunny from a pet store and builds ...

'' and ''

Porky's Cafe ''Porky's'' is a 1981 sex comedy film written and directed by Bob Clark about the escapades of teenagers in 1954 at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida. The film stars Kim Cattrall, Scott Colomby, Kaki Hunter, Nancy Parsons, Alex ...

''. Larriva was considered by Jones to be his top animator in the late 1930s and early 1940s, where he particularly delivered Disney-quality animation. Some of the productions he worked on include ''

Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical comedy-drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, produced by Walt Disney, and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pi ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' The Unicorn in the Garden'', ''

Gerald McBoing Boing ''Gerald McBoing-Boing'' is an animated short film about a little boy who speaks through sound effects instead of spoken words. Produced by UPA (animation studio), United Productions of America (UPA), it was given a wide release by Columbia Pict ...

'', ''

The Alvin Show ''The Alvin Show'' is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. ''The Alvin Show'' aired for one season, from October 4, 19 ...

'', ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'', the 1965–1967 ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' cartoons for

, and ''

Fangface ''Fangface'' is an American Saturday morning cartoon produced by Ruby-Spears Productions for ABC. It premiered on September 9, 1978 and ended on November 10, 1979, with a total of 24 episodes over the course of 2 seasons. The executive producer ...

''. He was also the animation director of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' opening titles for 1959–1960. He died in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

on February 19, 2010, aged 94. Larriva was buried in Eternal Hills Cemetery in

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city had a population of 174,068 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in the Nort ...

in March of that year. He is survived by his son and his three grandchildren.Animator Rudy Larriva dies at 94
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. Retrieved October 26, 2021 Note: The Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons in the above list are sometimes called the "Larriva Eleven."

References

External links

*
Opening Title, Season One
of ''The Twilight Zone'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Larriva, Rudy 1916 births 2010 deaths Animators from Texas American animated film directors Mass media people from El Paso, Texas Walt Disney Animation Studios people Warner Bros. people Warner Bros. Cartoons people John C. Fremont High School alumni