Doug Crane obit

Doug Crane, 'Heavy Metal' and 'Beavis and Butt-Head' Animator, Dies at 85

 

 He was not on the list.

He worked for Terrytoons, Hanna-Barbera and Filmation and drew Spider-Man, Thor and Superfriends cartoons.

Doug Crane, who drew Spider-Man, Mighty Mouse,

She-Ra and He-Man cartoons and worked on films including Heavy Metal and Beavis and Butt-Head Do America during his six-decade career in animation, has died. He was 85.

Crane died Thursday in Stuart, Florida, after a short battle with cancer, his daughter Rose-Ellen reported. His wife of 61 years, Maureen, an inker/painter whom he had met at Terrytoons in 1956 on his and her first day there, died two days earlier.

A Clio Award recipient, Crane also worked for Hanna-Barbera, Paramount, MTV, Filmation, Oriolo Films and Zander Animation Parlour and served as a professor of animation at his alma mater, the School of Visual Arts, for 15 years.

His credits also included the features Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987), BraveStarr: The Legend (1988) and Happily Ever After (1990) and lauded commercials for Crest toothpaste (courtesy of the Cartoon Brew website) and The Wall Street Journal.

Born in Bronxville, New York, Crane was one of eight kids in his family. "Often, it could be pretty tough trying to get my two cents into a conversation around the dinner table," he said in a 2012 interview. "It dawned on me that I could get my point across and also vent my frustrations by drawing pictures, usually of myself with my cartoon mouth wide open with balloon blurbs saying stuff like, 'Bobby, Shut Up!' or, 'Betty, Be Quiet!'"

After graduating from Eastchester High School and the Cartoonist and Illustrators School (now known as SVA) in Manhattan, Crane landed a job in the ink and paint department at Terrytoons, located in New Rochelle, New York. Then, in the U.S. Army, he created a comic strip called Tiptoe and Timber that ran in military newspapers.

He returned to New York after some time in California at the request of William Hanna to open and operate the Hanna-Barbera East studio with Red Augustson.

Crane also worked on Mighty Thor in the 1960s, Challenge of the Superfriends in the '70s, The Smurfs in the '80s and the Beavis and Butt-Head film and MTV/Comedy Central series in the '90s.

Survivors include his children Maureen, Erin, Thomas, Colleen, Caitlin, Kevin and Rose-Ellen and grandchildren Megan, Katie, Kerry, Sean, Brianna, AJ, Aidan, Tiernan, Riley, Abigail, Nathaniel, Sam, Shannon, Jordan and Hayley.

Crane's "ability to walk the streets of New Rochelle and New York City and always bump into someone he knew or worked with was unparalleled but not surprising when you are lucky enough to be able to do what you love, in a city you love, for your entire career," his daughter Rose-Ellen wrote.

Filmography

Year       Title       Notes

1957      Flebus   Inker

1957      It's a Living          Ink & Paint Artist

1957      The Juggler of Our Lady Inker

1958      Dustcap Doormat             Ink and Paint

1962      Peanut Battle     Animator

1962      The Adventures of Lariat Sam     Animator

1962      Where There's Smoke    Animator

1962      Riverboat Mission            Animator

1962      Rebel Trouble    Animator

1963      The Mighty Hercules       Animator, 1 episode

1963      The Deputy Dawg Show                 Animator, 92 episodes

1966      Mighty Thor       Animator, 13 episodes

1967      Alter Egoist         Animator

1967      Clean Sweep      Animator

1967      Brother Bat         Animator

1967      A Bridge Grows in Brooklyn          Animator

1967      The Opera Caper              Animator

1967      Keep the Cool, Baby        Animator

1967      Marvin Digs        Animator

1967      The Fuz                 Animator

1967      The Bickersons Animator

1967      Mouse Trek        Animator

1967      Mini-Squirts        Animator

1968-1970          Spider-Man        Animator, 32 episodes

1975      Really Rose         Animator

1975      Chicken Soup with Rice Animator

1977      Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure          Animator, Sea and Ships sequence

1977      King of the Beasts            Animator, credited as Douglas Crane

1977      I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali    Animator

1978      Challenge of the Superfriends    Animator, 16 episodes

1978-1979          Godzilla                Animator, 19 episodes

1979      The New Misadventures of Ichabod Crane            Animator

1980      Gnomes               Animator

1981      Heavy Metal       Animator; Segments: "Den" and Harry Canyon"; credited as Douglas Crane

1981      Super Friends     Animator, 2 episodes

1981      Trollkins               Animator, 13 episodes

1981      The Smurfs         Animator, 26 episodes

1983      The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings        Animator

1983-1985          He-Man and the Masters of the Universe              Animator, 114 episodes

1985      He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword      Animator

1985      Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids      Animator, 2 episodes

1985      She-Ra: Princess of Power            Animator, 65 episodes

1985      He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special   Animator

1987      Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night                 Animator

1987-1988          BraveStarr           Animator, 65 episodes

1988      BraveStarr: The Movie   Animator

1990      Happily Ever After            Animator, credited as Douglas P. Crane

1990      The Nutcracker Prince    Additional animator

1991      The Pirates of Dark Water             Animator, 2 episodes

1992      Fish Police           Animator, 1 episode

1992      Benjamin the Elephant   Animator, 1 episode

1996      Beavis and Butt-Head Do America             Posing artist

1997      Beavis and Butt-Head     Layout artist, 1 episode, "Beavis and Butt-Head Are Dead"

1999      Downtown          Background designer and Layout artist, 2 episodes

2007      Chicago 10          Animator