Burt Gillett

Biography

Burt Gillett was an animator from the state of New York, and a notable director of animated short films. He directed about a 100 short films between 1920 and 1940, but is best remembered for directing "Three Little Pigs" (1933) for the Disney studio. Gillett started his film career c. 1916, when he was hired by the animation studio "International Film Service" (1915-1921). It was a subsidiary company of the International News Service, owned by William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The studio focused on creating adaptations for then-popular comic strips, such as "Krazy Kat," "The Katzenjammer Kids," and "Happy Hooligan." Gillett worked in relative obscurity, until 1929 when hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Studio head Walt Disney was facing a problem at the time, because Ub Iwerks was the only experienced animator on the studio's staff. Walt decided to head to New York City and to offer employment to a number of experienced animators working in the city's studios. Gillett was the second animator to accept Walt's offer, following Ben Sharpsteen. By the summer of 1929, Gillett had become on the Disney's leading directors. He took over control of the "Mickey Mouse" film series, starting with the short film "Wild Waves". In 1930, Gillett also started directing films in the "Silly Symphonies" film series, an anthology which focused on one-shot characters. His first film in the series was "Cannibal Capers", featuring the tribal dance of a cannibal tribe. Two of Gillett's short films won the "Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film": "Flowers and Trees" (1932) and "Three Little Pigs" (1933). "Flowers and Trees" was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process, an is credited as a milestone in the development of color films. "Three Little Pigs" introduced Disney's version of the Big Bad Wolf (also known as "Zeke Wolf") and the Three Little Pigs. The characters later became regularly featured characters in Disney comic strips and comic books. Due to his newfound fame in the animation industry, Gillett was offered a more lucrative position as the new studio head of the animation studio Van Beuren Studios. Gillett started working there in 1934, and helped the studio transition to producing only color cartoon shorts. While at Van Beuren, Gillett introduced the film series "Rainbow Parade." It was a "Silly Symphonies"-style anthology series, produced fully in Technicolor. Gillett personally directed many of the series' films. His most notable works for the studio included the "Molly Moo-Cow" sub-series (1935-1936), three animated adaptation of the popular comic strip "Toonerville Folks" (1908-1955), and a few color films for Felix the Cat. Gillett's policies at the Van Beuren studios were controversial at the time. In order to compete effectively with the Disney studio, Gillett adopted several of the methods and techniques used by Disney. This made the studio's products seem more modern, but their films were seen as derivative. Gillett also fired several animators who had failed to meet his quality standards. His most controversial policy was forcing employees to work overtime to complete films, without any compensation for the extra hours. In the mid-1930s, the Animated Motion Picture Workers Union (AMPWU) filed a complain against Van Beuren with the National Labor Relations Board. Their complain was based on Gillett's policies, but the Board decided in favor of the studio management. Gillett celebrated his victory by firing union agitators. The Van Beuren studio shut down in 1936, leaving Gillett temporarily unemployed. The studio had lost its main distributor, RKO Pictures, and was unable to find another distributor. RKO had signed an exclusive deal to distribute Disney's films, and most major film studios already had animation subsidiaries. Gillett was re-hired by the Disney studio, and he returned to directing films. His most notable film during this period of his career was the horror comedy "Lonesome Ghosts" (1937). It featured Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as ghost hunters. The film's ghosts were portrayed as malicious pranksters. The short has received a number of adaptations of its own, including scenes in Disney-related video games. In 1938, Gillett was hired by the Walter Lantz Studio. He worked as a director for a hand full of films, most notably introducing the new character Lil' Eightball, as a caricature of an African-American child. The character starred in three animated shorts, but was then retired. Gillett also directed a few entries in the popular "Andy Panda" series. Gillett retired from the animation industry in 1940, and lived the rest of his life out of the limelight. He died in 1971, at the age of 80. His fame in the animation industry endures, in part due to directing several highly regarded short films, and in part due to his pioneering work in producing color films. Animation histories often include both his accomplishments and his controversial decisions.