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John Frederick Hannah (January 5, 1913 – June 11, 1994) was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts. He worked for Disney and Walter Lantz.[1]
Jack Hannah | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Frederick Hannah January 5, 1913 Nogales, Arizona, U.S. |
| Died | June 11, 1994 (aged 81) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations | Animator, writer, director of Disney |
| Years active | 1933–1984 |
| Children | 2 |
Biography
editHannah was born on January 5, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. After attending grammar school in Nogales, Arizona and high school in National City, California, he moved to Los Angeles in 1931 to study at the Art Guild Academy. One of his first jobs was designing movie posters for Hollywood theaters for the advertising firm Foster & Kleiser. In 1933, during the Great Depression, Hannah dropped off his portfolio at Walt Disney Studios, and soon afterward was hired as an in-between and clean-up artist, working on Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Silly Symphony cartoons.[2]
Hannah's career as an animator commenced with the short Modern Inventions (released on May 29, 1937). After thirteen films in that capacity, he was assigned to the story department writing cartoon short continuities, beginning with Donald's Nephews (released on April 15, 1938). He received writing credit on 21 Disney cartoon shorts.
In 1942, he collaborated with Carl Barks on the first two comic books Barks worked on, Pluto Saves the Ship and Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. Hannah in subsequent years did a handful of other Donald Duck comic book stories[3] but, unlike Barks, he stayed at the studio and eventually was given a chance to be a director. The short Donald's Off Day (released on December 8, 1944) was the first of 94 films he would direct. These include most of the shorts featuring Donald Duck in the post-war era along with all starring Chip 'n Dale and Humphrey the Bear; he also directed some shorts starring Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Pluto and some minor Disney characters such as Lambert the Sheepish Lion.
After Disney stopped producing animated shorts, Hannah did 14 episodes of the Walt Disney anthology television series (composed of footage from the classic cartoons along with new linking material) and fulfilled his ambition to direct live-action by handling Walt Disney's introductions for the episodes. Hannah hoped to segue into a career in live-action but "Walt had me pegged as an animation director so he balked at the suggestion. We had a few heated discussions and I became aware that I had come to an impasse."[4] Hannah then went to Walter Lantz Productions and directed a number of films featuring Woody Woodpecker and most of the Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy, and Dynamo Doc shorts directed by Jack Hannah had music by former-Warner Bros. composer and songwriter Eugene Poddany, who composed the shorts from 1960 to 1962, replaced by Darrell Calker, who composed from 1961 to 1964, and Clarence Wheeler who composed for Lantz from 1950 to 1967, and one short directed by Jack Hannah had Walter Greene as composer and Charles Mintz veteran Sid Marcus as director entitled Greedy Gabby Gator (released on January 1, 1963) and some minor characters. Besides directing shorts, Hannah also was assistant director for the television series The Woody Woodpecker Show, which began airing on October 3, 1957. "I did more or less the same thing that I did with Walt Disney in directing live-action except Lantz was better at taking direction."[4] For his final days at Lantz, his shorts needed animation by Art Davis until he left in April 1963, His last directing effort was the short Charlie's Mother in Law (released on April 16, 1963). He retired shortly thereafter and replaced by Sid Marcus, who co-directed the Woody Woodpecker short Greedy Gabby Gator, released in 1963 with Jack Hannah as co-director with Sid Marcus, who directed at Lantz until 1967.
In 1975, Hannah was one of the co-founders, along with T. Hee, of the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.
Hannah was honored as a "Disney Legend" in 1992. Jack Hannah is often credited with developing, if not creating, the personality of the animated version of Donald Duck. It is for this reason Disney historian Jim Korkis has dubbed him "Donald Duck's Other Daddy." Despite that, Hannah has often been noted for being responsible for Donald's most formulaic period, where constantly paired Donald with pint-sized antagonists. The most famous of these antagonists are Chip 'n Dale, but other characters included Spike the Bee, Bootle Beetle and a colony of ants. These vermin became the focus of their shorts, relegating Donald to a supporting foil role with a consequent personality diminution.
