Les Clark: The Other Man Behind the Mouse
You might remember from some of my other blogs that I’ve acknowledged some of the top animators at Disney Studios throughout Walt Disney’s time, otherwise known as Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. Each of the “Nine Old Men,” made unique contributions to the studio, and their influence on animation continues. Though I haven’t shared the stories of all nine of the men just yet, today I’d like to tell you about one who drew many classic Disney characters—including Mickey Mouse,—and was the first of the “Nine Old Men,” to be hired at the studio: Les Clark.
Leslie James “Les” Clark was born in Ogden, Utah on November 17th, 1907. His family relocated Los Angeles in the mid-1920’s where he attended Venice High School. While there, he worked a summer job at an ice cream shop near the Walt Disney Studios, where he designed the lettering of the menus. Walt and Roy Disney regularly visited the ice cream shop and Walt immediately became intrigued by Les’s drawing gift when he saw the ice cream menus, complimenting him on his work. Les was moved by the compliment and although nervous, he asked Walt for a job. Walt replied, “Bring some of your drawings in and let’s see what they look like.” He brought in freehand copies of cartoons that he had created in college, and Walt said that he admired Les’s “swift, deft graphic line,” and hired him, though he said at the time that the job might only be temporary. Little did they know at the time that Les’s employment at the studio would last for nearly half a century.
Les Clark’s first job at Disney was as camera operator on the “Alice” Comedies and doing ink and paint on the animations. In addition to working at the studio, he also attended art classes there to improve his skills. Walt Disney’s long-term business partner, Ub Iwerks, became Clark’s mentor, and the mentorship earned Clark a job as an “inbetweener” on the short, Steamboat Willie (1928). When Iwerks left the studio, in 1930, Clark was officially promoted to animator and he became the full-time animator of Mickey Mouse. When he started Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt assigned Les to animate the dwarfs, and one of the best examples of Clark’s work at Disney is the scene in “Snow White” where she dances with each of the Seven Dwarfs. In 1940, when Pinocchio and Fantasia were in production at Disney, Les Clark worked as an animator on the character of Pinocchio and he animated the Nutcracker Suite and Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequences on Fantasia. “Nutcracker Suite,” and “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” along with the dance scene in “Snow White,” underscore what makes Les Clark special from the other “Nine Old Men,” because he became known at Disney for his unique ability to time animation to musical score as well as depicting emotion in his work.
He made his debut as a directing animator in Song of the South in 1946. Throughout the 1950s he animated many leading ladies at the studio, including Cinderella in Cinderella (1950), Alice in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Tinker Bell in Peter Pan (1953) and Aurora/Sleeping Beauty in Sleeping Beauty (1959). In addition to the feature length films, Clark also applied his talents to short films: Plutotopia (1951), The Little House (1952), and Ben and Me (1953). He animated Anita Radcliffe and the Dalmatian Puppies in 101 Dalmatians (1961) and worked on several episodes of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1961-1969).
Les Clark remained a faithful employee at the Walt Disney Studios until he retired in 1975. Having worked at Disney from 1927-1975, he earned the title of “longest continuously employed member of Walt Disney Productions.” He made uncredited animation contributions to Robin Hood (1973) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), before he passed away in Santa Barbara, California on September 12th, 1979 at the age of 71. Les Clark’s contributions to the Walt Disney Studios are not only special, but they are vastly underrated, given his amazing contributions to movies that captured audiences everywhere.
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