Ken Walker obit

Animator Ken Walker had died

He was not on the list.

Veteran Disney animator Ken Walker passed away last Saturday, August 18th, The Orange County Register posted his obituary on Wednesday. He was 91.

Walker began working at Disney right after graduating High School in 1940. After two years he joined the Navy, and after the war rejoined Disney as an assistant. In the mid-1940s, he was one of Ward Kimball’s assistants. Ward drew a gag drawing below of himself, inbetweener Mary Schuster and Walker. Walker later worked as an animator on Alice In Wonderland and numerous shorts (including Trick or Treat and Pluto’s Party, both 1952). He also animated for Film Graphics, Bill Melendez, DePatie Freleng, among others.

He was featured in this clip from the 1950s TV show, You Asked For It, which we posted on the Brew several years ago. In it, host Art Baker answers viewer mail about how animated cartoons are made, having Walker demonstrate by flipping scenes from the short Plutopia (1951). Walker’s appearance starts at the 3:20 mark.

Animator and dire­tor Ken Walker, whose work for Disney included such memorable films as Alice in Wonderland and Fantasia, died August 18, according to a report by online blog Big Cartoon News. He was 91.

A member of the Directors Guild of America, Walker worked for Disney from 1940–42 and 1945–52. He was filmed as one of Disney’s lead­ing animators on the “Disney Cartoons” episode of You Asked For It:

Walker also worked for many other notable companies, such as Columbia Pictures and Hanna-Barbera. He was the founder and sole owner of N.Y.C. Totem Productions from 1965 to 1971. In 1981, he founded Funnybone Films in Hollywood, California, where he remained owner for 20 years.

In TV, he animated Milton the Monster (1965), Bailey’s Comets (1973) and The Great Grape Ape Show (1977). He animated the ABC After­school Specials The Incredible, Indelible, Magical Physical, Mystery Trip (1973) and The Magical Mystery Trip Through Little Red’s Head (1974).

Walker animated the TV specials The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973) and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982), as well as the TV-movie Clerow Wilson’s Great Escape and The Mad Magazine TV Special, both made in 1974.

He was a production designer for the 2000 special It’s the Pied Piper, Char­lie Brown and a tim­ing direc­tor for the 1994–94 series Skeleton Warriors. He was a char­ac­ter ani­ma­tor for the 1982 HB feature film Heidi’s Song and an animator for the 1992 hybrid movie Cool World. As well, he ani­mated the theatrical 1974 short Trail of the Lonesome Pink and was animation director of the independent 1966 short Seeds of Discovery.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 4, 1921, Walker grad­u­ated from North Hollywood High School in 1940. He served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theatre from 1942 to 1945.

Animation department

1996 Dinosaur Valley Girls (animatronic creature effects)

1996 Snoopy's Campfire Stories (Video Game) (animator)

1995 Get Ready for School, Charlie Brown! (Video Game) (animator)

1994-1995 Skeleton Warriors (TV Series) (timing director - 13 episodes)

1992 Cool World (animator - as Kenneth D. Walker)

1982 Heidi's Song (character animator)

1982 The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (TV Short) (animator)

1975 The Great Grape Ape Show (TV Series) (animator - 1977)

1974 The Mad Magazine TV Special (TV Movie) (animator)

1974 Trail of the Lonesome Pink (Short) (animator)

1973-1974 ABC Afterschool Specials (TV Series) (animator - 2 episodes)

- The Magical Mystery Trip Through Little Red's Head (1974) ... (animator)

- The Incredible, Indelible, Magical Physical, Mystery Trip (1973) ... (animator)

1974 Clerow Wilson's Great Escape (TV Movie) (animator)

1973 The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (TV Short) (animator)

1973 Bailey's Comets (TV Series) (animator - 4 episodes)

1972 The Prince and the Pauper (TV Movie) (animator)

1966 Seeds of Discovery (Short) (animation director)

1965 Milton the Monster (TV Series) (animator - 3 episodes)

1951 Alice in Wonderland (assistant animator - uncredited)



Production designer (1 credit)

2000 It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (TV Movie)