Wilson D. "Pete" Burness (June 16, 1904 – July 21, 1969) was an American animator and animation director. He won two Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 during his career and was perhaps best known for his work on the Mr. Magoo

Mr. Magoo

Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem...

 series. He also contributed to the 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...

 series, Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

, Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

, and Rocky and His Friends.

Burness was born in Los Angeles. His animation career began in 1931, working for Romer Grey and Ted Eshbaugh

Ted Eshbaugh

Ted Eshbaugh was a Canadian animated filmmaker whose work includes The Wizard of Oz, Goofy Goat Antics, and The Sunshine Makers.Sammy Salvage 1943 - External links :...

 on Goofy Goat Antics

Goofy Goat Antics

Goofy Goat Antics is a 1931 Ted Eshbaugh cartoon produced by Van Beuren Studios.- Plot :The goat is driving his car, which is stuck in a traffic jam behind a fat pig...

and the unreleased Binko the Cub. In 1933 he transferred to Van Beuren Studios

Van Beuren Studios

Van Beuren Studios was an American animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons from 1928 to 1936.Producer Amedee J. van Beuren first became involved in the animation industry in 1920, when he formed a partnership with Paul Terry and formed the "Aesop's Fables Studio" for the production of...

, where he animated the film adaption of The Little King

The Little King

The Little King was a comic strip created by Otto Soglow, famously telling its stories in a style using images and very few words, as in pantomime.-Publication history:...

. Burness transferred to Harman-Ising in 1936 and to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 in 1938. He animated Tom and Jerry at MGM until 1945.

Burness worked briefly for Warner Brothers in 1948 and 1949, animating a number of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts. He left Warner to become a director for United Productions of America

United Productions of America

United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio of the 1940s through present day, beginning with industrial films and World War II training films. In the late 1940s, UPA produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures, most notably the Mr. Magoo series. In...

, animating the popular Mr. Magoo series. Two of his Mr. Magoo shorts, When Magoo Flew (1954) and Mr. Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956), won Academy Awards for Best Short Subject.

In 1958 Burness left UPA to join Jay Ward Productions

Jay Ward Productions

Jay Ward Productions was an Amercian animated television cartoon series production company, founded in 1949 by American animator Jay Ward. It made extensive use of limited animation techniques....

 as director of Rocky and his Friends and Hoppity Hooper

Hoppity Hooper

Hoppity Hooper is a 1964 animated television series produced by Jay Ward, originally broadcast on ABC and co-sponsored by General Mills and Topper Toys.-Series premise:...

. While working for Jay Ward he co-wrote and was hired to direct 1001 Arabian Nights, featuring Mr. Magoo. Following disputes with producer Stephen Bosustow

Stephen Bosustow

Stephen Reginald Bosustow was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of United Productions of America and produced nearly 600 cartoon and live action shorts. He is chiefly remembered for producing a string of Mr...

, he left the project and was replaced by Jack Kinney

Jack Kinney

Jack Ryan Kinney was an American animator, director and producer of animated shorts.Jack Kinney attended John Muir Junior High School in Los Angeles, California , and attended John C. Fremont High School there with Roy Williams...

.

Burness died of cancer in 1969.