Eric Larson

Eric Larson was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933 and was one of the "Disney's Nine Old Men".

He worked on such films as Snow White, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, and The Jungle Book.

In 1973, he began a recruitment training program that brought a new generation of animators into the Disney studio. Many of well-known figures in animation today went through Larson's training program, including Brad Bird, Don Bluth, Chris Buck, Tim Burton, Randy Cartwright, Ron Clements, Andreas Deja, Gary Goldman, Dan Haskett, Glen Keane, Bill Kroyer, John Lasseter, John Musker, Phil Nibbelink, Richard Rich, John Pomeroy, Joe Ranft, Jerry Rees, Henry Selick, and Tad Stones among many others.

He retired from Disney in September 1986, after he finished working on The Great Mouse Detective, and died two years later.