David Hand

David Dodd Hand (January 23, 1900 – October 11, 1986) was an American animator and film director known for his work at Walt Disney Productions. He worked on numerous Disney shorts during the 1930s and eventually became supervising director on the animated features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi.

Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Hand began his animation career working on Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell cartoons throughout the 1920s. He joined the Disney studio in 1930 during a major drive by Disney to recruit from the best of animating talent.

Hand immediately made his mark as an animator. By 1932 he was regarded as one of the studio's top animators (despite some complaints that his work was "too mechanical") and had become a close friend of Walt Disney himself. Hand's organizational skills made Disney select him to be the studio's third director after Burt Gillett and Wilfred Jackson. He made his directorial debut for the company with the Mickey Mouse short Building a Building and went on to direct both Silly Symphony and Mickey Mouse shorts, including The Flying Mouse, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Three Orphan Kittens, and Thru the Mirror. By the late 1930s Hand's management skills had allowed him to ascend the hierarchy of the Studio to functioning as Disney's right-hand man. But as historian Michael Barrier notes "Hand's position was fundamentally untenable—he was second in command in an organization whose leader, younger than Hand himself, had no intention of ever stepping aside or sharing real power." and the other called Musical Paintbox which used limited animation. After establishing the Moor Hall studio, Hand began directing and producing several theatrical animated advertisements. One of his first works as an advertising director at Gaumont-British is an animated advertisement for Rowntree's in 1946.

Due to Hand's experience from Disney, Gaumont-British Animation Ltd. had the most advanced animation ever seen in England up to that point, especially when compared to England's other animation studios at the time such as Halas and Batchelor and George Moreno's British Animated Productions Ltd. Hand had to bring in other American animators to help train the artists at the studio; one of those who came to assist was Ray Patterson from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio.

In Hand's later years in English advertising, Hand is well-known for his animated Ye Olde English Car-Tunes on Esso in 1948. With his Animaland and Musical Paintbox series gaining steam all across England, both of his series were unable to get distribution in the United States (although they did get distribution in Canada), and the studio closed in 1950, dooming plans to produce two animated features adapted from H. G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon and Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark. Hand moved to Colorado where he worked for the next 18 years at the Alexander Film Company, a maker of commercials and industrial films. With his contributions to British animation, Hand was honored at Buckingham Palace in 1950.

In the early-1960s, Hand's cartoons began airing on British television for the first time in the United Kingdom. This lasted for decades on British television, continuing into the 2000s. In the Spring of 1998, most Animaland shorts made VHS distribution in the United States.

Personal life Death Hand died from complications of a stroke in San Luis Obispo, California at age 86. Year Credit Series Out of the Inkwell

Animator Out of the Inkwell The Magic Lamp

Animator

Just Spooks

Key animator Dinky Doodle in the Army

Animator The Cat's Nine Lives Director

The Tail of the Monkey Director Cannibal Capers

Animator, designer

Frolicking Fish Animator The Cactus Kid Animator

The Fire Fighters Animator Arctic Antics Animator

Midnight in a Toy Shop Animator Night Animator Monkey Melodies Animator The Chain Gang Animator

The Gorilla Mystery Animator The Picnic Animator Winter Animator Silly Symphony Pioneer Days Animator Mickey Mouse Playful Pan Animator Silly Symphony The Birthday Party

Animator Mickey Mouse Birds of a Feather Animator Silly Symphony Traffic Troubles Animator

The Castaway Animator Mother Goose Melodies Animator Silly Symphony The Moose Hunt Animator Mickey Mouse The China Plate Animator Silly Symphony The Delivery Boy Animator Mickey Mouse The Cat's Out Animator

Egyptian Melodies Animator The Barnyard Broadcast Animator

Fishin' Around Animator Mickey Steps Out Animator The Fox Hunt Animator Silly Symphony The Beach Party Animator

Mickey Cuts Up Animator Mickey's Orphans Animator The Ugly Duckling Animator

The Bird Store

Animator The Duck Hunt Animator

The Grocery Boy Animator The Mad Dog Animator The Bears and Bees Animator Silly Symphony Mickey in Arabia Animator Mickey Mouse Flowers and Trees Animator

Just Dogs Animator Mickey's Nightmare Animator

Trader Mickey Director, animator King Neptune Animator Silly Symphony The Whoopee Party Animator Mickey Mouse Bugs in Love Animator Silly Symphony The Wayward Canary Animator

Building a Building

Director The Mad Doctor Director Birds in the Spring Director Silly Symphony The Mail Pilot Director Mickey Mouse Old King Cole Director Silly Symphony Camping Out

Director

Mickey's Steam Roller Director The Flying Mouse Director Silly Symphony The Dognapper Director

Mickey's Man Friday

Director Mickey's Kangaroo Director, writer The Robber Kitten Director

Who Killed Cock Robin? Director Pluto's Judgement Day Director Mickey Mouse Three Orphan Kittens Director Silly Symphony Mickey's Polo Team

Director Mickey Mouse Three Little Wolves Director Silly Symphony Thru the Mirror Director

Alpine Climbers Director Three Blind Mouseketeers Director Silly Symphony Mickey's Elephant Director Mickey Mouse The Country Cousin Production supervisor

Mother Pluto Animator More Kittens Director Magician Mickey

Director Mickey Mouse Little Hiawatha Director

Moth and the Flame

Executive producer Wynken, Blynken and Nod Executive producer The Whalers Production supervisor

Mickey's Parrot Executive producer Farmyard Symphony Executive producer Silly Symphony Ferdinand the Bull Executive producer Merbabies Production supervisor Silly Symphony How Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made

Self The Practical Pig Executive producer

The Ugly Duckling Executive producer The Hockey Champ Executive producer Donald Duck The Pointer Executive producer Mickey Mouse The Autograph Hound Executive producer

Donald's Camera

Production supervisor, organizational leader 7 Wise Dwarfs Production supervisor All Together

Supervisor The Grain That Built a Hemisphere

Production supervisor The Thames

Producer Musical Paintbox The Cuckoo Producer, executive producer

The Lion (Felis Leo) Producer Wales Producer Musical Paintbox The House-Cat (Felis Vulgaris) Producer Animaland Somerset

Producer

A Fantasy on Ireland Producer The Ostrich Producer Animaland Yorkshire Ditty Producer Musical Paintbox The Australian Platypus Producer

It's a Lovely Day Producer Ginger Nutt's Bee-Bother Producer Sketches of Scotland Producer

Cornwall Producer Canterbury Road Producer Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus Producer Animaland Devon Whey

Producer

A Fantasy on London Life Producer Ginger Nutt's Forest Dragon Producer Animaland

Features