Vance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig, Sr. was a vaudeville American actor, voice actor, comedian, newspaper cartoonist, circus performer, screenwriter, and animator, who was the story man at Walt Disney Productions, perhaps better known for his voice work. His most famous for his Disney role was as the original voice of Goofy from 1932 to 1938, and again from 1941 until his death in 1967. He also provided the voices of Pluto from 1931 to 1961, Grumpy and Sleepy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Practical Pig in The Three Little Pigs, and other classic characters.
Born in Jacksonville, Oregon; one of seven children, he attended but did not graduate from Medford High School. However, Colvig was accepted and attended, sporadically from 1910 to 1913, Oregon Agricultural College, in Corvallis, where he took art classes and played clarinet in the band as well as drawing cartoons for the Oregon Agricultural College Barometer newspaper, and the yearbook.
From 1913 to 1922, Colvig worked as a cartoonist and in various performances outlets including the Al G. Barnes Circus before moving his family to Hollywood. Continuing work as animator and writer for different companies, Colvig eventually obtained an eight-year contract with Walt Disney Productions as a writer and sound effects artist. Between 1937 and 1940, Colvig did not work for the Disney studio, after falling out with Walt Disney and worked with Fleisher Studios such as the 1939 film, Gulliver's Travels before returning to Disney.
He also voiced other characters such as Bluto (Popeye the Sailor), the sounds of Jack Benny's Maxwell on The Jack Benny Program, a Munchkin in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, and Bozo the Clown for Capitol Records in which he played the role for a full decade, which also included portraying the character on television.
A lifelong smoker, Colvig was one of the pioneers in advocating warning labels about cancer risk on cigarette packages. He died of lung cancer in 1967 and was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
Disney writing credits
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1933 | Three Little Pigs | Writer and voice |
| 1935 | The Cookie Carnival | Writer and voice |
| 1935 | Music Land | Writer and voice |
| 1935 | Broken Toys | Writer and voice |
| 1937 | Mickey's Amateurs | Writer and voice |
| 1938 | Merbabies | Writer |
Disney Roles
(Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
(Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
(Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party)
(original 1933 dialogue)
(Trader Mickey)
(The Worm Turns)
(The Steeple Chase)
(Mickey's Garden)
(Elmer Elephant)
(Spare the Rod)
(Broken Toys)
(Three Blind Mouseketeers)
(Donald's Ostrich)
(Who Killed Cock Robin?)
Trivia
- Colvig was the original Bozo the Clown. He played the role of Bozo from 1946 to 1949.
- He posthumously became a Disney Legend in 1993 and was put in the Clown Hall of Fame in 2004.
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