Gary Mooney
Encyclopedia
Gary Mooney was an American
animator
who worked for Walt Disney Studios
, Hubley Studios and fellow animator Jay Ward
during his career, which spanned several decades from the 1950s to the 2000s. Some of the most famous projects in which Mooney participated in included Disney's Sleeping Beauty
, Lady and the Tramp
and Ward's George of the Jungle
. He also worked on several live action
films. Mooney also completed many animated sequences, title sequences and graphics for use in live action films, television shows and commercials.
Some of Mooney's earliest work included uncredited assistant animator positions on the Walt Disney
animated classic films Lady and the Tramp
in 1955 and Sleeping Beauty
in 1959. Mooney later worked for Hubley Studios and Jay Ward and continued to work in the United States.
In 1960, Mooney teamed with fellow animator Lu Guarnier to animate Switchin' Kitten
, the first Tom and Jerry
cartoon to be directed by Gene Deitch
. Mooney became an animator for Storyboard Studios, which were owned by John Hubley
and Faith Hubley
, upon his arrival in New York City. He worked on a number of cartoons for the Hubleys while at Storyboard Studios. He was the animation director
on the film, Of Stars and Men
in 1964. Mooney also worked as an animator on the Hubley produced Children Of The Sun
in 1961, The Hole
in 1962, and The Hat
in 1963. He also animated 1966's The Cruise, which was created for the National Film Board of Canada
and directed by John and Faith Hubley.
Mooney also worked on the 1967 George of the Jungle
original television series, as well as Underdog. Some of Mooney's other work from the era included the 1975 syndicated television special, The Happy Prince and The MAD Magazine TV Special, which was created in 1974 but never released. Mooney also animated on the 1977 Sanrio
film, The Mouse And His Child
and Jack Zander
's 1980 animated film Gnomes
, which received an Emmy nomination in 1981 for Outstanding Animated Program. He also provided much of the animation for Taarna and Captain Sternn segments for Heavy Metal
, a 1981 Canadian animated film.
Outside of animated work, Mooney was hired to provide animation on live action
films, including the animated title sequence
for City Slickers
, as well as Honeymoon in Vegas
, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
, Steven Spielberg
's Jurassic Park
in 1993, Four Rooms
and 1996's A Very Brady Sequel
. Mooney's live action television portfolio included the 1984 television special George Carlin on Campus
and David Macaulay: Roman City, which aired in 1994.
Mooney's most recent projects included the O Canada
animated series and Disney's Kronk's New Groove
, as well as animation for the 2007 live action film, Are We Done Yet?
starring Ice Cube
and Nia Long
.
Gary Mooney died on August 5, 2008, of cancer at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife, Samantha Mooney, and his son, Jake.
Producer Bob Kurtz
, who worked with Mooney to create animation for many of his television commercials and movie titles and produced George Carlin on Campus
, called Mooney "the best draftsman
I ever worked with."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
who worked for Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, Hubley Studios and fellow animator Jay Ward
Jay Ward
J Troplong "Jay" Ward was an American creator and producer of animated television cartoons. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken...
during his career, which spanned several decades from the 1950s to the 2000s. Some of the most famous projects in which Mooney participated in included Disney's Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
, Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
and Ward's George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle (film)
George of the Jungle is a 1997 live-action, family-oriented, romantic-adventure-comedy film based on the characters from the original cartoon of the same name. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures with Mandeville Films and originally released to movie theatres on July 16, 1997...
. He also worked on several live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
films. Mooney also completed many animated sequences, title sequences and graphics for use in live action films, television shows and commercials.
Some of Mooney's earliest work included uncredited assistant animator positions on the Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
animated classic films Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
in 1955 and Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
in 1959. Mooney later worked for Hubley Studios and Jay Ward and continued to work in the United States.
In 1960, Mooney teamed with fellow animator Lu Guarnier to animate Switchin' Kitten
Switchin' Kitten
Switchin' Kitten, created in late-1960, is the first of thirteen Tom and Jerry cartoons that were directed by Gene Deitch and his team of animators in Czechoslovakia. It was released on September 7, 1961, and was also the first cartoon to be filmed in Metrocolor as opposed to Technicolor; all...
, the first Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
cartoon to be directed by Gene Deitch
Gene Deitch
Eugene Merril "Gene" Deitch is an American illustrator, animator and film director. He has been based in Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia and the present-day Czech Republic, since 1959. Since 1968, Deitch has been the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston...
. Mooney became an animator for Storyboard Studios, which were owned by John Hubley
John Hubley
John Hubley was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer of traditional animation films known for both his formal experimentation and for his emotional realism which stemmed from his tendency to cast his own children as voice actors in his films.- Biography :Hubley was...
and Faith Hubley
Faith Hubley
Faith Hubley was an animator, known for her experimental work both in collaboration with her husband John Hubley, and on her own following her husband's death.-Biography:...
, upon his arrival in New York City. He worked on a number of cartoons for the Hubleys while at Storyboard Studios. He was the animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
on the film, Of Stars and Men
Of Stars and Men
Of Stars and Men is a 1964 animated film from the Hubley family of animators, based on the 1959 book of the same name by astronomer Harlow Shapley, who also narrates...
in 1964. Mooney also worked as an animator on the Hubley produced Children Of The Sun
Children of the Sun
Children of the Sun may refer to:* Children of the Sun * Children of the Sun * Children of the Sun , a 1905 Russian play by Maxim Gorky...
in 1961, The Hole
The Hole (1962 film)
The Hole is a 15-minute animated film by John Hubley and Faith Hubley that won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1962.The film uses improvised dialogue from Dizzy Gillespie and George Mathews as two construction workers at work in the bottom of a hole on a construction site...
in 1962, and The Hat
The Hat
The Hat is a Southern California fast-food restaurant specializing in pastrami sandwiches. This iconic eatery, once local only to the San Gabriel Valley, has been offering its "World Famous Pastrami" to Southern California residents since 1951. Its customers consume 13 to 15 tons of pastrami per...
in 1963. He also animated 1966's The Cruise, which was created for the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
and directed by John and Faith Hubley.
