Wilfred Jackson

Wilfred Jackson was an American animator, arranger, composer, and director, who worked for Disney.

Born in Chicago, Illinois; Jackson attended Otis College of Art and Design in the 1920s before getting hired at the studio. He approached Walt Disney and offered to pay him "tuition" for the experience of learning animation, which in those days could only be acquired on the job. His skills did not impress the young producer but his timing was fortuitous. Jackson worked closely with Ub Iwerks as an assistant while contributing to Steamboat Willie where he proved it was feasible by devising a crude synchronization method that related film speed with the musical beats of a metronome.

Jackson was promoted to director and worked on many of the Silly Symphonies cartoons, several of which, including The Old Mill, won Academy Awards during the 1930s. Also, he began directing the then ambitious full-length animated features produced by the studio, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Melody Time, and Peter Pan. Jackson most notably animated sequences in Song of the South and the "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" segment of Fantasia.

In 1953, Jackson suffered a heart attack while directing sequences for Lady and the Tramp and was never able to resume his full-time duties. He was replaced as a director on Sleeping Beauty and worked sporadically on Disney's television shows, like the Disneyland anthology series. In 1959, he took an extended leave of absence that ended with his official retirement in 1961.

Jackson died at age 82 in 1988. In 1998, Jackson was posthumously honored as a Disney Legend and, as of 2007, part of his composition in Steamboat Willie is included in the intro sequence of animated features.

Filmography[]

Year	Title	Credits
1928	Steamboat Willie	Animator Composer Songwriter: "Turkey in the Straw"
1929	The Karnival Kid	Animator - uncredited
	The Plowboy	Animator - uncredited
	The Skeleton Dance	Animator - uncredited
	Mickey's Follies	Director - uncredited
1930	The Shindig	performer: harmonic - uncredited Animator
	Autumn	Animator - uncredited
	Cannibal Capers	Animator - uncredited
	The Cactus Kid	Animator - uncredited
	Frolicking Fish	Animator - uncredited
	The Fire Fighters	Animator - uncredited
	Arctic Antics	Animator
	Midnight in a Toy Shop	Animator - uncredited Director
	Night	Animator - uncredited
	The Chain Gang	Animator - uncredited
	Monkey Melodies	Animator - uncredited
	The Gorilla Mystery	Animator - uncredited
	The Picnic	Animator - uncredited
	Winter	Animator - uncredited
	Pioneer Days	Animator - uncredited
	Playful Pan	Animator - uncredited
1931	The Birthday Party	Animator - uncredited
	The Castaway	Director
	The China Plate	Director - uncredited
	The Cat's Out	Director - uncredited
	Egyptian Melodies	Director - uncredited
	The Clock Store	Director
	The Spider and the Fly	Director
	The Fox Hunt	Director - uncredited
	The Ugly Duckling	Director - uncredited
1932	The Bird Store	Director - uncredited
	The Grocery Boy	Director
	Barnyard Olympics	Director
	Mickey's Revue	Director - uncredited
	The Bears and Bees	Director
	Musical Farmer	Director
	Mickey in Arabia	Director - uncredited
	The Whoopee Party	Director - uncredited
	Touchdown Mickey	Director - uncredited
	The Klondike Kid	Director - uncredited
	Santa's Workshop	Director - uncredited
1933	Mickey's Mellerdrammer	Director - uncredited
	Father Noah's Ark	Director - uncredited
	Mickey's Mechanical Man	Director - uncredited
	Puppy Love	Director - uncredited
	Lullaby Land	Director - uncredited
	The Pied Piper	Director - uncredited
	The Pet Store	Director - uncredited
	The Night Before Christmas	Director - uncredited
1934	The China Shop	Director - uncredited
	The Grasshopper and the Ants	Director - uncredited
	Funny Little Bunnies	Director - uncredited
	The Wise Little Hen	Director - uncredited
	Peculiar Penguins	Director - uncredited
	The Goddess of Spring	Director - uncredited
1935	The Tortoise and the Hare	Director - uncredited
	The Band Concert	Director - uncredited
	Water Babies	Director - uncredited
	Mickey's Garden	Director - uncredited
	Music Land	Director - uncredited
1936	Mickey's Grand Opera	Director - uncredited
	Elmer Elephant	Director - uncredited
	Mickey's Rival	Director - uncredited
	Toby Tortoise Returns	Director - uncredited
	The Country Cousin	Director - uncredited
	More Kittens	Director
1937	Woodland Café	Director - uncredited
	The Old Mill	Director - uncredited
	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	Sequence Director
1938	Mother Goose Goes Hollywood	Director - uncredited
1940	Pinocchio	Sequence Director
1940	Fantasia	Director - Segment "A Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" live action model for Chernabog
1941	Dumbo	Sequence Director
1941	Golden Eggs	Director
1942	The New Spirit	Director - uncredited
1943	Saludos Amigos	Sequence Director - "Aquarela do Brasil" (uncredited)
1946	A Feather in His Collar	Director
1946	Song of the South	Cartoon Director
1948	Melody Time	Cartoon Director - "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed"
1950	Cinderella	Director
1951	Alice in Wonderland	Director
1952	The Little House	Director
1953	Peter Pan	Director
1955	Lady and the Tramp	Director
1955	Dateline: Disneyland (TV Special documentary)	Director
1954-1959	The Magical World of Disney	Himself - 1 Episode / Director - 9 Episodes / Segment Director - 2 Episodes / Sequence Director - 1 Episode / Cartoon Director - 1 Episode
2002	American Legends (Video)	Director - Segment "Johnny Appleseed"

Gallery[]

External links[]

Wilfred Jackson on IMDb

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Wilfred Jackson. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.

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