Walt Stanchfield was an American animator, writer, and teacher. Stanchfield is known for work on a series of classic animated feature films at Walt Disney Productions/Walt Disney Feature Animation and his mentoring of Disney animators.
Walter Stanchfield was born in 1919 in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from high school in 1937, Stanchfield worked as an animator at the Charles Mintz Studio. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy. Returning to California, he briefly worked at the Walter Lantz Studio before joining Walt Disney Productions to work on the full-length animated feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad in 1947. His career included work on every subsequent Disney animated feature including his work as a character animator on The Jungle Book and The Aristocats. His final film for Disney was Oliver & Company in 1988. In 1987, Stanchfield served as the animation consultant on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
In the 1970s, Stanchfield and Eric Larson created a training program for new animators at Disney studios. The program included weekly drawing classes and lectures. Stanchfied's students included numerous prominent animators, such as Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Don Bluth, Joe Ranft, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, and Mark Henn.
In 2009, Stanchfield's lecture notes were compiled into the two-volume set Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes
Disney Filmography
| Year | Film | Position |
| 1966 | Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree | Animator |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | Character Animator |
| 1968 | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day | Animator |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | Character Animator |
| 1977 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | Animator |
| 1977 | The Rescuers | Key Assistant Animator |
| 1978 | The Small One | Assistant Animation Supervisor |
| 1981 | The Fox and the Hound | Coordinating Animator |
| 1983 | Mickey's Christmas Carol | The Creative Talent Of |
| 1985 | The Black Cauldron | Coordinating Animator |
| 1986 | The Great Mouse Detective | Coordinating Animator |
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Animation Consultant |
| 1988 | Oliver & Company | Production Consultant |
| 2001 | Atlantis: The Lost Empire | Special Thanks |
