Stephen Reginald Bosustow (November 6, 1911 in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

– July 4, 1981) was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of

United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio and later distribution company founded in 1941 as Industrial Film and Poster Service by former Walt Disney Productions employees. Beginning with industrial a ...

(UPA) and produced nearly 600 cartoon and live-action shorts. He is chiefly remembered for producing a string of

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 ...

and

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 United Productions of America (UPA), it was given a wide release by Columbia Pictures on November 2, 19 ...

cartoons in the 1950s, three of which earned

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. He is the only film producer in history who received all the Oscar nominations in one category (1956), guaranteeing him the winning Oscar. ''

Magoo's Puddle Jumper ''Magoo's Puddle Jumper'' is a 1956 animated short produced by UPA for Columbia Pictures. Directed by Pete Burness and produced by Stephen Bosustow, ''Magoo's Puddle Jumper'' won the 1957 Oscar for Short Subjects (Cartoons). Summary The carto ...

'' was the eventual winner.

Biography

Bosustow began his animation career in the early 1930s working for the

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...

and

Walter Lantz Walter Benjamin 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 animat ...

studios before joining

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 ...

in 1934 as an animator and writer. He left Disney during the 1941

Disney animators' strike The Disney animators' strike was a 1941 American film industry work stoppage where unionized employees of Walt Disney Productions picketed and disrupted film production for just under four months. The strike reflected anger at inequities of pa ...

and joined

Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace company, aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes ...

as an illustrator. He co-founded the Industrial Film and Poster Service in 1943 which evolved into UPA. Between 1949 and 1957, he received thirteen Oscar nominations. In 1963, Bosustow Entertainment was established and his son, Nick Bosustow, produced the 1983

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

winner for CBS-TV, '' Wrong Way Kid'', starring

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. Dick Van Dyke on screen and stage, His work spans screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Dick Van Dyke, his awards includ ...

. Also in 1963, Bosustow formed a subsidiary for animated commercials in Hong Kong with his son Tee Bosustow. In 1968, he partnered with Nick to form Stephen Bosustow Productions, which produced films for theaters including the Oscar-winner '' Is It Always Right to Be Right?'' (1971), an Academy Award-nominated animated film ''Legend of John Henry'' (1974), as well as ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

-TV after school specials. Stephen Bosustow died of pneumonia July 4, 1981 at the age of 69. Four years later, his son Nick closed down the studio.

Personal life

Bosustow had two sons, Nick and Tee. Tee Bosustow died in 2018 and Nick Bosustow died in 2022. The name Bosustow is Cornish, meaning "dwelling of Ustoc" in the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...

. Rowse, A.L. ''The Cousin Jacks, The Cornish in America''

References

External links

Stephen Bosustow Productions
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

* Film producers from British Columbia American animated film producers Canadian animated film producers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian people of Cornish descent Canadian animators Walt Disney Animation Studios people 1981 deaths 1911 births 20th-century American businesspeople Producers who won the Best Animated Short Academy Award Deaths from pneumonia in California {{Canada-film-producer-stub