Sterling Sturtevant (1922–1962) was a designer and art director for
animated cartoons
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
in an era in which few women were worked in Hollywood animation. Some of her early work was done under her married name Sterling Glasband.
Biography
Sturtevant was born June 20, 1922, in
Redlands, California
Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...
. She attended the University of Redlands from 1940 to 1944, and then attended
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Chouinard, Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt Disney, Walt and ...
, before taking her first job in animation at
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
. The Los Angeles ''Evening Citizen News'' referred to her as "one of Hollywood's top designers of cartoon characters."
[Baumann, Ursula, "Feminine Artist Creates TV 'Celluloid Citizenry'", ''Los Angeles Evening Citizen News,'' January 30, 1957, p.6.] She died May 23, 1962, in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, at age 39.
["Mrs. Sterling Glasband", Obituary, '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', May 26, 1962, p. 35.
Career
Sturtevant started work in animation at Walt Disney Pictures in 1947, where she drew story sketches for, and co-wrote the 1948
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
cartoon "Bone Bandit".
From Disney she moved to the cartoon studio
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),
[Abraham, Adam (2012), ]
When Magoo Flew: The Rise And Fall Of Animation Studio UPA
', Wesleyan University Press. . Retrieved 28 Aug 2022.[Amidi, Amid (2006). "United Productions of America," in ''Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation'', Chronicle Books, p. 121. .] where she did some of her best-known work, particularly her redesign of the character
Mr. Magoo into his now-classic form. ''Cartoon Modern'' said of Mr. Magoo "The series hit a nice stride in 1953, when Sterling Sturtevant took over as regular Magoo designer. Sturtevant redesigned Magoo, removing many of his gruff edges and giving him a baby-doll-head appeal," and refers to her work on Magoo as giving him a "leaner and more streamlined look."
In 1953, she was art director for the animated feature "
When Magoo Flew",
one of the first animated films produced in
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter.
Its cr ...
. The film won the
Academy Award
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 ...
for best short animated film in 1955.
''Animation Obsessive'' said of her work for UPA:
"Another highlight of the Sturtevant-era Magoo films is the way that they depict women and girls. Each one has a conspicuously strong and adventurous design, pushed in ways that cartoons tended to reserve for male characters. Even by the standards of UPA, which was more comfortable with cartoony designs for women, Sturtevant’s films feel refreshing."
From UPA she moved to Playhouse Pictures, which ''Cartoon Modern'' described as “one of the busiest and most successful commercial animation studios in Los Angeles” during the 1950s. Bill Hurtz at Playhouse said of her "she was shy, but she was an incredible draftsman."
At Playhouse she worked on television and advertisements,
[Sterling Sturtevant Design, Keith Haring Animation, Zagreb Ads]
, ''Animation Obsessive'', Oct 21, 2021. Retrieved 28 Aug 2022. including the first animation of
Charles Schultz's
Peanuts
''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...
characters,
[Amidi, Amid (2006). "Playhouse Pictures," in ''Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation'', Chronicle Books, pp. 70. .] in advertisements for
Ford. Charles Schultz, commenting on the work, singled out "Sterling's touch" for praise.
Her work for Playhouse won the "
Art Directors Club
The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award fo ...
Medal" in 1957 and was awarded first place for animated TV commercials at the
International Advertising Film Festival in Venice in 1960.
[Playhouse Pictures Presents:]
, ''Tralfaz: Cartoons & Tralfazian Stuff,'' 23 June 2018. Retrieved 20 Aug. 2022. She worked at Playhouse until her death from pancreatic cancer in 1962.
References
External links
*
"Peanuts Open The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show"(1960; an example of Sturtevant's work)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturtevant, Sterling
1922 births
1962 deaths
American women animators
American art directors
People from Redlands, California
Animators from California
Date of death missing