Mooney also worked on the 1967 George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle was an American animated series produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who created The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The character George was inspired by the legend of Tarzan. It ran for 17 episodes on Saturday mornings from September 9 to December 30, 1967, on the American TV...
original television series, as well as Underdog. Some of Mooney's other work from the era included the 1975 syndicated television special, The Happy Prince and The MAD Magazine TV Special, which was created in 1974 but never released. Mooney also animated on the 1977 Sanrio
Sanrio
is a Japanese company that designs, licenses and produces products focusing on the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts and accessories that are sold worldwide and at specialty brand retail stores in Japan...
film, The Mouse And His Child
The Mouse and His Child
The Mouse and His Child is a 1977 animated film based on the 1967 Russell Hoban novel The Mouse and His Child. In the United States the film isalso known as The Extraordinary Adventures of the Mouse and His Child...
and Jack Zander
Jack Zander
Jack Zander was an American animator whose career lasted from the "golden age" of theatrical animation into the 1980s.-Biography:Jack Zander was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan...
's 1980 animated film Gnomes
Gnomes (film)
Gnomes is an American 1980 animated film, based on the book with the same title by the Dutch Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet. The movie was nominated for an Emmy in 1981 for Outstanding Animated Program....
, which received an Emmy nomination in 1981 for Outstanding Animated Program. He also provided much of the animation for Taarna and Captain Sternn segments for Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal (film)
Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian fantasy-animated film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine....
, a 1981 Canadian animated film.
Outside of animated work, Mooney was hired to provide animation on live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
films, including the animated title sequence
Title sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
for City Slickers
City Slickers
City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Helen Slater and Jack Palance. Palance won an Academy Award for his performance....
, as well as Honeymoon in Vegas
Honeymoon in Vegas
Honeymoon in Vegas is a 1992 comedy film directed by Andrew Bergman and starring Nicolas Cage, James Caan and Sarah Jessica Parker.-Plot:...
, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid is the 1992 sequel to the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Directed by Randal Kleiser and released by Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Robert Oliveri and Amy O'Neill, who reprise their roles as Wayne, Diane, Nick, and Amy Szalinski...
, Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
in 1993, Four Rooms
Four Rooms
Four Rooms is a 1995 portmanteau comedy film telling four stories set in a hotel in the US city of Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. Tim Roth stars as the principal character of the frame tale; he also takes part to some degree in all four stories....
and 1996's A Very Brady Sequel
A Very Brady Sequel
A Very Brady Sequel is a 1996 comedy film and sequel to 1995’s The Brady Bunch Movie. Both films are parodies-homages of the classic 1969–1974 television sitcom The Brady Bunch. The film was directed by Arlene Sanford and stars Shelley Long and Gary Cole as Carol and Mike Brady. The film was a box...
. Mooney's live action television portfolio included the 1984 television special George Carlin on Campus
Carlin on Campus
Carlin on Campus is the fourth HBO special by American comedian George Carlin recorded April 18–19, 1984. The show features mostly new material. The opening features Carlin in Catholic School with a short version of "Class Clown" and animation shorts...
and David Macaulay: Roman City, which aired in 1994.
Mooney's most recent projects included the O Canada
O Canada (TV series)
O Canada was an animated television anthology series, broadcast in the United States on Cartoon Network.Shown mainly on Sunday nights at 12:00 midnight ET, O Canada featured a selection of animated shorts from Canada, mostly from the archives of the National Film Board of Canada.The title of the...
animated series and Disney's Kronk's New Groove
Kronk's New Groove
Kronk's New Groove is a 2005 direct-to-video animated film released by The Walt Disney Company on December 13, 2005. The film is the sequel to the 2000 animated film The Emperor's New Groove, and features reprises of the roles of David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton and Wendie...
, as well as animation for the 2007 live action film, Are We Done Yet?
Are We Done Yet?
Are We Done Yet? is a 2007 family comedy film starring Ice Cube. The film is both a remake of the classic Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and a sequel to 2005's comedy Are We There Yet? The film was directed by Steve Carr from a screenplay by Hank Nelken...
starring Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
and Nia Long
Nia Long
Nia Talita Long is an American actress and occasional music video director. She is best known for her roles in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch, and the films Boiler Room, Soul Food, Love Jones, The Best Man, Big Momma's House, Big Momma's House 2, Are We There...
.
Gary Mooney died on August 5, 2008, of cancer at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife, Samantha Mooney, and his son, Jake.
Producer Bob Kurtz
Bob Kurtz
Bob Kurtz, founder of , is a director, producer, artist, and designer who primarily works in films and TV commercials. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute...
, who worked with Mooney to create animation for many of his television commercials and movie titles and produced George Carlin on Campus
Carlin on Campus
Carlin on Campus is the fourth HBO special by American comedian George Carlin recorded April 18–19, 1984. The show features mostly new material. The opening features Carlin in Catholic School with a short version of "Class Clown" and animation shorts...
, called Mooney "the best draftsman
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
I ever worked with."