Seymour Kneitel

Seymour Kneitel (March 16, 1908 – July 30, 1964) was an American animator, best known for his work with Fleischer Studios and its successor, Famous Studios.

Early years Kneitel was born in New York City where he graduated from P.S. 10 in Manhattan and attended the High School of Commerce, taking commercial art courses. He also took evening classes at the National Academy of Design. His father died when Kneitel was still in high school, and he needed work to provide support for his mother and sister.

He was able to attend an annex of Commerce HS and work after school and Saturdays for Bray Studios, coloring drawings for Colonel Heeza Liar cartoons. On graduation, he was able to find employment with a small company, L.F. Cornwell, producers of a series called Ebinizer Ebony, which were being made in a now-defunct color process known as Kelly Color. He began as an office boy and within a year was one of three animators. From 1925 to 1927, he worked as an inbetweener at Max Fleischer's "Out of the Inkwell" Studio, and was there for two years when he was offered a position at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in California as a junior writer.

Popeye the Sailor TV series

In the summer of 1957, Paramount ceased production of theatrical Popeye shorts. King Features Syndicate, aware of the high ratings that the Popeye shorts had earned on television, commissioned a new series of Popeye shorts for syndication in 1960. Kneitel, head of the Paramount Cartoon Studios (renamed from Famous Studios in 1956), supervised one of four animation units assigned to this project. Due to the usage of limited animation, the quality of these films is inferior to those produced by the Fleischer and Famous Studios.

Personal life Kneitel was married to Ruth Fleischer, becoming Max Fleischer's son-in-law, Dave Fleischer’s nephew-in-law, and director Richard Fleischer's brother-in-law. He was also the nephew of musician Sammy Timberg, who wrote many of the scores for Fleischer's cartoons. Kneitel also had a cousin Abner Kneitel, who was the animator and assistant animator for Fleischers and Famous from 1935 to 1944. Abner was often credited as "Abner Matthews" in cartoons he worked on alongside Seymour.

His son Tom Fleischer-Kneitel, an avid amateur radio operator, was the founding editor of Popular Communications magazine. His daughter, Virginia, headed a design and exhibition office for the Smithsonian Institution. Seymour's youngest son, Kenneth, a major collector of vintage material, established and ran the store 'Fandango' in New York City. Kenneth also designed and published many books, and worked several years for Peter Max.

Death Kneitel suffered a major heart attack in March 1941, caused by his chain smoking. Kneitel continued to have health problems throughout his life. In his 2005 book Out of the Inkwell, Richard Fleischer alleged that Paramount stratigically appointed the constantly sick Kneitel to run Famous Studios, as a way to prevent Max Fleischer from pursuing legal action against them over the loss of his studio. Kneitel died of a second heart attack on July 30, 1964, at the age of 56. Three years later, Paramount shut down the animation studio. Kneitel's last cartoon credit was Space Kid (1966).