Hannah died from cancer in Burbank, California on June 11, 1994, at age 81. He is survived by his wife and two children.[1]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Servants' Entrance | animator | |
| Gulliver Mickey | animator | ||
| 1936 | Toby Tortoise Returns | animator | |
| Donald and Pluto | animator | ||
| The Country Cousin | animator | ||
| 1937 | Don Donald | animator | |
| Woodland Café | animator | ||
| Modern Inventions | animator | ||
| The Old Mill | animator | ||
| Donald's Ostrich | animator | ||
| 1938 | Self Control | animator | |
| Donald's Better Self | story and animation | ||
| Donald's Nephews | story and animation | ||
| Donald's Golf Game | animator | ||
| Good Scouts | animator | ||
| 1939 | Sea Scouts | animator | |
| Donald's Penguin | animator | ||
| Donald's Lucky Day | story and animation | ||
| The Hockey Champ | story and animation | ||
| Donald's Cousin Gus | story | ||
| Beach Picnic | story | ||
| 1940 | Mr. Duck Steps Out | story | |
| Donald's Vacation | story and animation | ||
| Window Cleaners | story | ||
| Fire Chief | story | ||
| 1941 | Timber | story | |
| Golden Eggs | story | ||
| Early to Bed | story | ||
| Truant Officer Donald | story | ||
| Old MacDonald Duck | story | ||
| Chef Donald | story | ||
| 1942 | Sky Trooper | story | |
| The Army Mascot | story | ||
| Donald Gets Drafted | story | ||
| Donald's Snow Fight | animator | ||
| Bellboy Donald | story | ||
| Donald's Garden | animator | ||
| Out of the Frying Pan and into the Firing Line | animator | ||
| 1943 | Home Defense | story | |
| The Old Army Game | story | ||
| 1944 | Trombone Trouble | story | |
| The Plastics Inventor | story | ||
| Commando Duck | story | ||
| Donald Duck and the Gorilla | story | ||
| Donald's Off Day | director | ||
| 1945 | The Eyes Have It | director | |
| No Sail | director | ||
| 1946 | Double Dribble | director | |
| Squatter's Rights | director | ||
| A Knight for a Day | director | ||
| Lighthouse Keeping | director | ||
| Frank Duck Brings 'em Back Alive | director | ||
| 1947 | Clown of the Jungle | director | |
| Bootle Beetle | director | ||
| Straight Shooters | director | ||
| Chip an' Dale | director | ||
| Foul Hunting | director | ||
| 1948 | They're Off | director | |
| Daddy Duck | director | ||
| Inferior Decorator | director | ||
| Soup's On | director | ||
| Three for Breakfast | director | ||
| Tea for Two Hundred | director | ||
| 1949 | All in a Nutshell | director | |
| Slide, Donald, Slide | director | ||
| Honey Harvester | director | ||
| Donald's Happy Birthday | director | ||
| Winter Storage | director | ||
| The Greener Yard | director | ||
| Sea Salts | director | ||
| Toy Tinkers | director | ||
| 1950 | Trailer Horn | director | |
| Hook, Lion and Sinker | director | ||
| Lion Around | director | ||
| Bee at the Beach | director | ||
| Out on a Limb | director | ||
| Crazy Over Daisy | director | ||
| 1951 | Chicken in the Rough | director | |
| Dude Duck | director | ||
| Test Pilot Donald | director | ||
| Corn Chips | director | ||
| Lucky Number | director | ||
| Out of Scale | director | ||
| Bee on Guard | director | ||
| 1952 | Two Chips and a Miss | director | |
| Lambert the Sheepish Lion | director | ||
| Donald Applecore | director | ||
| Let's Stick Together | director | ||
| Uncle Donald's Ants | director | ||
| Trick or Treat | director | ||
| Pluto's Christmas Tree | director | ||
| 1953 | Don's Fountain of Youth | director | |
| The New Neighbor | director | ||
| Canvas Back Duck | director | ||
| Rugged Bear | director | ||
| Working for Peanuts | director | ||
| 1954 | The Flying Squirrel | director | |
| Social Lion | director | ||
| Grin and Bear It | director | ||
| Dragon Around | director | ||
| Spare the Rod | director | ||
| 1955 | No Hunting | director and voice (of Moose) | |
| Bearly Asleep | director | ||
| Beezy Bear | director | ||
| Up a Tree | director | ||
| 1956 | In the Bag | director | |
| 3D Jamboree | director | the "Working for Peanuts" short | |
| Hooked Bear | director | ||
| 1959 | Bric's Stew | story | |
| 1960 | Donald Duck and his Companions | story and animation | |
| Southern Fried Hospitality | director | ||
| Hunger Strife | director | ||
| Freeloading Feline | director and story | ||
| 1961 | Doc's Last Stand | director | |
| Woody's Kook-Out | director | ||
| Gabby's Diner | director | ||
| Tin Can Concert | director and story | ||
| Tricky Trout | director | ||
| Voo-Doo Boo-Boo | director | ||
| Franken-Stymied | director | ||
| Bear and the Bees | director | ||
| Clash and Carry | director | ||
| Mackerel Moocher | director | ||
| Eggnapper | director | ||
| Poop Deck Pirate | director | ||
| 1962 | Greedy Gabby Gator | director | |
| Corny Concerto | director | ||
| Punchy Pooch | director | ||
| Mother's Little Helper | director | ||
| Rocket Racket | director | ||
| Fowled-Up Birthday | director | ||
| Pest of Show | director | ||
| Rock-a-Bye Gator | director | ||
| Fish and Chips | director | ||
| 1964 | Jungle Medics | director and story |
TV series
edit- Disneyland (1954–79)
- The Donald Duck Story (director and story; 1954)
- Adventures of Mickey Mouse (director; 1955)
- At Home with Donald Duck (director; 1956)
- The Great Cat Family (segment director; 1956)
- Where Do the Stories Come From? (director; 1956)
- On Vacation (director; 1956)
- A Day in the Life of Donald Duck (director;1956)
- Duck for Hire (director; 1957)
- Donald's Award (director; 1957)
- All About Magic (sequence director; 1957)
- Your Host, Donald Duck (director;1957)
- From All of Us to All of You (director; 1958)
- Four Tales on a Mouse (director: Christmas sequence; 1958)
- Donald's Weekend (director; 1958)
- Highway to Trouble (director;1959)
- Duck Flies Coop (director; 1959)
- Two Happy Amigos (director;1960)
- This Is Your Life Donald Duck (director;1960)
- Kids Is Kids (segment director; 1961)
- A Square Peg in a Round Hole (segment director; 1963)
- The Ranger of Brownstone (sequence director; 1968)
- Baseball Fever (director; 1979) (archive footage only)[5]
- The Woody Woodpecker Show (1957–58)
- Matty's Funday Funnies (TV series) (1962; story)
References
edit- ^ a b "Jack Hannah, 81, A Disney Animator". The New York Times. June 17, 1994. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
- ^ https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-other-duck-man-part-1/
- ^ Jack Hannah
- ^ a b "Donald Duck's Other Daddy (PART TWO)". Retrieved October 5, 2024.
- ^ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History.
External links
edit- Jack Hannah at Inducks
- Jack Hannah at IMDb
- Jack Hannah Remembers Pirate Gold at Mouse Planet
- Donald Duck's Other Daddy (Part One)
- Jack Hannah at Library of Congress, with 3 library catalog records