Joaquin Rudolfo Zamora (March 26, 1910 – July 29, 1989) was a Mexican-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 animation director. His credits include, among others, '' The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'', '' The Jetsons'', '' The Smurfs'', '' The Biskitts'', '' Peanuts''.

Career

Zamora was born in

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, but raised in the

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 ...

. As a young adult, he read a help wanted ad in the local newspaper seeking a male animator at Pat Sullivan's studio. Despite Zamora having no prior experience in the field, he was intrigued and applied. His test entailed tracing a photo of '' Felix the Cat'', and Zamora was hired after placing second among three men. Zamora was still employed at Pat Sullivan's in 1928. He was hired as an inbetweener at Fleischer Studios in 1930, and eventually became an animator there.

Shamus Culhane James H. "Shamus" Culhane (November 12, 1908 – February 2, 1996) was an American animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for his work in the Golden age of American animation. Career Shamus Culhane worked for a number of ...

described Zamora as "the star" among the new batch of animators at Fleischer. Following his stint at Fleischer, Zamora worked at Walt Disney Productions during the early 1930s, with Ed Benedict as his assistant. While there, Zamora animated on '' Silly Symphony'' cartoons, including '' The China Plate'' (1931). Zamora had a reputation for spending too much time playing practical jokes as opposed to working, and for this reason was fired by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

in 1932. By the 1940s he was an animator at Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, working on short films during

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 ...

. In 1944, he was one of several animators of the ''

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 ...

'' short ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

''. This cartoon was later chosen as one of The 50 Greatest Cartoons in 1994. Throughout the 1960s, Zamora served as director for '' Rocky & Bullwinkle'' and '' Peabody's Improbable History'', also overseeing Mexican animators who worked on the series. At the twilight of his career, Zamora was a director at

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 ...

. He helmed episodes of '' Richie Rich'', '' The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show'' and '' Laverne & Shirley'', an animated adaptation of the sitcom. Zamora directed a Christmas episode of '' The Smurfs'' that aired in 1983. Zamora's last credit was the 1987 television film '' Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamora, Rudy 1910 births 1989 deaths American animated film directors Mexican animators Mexican emigrants to the United States Fleischer Studios people Hanna-Barbera people