William Barnard "Bill" Justice was an American animator and engineer for the The Walt Disney Company. Justice joined Walt Disney Animation Studios as an animator in 1937 and worked on features, such as Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. He is arguably best known as the animator of the rabbit Thumper from Bambi and chipmunks Chip and Dale. He was the director of The Truth About Mother Goose, Noah's Ark, and A Symposium on Popular Songs, all of which were nominated for Academy Awards as Best Short Subject, Cartoon, and, the latter two, used Justice's unique style of stop-motion animation. In total, Justice worked on 57 shorts and 19 features.
In 1965, Justice joined Walt Disney Imagineering, where he programmed figures for several Disney attractions, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, and Mickey Mouse Revue. He retired from the company in 1979 and was named a Disney Legend in 1996. He is the author of Justice for Disney, which chronicles his years with the company.
Justice passed away from natural causes a day after his 97th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Kim; his daughter, Melissa; and a granddaughter.
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