Julius Svendsen was a Disney animator and story artist, as well as the father of fellow Disney Imagineer, Julie Svendsen. His wife, Carol Joyner was also an employee and fellow collaborator in the Ink and Painting Department.
Svendsen was born in Norway, but his family emigrated and settled in New York in 1923. starting as an artist at Disney around 1940 but briefly left serve in the U.S. army during World War II from 1942 to 1945. Upon returning to the studio, he worked on films and theatrical shorts with Ward Kimball such as Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, Man and the Moon, Mars and Beyond, and Man in Space. He also drew for the Disney newspaper with the Disney Treasure Tales comic strips. He did 'The Seven Dwarfs and the Witch-Queen', that appeared in the American Sunday papers from 2 March to 27 April 1958. Later that year, he did a Sunday strip with 'Sleeping Beauty' (3 August to 28 December). Both were written by Floyd Gottfredson. From 1 June 1959 to 17 March 1962, he did the 'Mickey Mouse' daily with text by Roy Williams. Films he would contribute to in the animation department include Peter Pan, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Aristocats, the animated sequences of Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks', and worked on scripts for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day and Robin Hood.
He also drew for the publisher Dell, of comics featuring Walt Disney characters in the late 1940s. Like many artists Mary Blair, John Hench, and Bill Justice, he worked freelance on animating books related to characters from Walt Disney cartoons like "The Seven Dwarfs Find a House," "Mickey Mouse Club Stamp Book," "Mickey Mouse Flies the Christmas Mail," "Mickey Mouse and the Missing Mouseketeers", and three Sleeping Beauty children's books from the Golden Book collection by publisher Simon & Schuster.
Svendsen died in a boating accident in Granada Hills, California in 1971. His wife died a few years later, but their co-collaborative effort, "Hulda," a 28-page two-handed booklet, while he was recovering for two months at home following back surgery was published in 1974. Carol had provided the script, Julius the illustration. It was ranked #1 on Best Sellers.
Disney Filmography
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | animator - uncredited |
| 1953 | Peter Pan | animator - uncredited |
| 1953 | Melody | animator |
| 1953 | Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom | animator |
| 1954 | Grand Canyonscope | animator |
| 1955-1968 | The Magical World of Disney | animator |
| 1959 | Eyes in Outer Space | animator |
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | character animator |
| 1961 | The Saga of Windwagon Smith | animator |
| 1962 | A Symposium on Popular Songs | animator |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins | animator - uncredited |
| 1967 | Scrooge McDuck and Money | animator |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | story character animator |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | animator |
| 1973 | Robin Hood | Posthumous release - story sequences |
| 1977 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | Posthumous Release - story: "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" |
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