Today in Disney History: John Lounsbery Born in Ohio

John Lounsbery was born on this day in 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio and was raised in Colorado. While attending the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, California, an instructor sent him to Walt Disney Productions to interview.

He joined Disney on July 2, 1935 as an animator. He worked on classic animated films such as ‘Dumbo,’ ‘The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Lady and the Tramp,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘One Hundred and One Dalmatians,’ ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Robin Hood’ to name just a few. He was one of Walt's most trusted animators and part of the group Disney dubbed his "Nine Old Men." 

Lounsbery passed away on February 13, 1976, in Los Angeles, California from heart failure. He was 64 years old. At the time of his death, he was working on ‘The Rescuers’ as one of the directors. Lounsbery was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 1989, in the Animation category.