Sunday, September 1, 2013

Burny Mattison Honored at 2013 D23 Expo

Burny Mattison Honored at 2013 D23 Expo


At the 2013 D23 Expo, during the Art & Imagination: Animation at the Walt Disney Studios presentation Burny Mattison was called to the stage by John Lasseter. He was surprised as John called him up to honor him for his 60 years of service to the Walt Disney Studios! John asked Burney to share a story he had told him about how he got his start at the Disney Studio in 1953.

Burney shared how he had just graduated from High School the day before and his mother asked him what he was going to do. Burney replied, “I love to draw and I want to work at the Disney Studio!” His mother took him to the studio gate the next morning and dropped him off saying she would be back in one hour to pick him up!

He walked up to the studio gates and was stopped by the security guard. The guard asked him the reason for his visit. Burney confidently said he wanted to apply for a job as an animator! The guard asked him if he had an appointment. No appointment! The guard asked if he knew anybody that worked at the studio. Again the answer was no! The security guard told him he would have to leave and call and make an appointment to apply.

Burny still had to wait for his mother to return to pick him up. The security guard invited him to stand inside his gate booth in the shade. After some time the guard asked if he had a portfolio with him. Burny handed over his few drawings to his new friend Pappe the security guard. Pappe looked at the pictures sometimes saying, “nice color”, “well drawn”, and “that’s interesting.” He then picked up the phone calling the head of Human Resources of the studio. He told the person they needed to look at this kids pictures because they were good. So off Burny went to see the people in HR.

After seeing the pictures the head of human resources told Burny there were no openings in the animation department at that time but the “Traffic Department” (mail room) had an opening! Burney jumped at the job!

Soon Burney was being called by Walt’s secretary, Dolores every Friday at 3 pm to run an errand for Walt Disney himself. Every Friday Walt would hand him a personal check for $300 and have him go cash it. Burny would run to the payroll department to cash the check for Walt. Walt called it his weekend spending money. Today Burny wishes he had given Walt $300 of his own money and kept the check! That signature would be worth a lot toay!

Look at his bio on Wiki to see what happened to him next!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Burny Mattinson
Born:               Burnett Mattinson
                        May 13th, 1935 (age 78)
                        San Francisco, Ca, United States
Occupation                  Screenwriter, Animator, Film Director, Producer
Years Active    1955-Present
Spouse                        Sylvia Mattinson

Burnett "Burny" Mattinson (born May 13, 1935) is an American story-boarder for the Disney Feature Animation studio. Starting work in 1953, Burny has been, and still is part of Disney today. Mattinson was honored as an inductee of the Disney Legends program in 2008.[1]

Early
Mattinson was born in San Francisco in 1935. His father, Bernie Mattinson, was a jazz drummer who starred with the Horace Heidt big band and, later, was a recording session drummer for Elvis Presley among many others. In 1945, the family moved to Los Angeles, once his fathers Band ended. A few years before, Mattinson was inspired by the 1940 film Pinocchio, Mattinson became enamored of animation and practiced by drawing Disney characters throughout his school years. After graduating high school, Mattinson took a job in "Traffic" (mail room) at Disney Studios (1953), hoping to someday pursue a career as an animator, and maybe get the chance to actually meet some animators.
Career
Later,[2] Mattinson began as a "inbetweener"(a person who draws pictures to fill-in the key-frames), and soon started on the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp. He worked as an assistant on Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians. Mattinson then worked as an assistant to Eric Larson on The Sword and the StoneMary PoppinsThe Jungle Book and The Aristocats, and became a character animator on Robin Hood and Winnie the Pooh.
Mattinson was a storyboard artist for the 1977 film The Rescuers. He also has story credits for The Fox and the Hound (1981)The Great Mouse Detective (1986)The Black Cauldron(1985)Beauty and the Beast (1991)Aladdin(1992)The Lion King(1994) and Mickey's Christmas Carol(1983).
Mattinson produced and directed Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Great Mouse Detective.
In 2008, Mattinson was awarded the Disney Legends award, he also began working as Story Supervisor on the 2011 Winnie the Pooh reboot.
On March 24, 2011, Mattinson announced that he was pitching an idea for a full-length animated feature with Mickey Mouse as the main protagonist.[3] If greenlit, it may become an installment in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series.
Filmography
Film
Year
Title
Role
1967
story artist
1973
character animator
1977
animator
story
1981
story
1985
additional story contributions
1986
writer/director/producer
1988
special thanks
1991
story
1992
story
1994
story
1995
story
1996
storyboard artist
1998
story
1999
story
2011
story supervisor
Personal
Mattinson married Sylvia Fry, who also worked as an in-between artist on the Disney film Sleeping Beauty. They have three children. Sylvia Mattinson has also worked as an animator on films such as The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron.


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