Movie Musings: Disney and More

Wolfgang Reitherman: Animator to Director

Like all Disney animators, Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman, always liked to draw. But unlike Disney animators, Reitherman initially was reluctant to work at Disney. He had heard that every animator at the studio had to draw the same character all the time. Thankfully, he joined Disney anyway…and did some great work!

Born in Munich, Germany on June 26th, 1909, Woolie Reitherman relocated with his family to America when he was a kid. He went to Pasadena Junior College and briefly worked as a draftsman for Douglas Aircraft before graduating from Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles. 

Wolfgang Reitherman started at Disney in 1933. After working on several shorts, including the Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band Concert (1935), he got his first major assignment as supervising animator of the Magic Mirror in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). It was a very challenging assignment, because he had to keep the face of the mirror in the exact same position for its entire appearance in the film. Four or five tries later, he finally came up with the final design for the film. Next he animated Monstro the Whale in Pinocchio (1940), the Dinosaur Fight Sequence in Fantasia (1940) and Timothy Q. Mouse in Dumbo (1941). In the 1950s he animated Tick-Tock the Crocodile in Peter Pan (1953) and Tramp in Lady and the Tramp (1955). The same year as “Lady and the Tramp,” he was officially promoted to director. 

His first directing assignment was a short called The Goofy Success Story (1955). He directed two other shorts after that called The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) and Aquamania (1961). The same year as “Aquamania,” he directed his first movie for the studio, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, co-directing the film with Clyde Geronimi and Hamilton Luske. Next he directed The Sword in the Stone (1963). His two older sons, Richard and Robert Reitherman shared the voice-over role of Wart/King Arthur with Rickie Sorensen in the film. 

He later cast his youngest son, Bruce, as the voice of Christopher Robin in the very first “Winnie the Pooh,” short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) and later as Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1967). His direction of the second “Winnie the Pooh,” short, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoons. Reitherman was also a huge fan of frequent Disney voice-over artist, Sterling Holloway, whom he directed on “Winnie the Pooh,” “The Jungle Book,” and “The Aristocats.” 

Besides all the films he directed with his sons, Woolie Reitherman also directed The Aristocats (1970), Robin Hood (1973), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) and The Rescuers (1977), which he co-directed with Art Stevens and fellow “Nine Old Men,” member John Lounsbery. Reitherman was also an innovator, with the creative idea of reusing animation from earlier films produced at the studio. In “Robin Hood,” there is a moment where the Houndog Blacksmith in Nottingham asks Maiden Marian for a dance. If you look closely at the scene, you notice that as the Blacksmith is escorting Marian to the dance floor the movements resemble that of Dopey escorting Snow White to dance when the dwarfs celebrate Snow White’s visit to their house in “Snow White.” In “The Rescuers,” the scene where Penny makes an escape attempt from Madame Medusa, the movements resemble that of Mowgli escaping Baloo in “The Jungle Book.” 

Woolie Reitherman’s final contribution to the studio was co-producing The Fox and the Hound (1981) again with Art Stevens and Walt Disney’s son-in-law, Ron Miller. He passed away in an unfortunate car accident on May 22nd, 1985, at the age of 75.

In addition to being a close friend, Wolfgang Reitherman was also a huge fan of Walt Disney and deeply respected him as an individual. He appreciated the fact the Walt was imaginative and creative, but at the same time, he was also very complex and career-driven. And when Walt passed away, no one was more confident that Disney animation could live on than Reitherman himself. He was determined to keep the team of animators together and did the very best he could do as a directing animator. While he didn’t work on a lot of projects for Disney other than the movies, he always managed to “keep flying through the air,” as he stayed true to heart of Disney Animation.