Don Patterson

Don Patterson (December 26, 1909 - December 12, 1998) was an American producer, animator, and director who worked at various studios during the Golden age of American animation, including Disney, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, Walter Lantz Productions, Grantray-Lawrence Animation, and Hanna-Barbera. He was the older brother of animator Ray Patterson.

Career Patterson began his career in the early 1930s as an in-betweener at the Charles Mintz Studio, and then moved to Universal Cartoon Studios.

He began working at the Walt Disney Studios in 1935, contributing to Disney's short subjects as well as their to five theatrical films: Pinocchio, Fantasia (Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria Segment), Dumbo, The Three Caballeros and Make Mine Music. Patterson eventually left Disney in 1946 and moved to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. Initially he worked with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera on Tom and Jerry (the same unit as his brother Ray worked in) before moving to a unit headed by Michael Lah and Preston Blair to animate three Barney Bear shorts. He left MGM after the Lah and Blair unit was disbanded by management not long after.

In the early 1950s, Patterson returned to Universal as the animation studio was now called Walter Lantz Productions and became one of Lantz's four key animators, along with Ray Abrams, Laverne Harding and Paul Smith.

Patterson died on December 12, 1998, at Santa Barbara, California, just 14 days short of his 89th birthday.

Selected filmography

Year Title Credits 1940 Pinocchio Animator Fantasia Animator - Segment "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" 1941 Dumbo Animator 1945 The Three Caballeros Animator 1946 Make Mine Music Effects Animator 1973 Charlotte's Web Animator