Polyphemus
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Personal Info

Gender

Male

Birthday

1909-06-26 (115 years old)

Place of Birth

Munich, Germany

Wolfgang Reitherman

Biography:

Reitherman began working for Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts, including The Band Concert, Music Land, and Elmer Elephant and in all, Reitherman worked on various Disney feature films produced from 1937 to 1981, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Slave in the Magic Mirror) to The Fox and the Hound (co-producer). He did the climatic dinosaur fight in Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in Fantasia, the Headless Horseman chase in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" section in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the Crocodile in Peter Pan, and Maleficent as a dragon in Sleeping Beauty (the former three he animated and the latter he directed). Beginning with 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, "Woolie", as he was called by friends, served as Disney's chief animation director. One of Reitherman's productions, the 1968 short Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also served as a producer and sequence director, and starred as himself in the 1941 feature film The Reluctant Dragon. All three of Reitherman's sons — Bruce, Richard and Robert — provided voices for Disney characters, including Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, and Wart in The Sword in the Stone. Reitherman directed several Disney animated feature films including, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970),Robin Hood (1973) and The Rescuers (1977). He is also known for reusing animation in movies directed by him. According to Floyd Norman, this was just one of his trademarks, and had nothing to do with time or cost savings: "Woolie was our director on The Jungle Book. Reuse was just Woolie’s thing. He never did it to save money. I really don’t think the “Old Guard” ever had any interest in saving money. I was never a big fan of reuse, but it wasn’t my place to tell these old guys what to do. One final thought. It never seemed to bother Walt, and I never heard him complain about reuse."

Known For

Acting

2009

Waking Sleeping Beauty as Himself (archive footage)

2007

The Pixar Story as Self (archive footage)

2005

1954

Directing

2005

1973

Robin Hood as Director

1972

Superstar Goofy as Director

1970

The Aristocats as Director

1967

The Jungle Book as Director

1962

1960

Goliath II as Director

1959

1955

Production

1981

The Fox and the Hound as Co-Producer

1973

Robin Hood as Producer

1970

The Aristocats as Producer

Visual Effects

1955

Lady and the Tramp as Animation
Lady and the Tramp as Animation Director

1953

Peter Pan as Animation
Peter Pan as Animation Director

1951

Alice in Wonderland as Animation

1950

Cinderella as Animation Director

1949

Tennis Racquet as Animation
Goofy Gymnastics as Animation

1947

Fun and Fancy Free as Animation Director
How to Ride a Horse as Animation

1942

How to Fish as Animation
Saludos Amigos as Animation
El Gaucho Goofy as Animation
How to Swim as Animation

1941

Dumbo as Animation

1940

Pinocchio as Animation
Fantasia as Animation
Pinocchio as Animation Director

1939

Donald's Cousin Gus as Animation
Goofy and Wilbur as Animation

1938

Donald's Nephews as Animation
Polar Trappers as Animation

1937

The Worm Turns as Animation
Hawaiian Holiday as Animation
Clock Cleaners as Animation
Mickey's Review as Animation

1936

Elmer Elephant as Animation
Moving Day as Animation

1935

Broken Toys as Animation
Cock o' the Walk as Animation
The Band Concert as Animation
Water Babies as Animation
Music Land as Animation

1934

The Wise Little Hen as Animation
Two-Gun Mickey as Animation