Hamilton Luske

Director: Hamilton Luske

Occupation: Director, Actor
Active: '40s-'60s
Major Genres: Children's/Family, Fantasy
Career Highlights: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
First Major Screen Credit: Mickey's Elephant (1936)

Biography

American animation director Hamilton Luske spent his entire career at the Disney Studios. In the mid-1930s, Luske honed his craft on such one-reel cartoons as Mickey's Elephant (1936). Beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), his energies were concentrated on Disney's feature-length projects. He co-directed the "Pastoral Symphony" portion of Fantasia (1940), and helmed individual sequences of 1943's Saludos Amigos (the "Pedro" episode), 1945's Make Mine Music (the animated titles and transitions) and 1947's Melody Time(the "Once Upon a Wintertime" vignette). His co-directing credits of the 1950s and 1960s include Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland(1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955) and 101 Dalmatians (1961). He also directed several of Disney's short-subject "specials" of the same period, the most memorable of which was Ben and Me (1954). In addition, he supervised the animated sequences of the otherwise "live" features So Dear to My Heart (1948) and Mary Poppins (1964). He retired after completing work on the 1967 featurette. Scrooge McDuck and Money. Together with several of his Disney colleagues, Hamilton Luske can be glimpsed as "himself" in 1941's The Reluctant Dragon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide