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Grim Natwick - an animator’s animator

November 10, 2007 on 4:46 am | Stephen Worth of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive says: "Here's a really cool exhibit we have going on at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. I've posted the whole exhibit online, along with a catalog and commentary. Check it out."

You may not know his name, but you've seen his work... Woody Woodpecker, Snow White, Betty Boop, Mr. Magoo, and Mickey Mouse were all brought to life by the same remarkable man- Grim Natwick.

Grim was mentor to Chuck Jones, Walter Lantz, Marc Davis and Richard Williams; and no other animator had a greater impact on the artform. Grim's first animation was for William Randolph Hearst's Krazy Kat Studio in 1917. His last credit was on Richard Williams' "The Thief & the Cobbler" in 1995. Natwick's career spanned the entire 20th century, and it defined the whole history of animation.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive has mounted an exhibit of artwork from Natwick's personal collection. Included are gag drawings depicting life around the cartoon studio, caricatures of co-workers, and the preliminary sketches that give us a peek behind the creation of some of the greatest cartoons ever made.

The online exhibit catalog consists of five articles:

Introduction: Grim Natwick's Scrapbook

Part One: Early Years In New York (Hearst, Fleischer)

Part Two: The Golden Age of Animation (Iwerks, Disney, Lantz)

Part Three: The Modern Era (UPA and beyond)

Part Four: The Greatest Animator Who Ever Lived (Studio Gag Drawings)