Ray Patterson (animator)

American animator (1911–2001)

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|

Ray Patterson

Born|

Raymond Patterson

(1911-11-23)November 23, 1911

Hollywood, California, U.S.

Died| December 30, 2001(2001-12-30) (aged 90)

Encino, California, U.S.

Occupation(s)| Animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, writer
Employers|

* Screen Gems (1929–1940, 1941–1943)
* Walt Disney Animation Studios (1940–1941)
* Arthur Rank (1950s)
* MGM (1943–1955)
* Walter Lantz Productions (1954)
* Grantray-Lawrence Animation (1954–1968)
* Hanna-Barbera (1967–1993)
* Sanrio (1978)

Spouse| June Walker Patterson[1]
Children| four daughters[2]

Raymond Patterson (November 23, 1911 – December 30, 2001) was an American animator, producer, and director. He was born in Hollywood, California, and was the younger brother of animator Don Patterson.

## Career

[edit]

Patterson's earliest works in animation were for Charles B. Mintz's Krazy Kat/Screen Gems studio, where he started as an inker in 1929. He remained at Mintz for eleven years.[3] In 1940, he moved to the Walt Disney Studio, where he animated on Fantasia and Dumbo, as well as several Pluto shorts (Bone Trouble and Pluto's Playmate). By 1942, he mostly worked on Donald Duck shorts such as Donald Gets Drafted.

Patterson left Disney in 1941 during an animation strike. He would briefly reunite with Screen Gems, now creatively supervised by Frank Tashlin, before moving to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in 1943, with his first short for them being War Dogs, followed by Baby Puss, his debut on the Tom and Jerry series. While he mostly worked in the studio's Hanna-Barbera unit, he occasionally provided animation for Tex Avery's unit in the 1950s (as well as Avery's substitute director Dick Lundy). He worked on several Academy Award-winning animation shorts: Mouse Trouble (1944), Quiet Please! (1945), The Little Orphan (1948), and Johann Mouse (1952). Patterson (along with his colleague Irven Spence) would briefly leave MGM in the mid 40's. During this period, he would help organize and educate animators from David Hand's Gaumount British Animation Studio.[4] He and Spence would later move back to MGM in the late 40's.

Patterson left MGM permanently in 1953 and was briefly hired by Walter Lantz. He (alongside former Tex Avery animator Grant Simmons) would direct two shorts, Broadways Bow Wows and Dig that Dog.[4] Months afterwards, Patterson and Simmons left Walter Lantz Productions and co-founded their own studio, Grantray-Lawrence Animation, which he operated until 1967. GrantRay-Lawrence's early work was providing animation for television commercials, including the original "Winston Tastes Good" campaign. The company later moved on to producing such animated television series as Spider-Man and The Marvel Superheroes.[3]

After GrantRay-Lawrence folded in 1967, Patterson joined his former bosses at Hanna-Barbera, where he worked as a supervising director on several animated television series. Patterson was eventually promoted to vice president in charge of animation direction, a position he held until his retirement in 1993.

Patterson was awarded the 1999 Winsor McCay Award by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood for his lifetime of contributions to the animation field.[2]

## Personal life and death

[edit]

Ray was married to June Walker Patterson. June worked at Disney as a cel painter.[5] They had four daughters.[2]

Patterson died of natural causes in Encino, California on December 30, 2001, a month after his 90th birthday.[3][2]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Short films

[edit]

Year  | Series  | Title  | Credits

|
|
|

1943  | Tom and Jerry | Baby Puss | animator
1944  | The Zoot Cat
The Million Dollar Cat
The Bodyguard
Puttin' on the Dog
Mouse Trouble
1945  | The Mouse Comes to Dinner
Mouse in Manhattan
Tee for Two
Flirty Birdy
Quiet Please!
1946  | Springtime for Thomas
Solid Serenade
1947  | Salt Water Tabby
1948  | The Truce Hurts
Old Rockin' Chair Tom
Professor Tom
Mouse Cleaning
1949  | Polka Dot Puss
The Little Orphan
Hatch Up Your Troubles
Heavenly Puss
The Cat and the Mermouse
Love That Pup
Tennis Chumps
1950  | Little Quacker
Saturday Evening Puss
Texas Tom
Jerry and the Lion
Safety Second
Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl
The Framed Cat
Cueball Cat
1951  | Casanova Cat
Jerry and the Goldfish
Jerry's Cousin
Sleepy-Time Tom
His Mouse Friday
Slicked-Up Pup
Nit-Witty Kitty
Cat Napping
1952  | The Flying Cat
The Duck Doctor
Triplet Trouble
Little Runaway
Fit to Be Tied
Droopy | Caballero Droopy
Tom and Jerry  | Cruise Cat
Barney Bear | The Little Wise Quacker
Tom and Jerry  | The Dog House
1953  | The Missing Mouse
Barney Bear  | Barney's Hungry Cousin
Tom and Jerry  | Johann Mouse
| Little Johnny Jet
Tom and Jerry  | That's My Pup!
| T.V. of Tomorrow
Barney Bear  | Wee-Willie Wildcat
Tom and Jerry  | Just Ducky
Two Little Indians
Droopy  | Three Little Pups
1954  | Tom and Jerry  | Posse Cat
Droopy  | Drag-A-Long Droopy
Tom and Jerry  | Hic-cup Pup
| Billy Boy
Tom and Jerry  | Mice Follies
Neapolitan Mouse
Downhearted Duckling
1955  | Pup on a Picnic
Mouse for Sale
| The First Bad Man
Droopy  | Deputy Droopy
Tom and Jerry  | Pecos Pest
1956  | The Egg and Jerry
1957  | Tops with Pops
Feedin' the Kiddie

### Feature films

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Credits  | Notes

|
|
|

1940  | Fantasia | Animator - Segment "Dance of the Hours"  |
1941  | Dumbo | Animator  |
1946  | Holiday in Mexico |
1962  | Gay Purr-ee |
1964  | Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! |
1973  | Charlotte's Web |
1975  | Coonskin |
1986  | GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords | Director  |

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Credits  | Notes

|
|
|

1979  | The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone | director  | TV special
Scooby Goes Hollywood | TV movie
1980  | The Flintstones: Fred's Final Fling | TV special
Yogi's First Christmas | TV movie
1981  | The Flintstones: Jogging Fever | TV special
1982  | Christmas Comes to Pac-Land | TV special
1987  | Tis The Season to Be Smurfy | TV movie
1988  | Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf | TV movie
1993  | A Flintstone Family Christmas | TV movie

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Amidi, Amid (March 17, 2013). "93-Year-Old Cel Painter June Patterson Talks About the Disney Classics". Cartoon Brew.
2. ^ a b c d Mallory, Michael (January 6, 2002). "Ray Patterson". Variety.
3. ^ a b c "Ray Patterson, 90; Cartoon Animator of Tom and Jerry, Pluto". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2002. pp. B–11.
4. ^ a b "Irv Spence's "Rugged Rangers" |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
5. ^ Zohn, Patricia (February 5, 2010). "The Women Animators and Inkers Behind Disney's Golden Age". Vanity Fair.

## External links

[edit]

* Ray Patterson at IMDb
* Death notice at the Animation Guild website

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Winsor McCay Award (1990s)

1990|

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1992|

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1995|

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1996|

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1997|

* Willis O'Brien
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1998|

* Eyvind Earle
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1999|

* Ray Patterson
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