GEORGE WHEELER
Amazing Animators No. 4
GEORGE WHEELER
George S. Wheeler nasce il 27 ottobre 1919 nel Massachusetts. È figlio di Burton e Isabella Wheeler ed ha un fratello minore, Burton (nato nel 1921). Risiede con la famiglia a Rockland Town, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Frequenta il college per due anni, poi si dedica all’attività artistica.
Il 17 ottobre 1942 viene richiamato alle armi a Boston con il grado di soldato semplice in Aviazione.
Trasferitosi in California, intorno al 1950 entra allo Studio Disney come intercalatore dell’animazione.
Nel 1954 è allo studio Storyboard, Inc. di John e Faith Hubley, dove contribuisce a vari cortometraggi pubblicitari.
Nel 1954-55 illustra alcuni libri disneyani pubblicati dalla Western Printing con etichetta Whitman.
Tra il marzo 1955 e il 1972 disegna per la Disney la vignetta quotidiana True Life Adventures, scritta da Dick Huemer e ispirata all’omonima serie di documentari, nota in Italia come La natura e le sue meraviglie. Apparentemente, il suo unico lavoro per i comic books è la breve storia Young Paul Revere, apparsa su Walt Disney Comics Digest nel 1975.
Mentre continua ancora a disegnare True Life Adventures, nel 1968 torna all’animazione con la Playhouse Pictures, creando il design per lo special The Night Before Christmas. Nel 1969 passa alla Pantomime Pictures, dove contribuisce ai layouts della serie Sky Hawks. Passa poi allo studio Hanna-Barbera, realizzando layouts per diverse serie animate televisive quali The Harlem Globetrotters e The Pebbles and Bamm Bamm Show. Nel 1972 lascia temporaneamente Hanna-Barbera per lavorare all’animazione della serie Lassie’s Rescue Rangers e contribuire ai layouts di special televisivi quali Treasure Island e Oliver Twist presso la Filmation Associates. Nel 1974-75 è layout artist e graphic designer presso Chuck Jones Enterprises e De Patie-Freleng. Nel 1975 è di nuovo da Hanna-Barbera, come layout man e character designer di serie quali Dynomutt Dog Wonder, Scooby’s All-Stars e Godzilla. Lascia l’animazione nel 1979.
Wheeler scompare a New York l’8 gennaio 1989.
George S. Wheeler was born October 27, 1919 in Massachusetts. The elder son of Burton and Isabella Wheeler, he lived in Rockland Town, Plymouth, Massachusetts, with his parents and his younger brother Burton (born in 1921).
After attending college for two years, he started his art career.
Wheeler was drafted on October 17, 1942 in Boston and was a private in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
Back to civil life, he moved to California and joined the Disney Studio as an inbetweener around 1950.
In 1954 he was at John and Faith Hubley’s Storyboard, Inc. studio, contributing to several animated commercials.
During 1954-55 he illustrated a few Disney children’s books published by Western Printing under the Whitman label.
Between March 1955 and April 1972 he drew and lettered the Disney daily panel True Life Adventures, written by Dick Huemer and inspired by the celebrated series of wildlife documentary films. Apparently, his only comic book work was a short story entitled Young Paul Revere, which appeared in Gold Key’s Walt Disney Comics Digest in 1975.
While still drawing True Life Adventures, he went back to animation in 1968 with Playhouse Pictures, where he was production designer on the special cartoon, The Night Before Christmas. In 1969 he moved to Pantomime Pictures, contributing layouts to the Sky Hawks TV series. He then went to work at Hanna-Barbera, where he drew layouts for various animated TV series such as The Harlem Globetrotters and The Pebbles and Bamm Bamm Show. He temporaily left Hanna-Barbera in 1972 to go to Filmation Associates and animate on Lassie’s Rescue Rangers and draw layouts for such TV specials as Treasure Island and Oliver Twist. During 1974-75 he was a layout artist and graphic designer at Chuck Jones Enterprises and De Patie-Freleng. In 1975 he was again at Hanna-Barbera, as a layout man and character designer on such Saturday morning cartoons as Dynomutt Dog Wonder, Scooby’s All-Stars, and Godzilla. He left the animation field in 1979.
Wheeler passed away January 8, 1989 in New York.
Layout by Wheeler and Oscar Dufau
FILMOGRAFIA / FILMOGRAPHY
Studio: DISNEY c. 1950-1953
Intercalatore / Inbetweener
Studio: STORYBOARD, INC. c. 1954-55
Animatore / Animator
TV Commercials
Studio: PLAYHOUSE PICTURES
Production Designer
00/12/1968 The Night Before Christmas [TV Special]
Studio: PANTOMINE PICTURES
Layouts
06/09/1969-04/09/1971 Skyhawks [TV Series]
Studio: FILMATION ASSOCIATES
Layouts
00/00/1973 Treasure Island [TV Special]
08/09/1973-00/00/1973 My Favorite Martians [TV Series]
08/09/1973-00/00/1973 Mission: Magic! [TV Series]
08/09/1973-00/00/1973 Lassie’s Rescue Rangers [TV Series]
08/09/1973-12/10/1974 Star Trek [TV Series, 22 episodes]
00/00/1974 Oliver Twist [TV Special]
Studio: HANNA-BARBERA
Layouts
00/00/1969 A Fair Day for Tooly [TV Series: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour]
12/09/1970-00/00/1970 The Harlem Globe Trotters [TV Series]
11/09/1971-00/00/1971 The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show [TV Series]
04/10/1972 The Last of the Curlews [TV Series: ABC Afterschool Specials]
01/03/1973 Charlotte’s Web [Feature]
11/09/1976-18/12/1976 The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour [TV Series, 16 episodes]
07/12/1977 A Flintstone Christmas [TV Special]
10/09/1977-16/12/1977 The All-New Super Friends Hour [TV Series, 15 episodes]
10/09/1977-00/00/1977 The Skatebirds [TV Series]
03/06/1978-02/09/1978 Dynomutt, Dog Wonder [TV Series]
Character Designer
09/09/1978-00/00/1978 Scooby’s All Stars [TV Series]
09/09/1978-28/10/1978 Jana of the Jungle [TV series: The Godzilla Power Hour]
09/09/1978-03/11/1979 Godzilla [TV series, 21 episodes]
10/11/1979-08/12/1979 The Godzilla/Globetrotters Adventure Hour [TV Series, 5 episodes]
Studio: CHUCK JONES ENTERPRISES
Layouts
09/01/1975 Rikki-Tikki-Tavi [TV short]
16/01/1975 Yankee Doodle Cricket [TV Special]
Studio: DE PATIE-FRELENG
Graphic designer
06/09/1975-29/11/1975 Return to the Planet of the Apes [TV Series, 13 episodes]
FUMETTOGRAFIA / COMICOGRAPHY
COMIC BOOKS
Editore/Publisher: GOLD KEY (aka WESTERN PUBLISHING)
Young Paul Revere – Walt Disney Comics Digest #53 (1975).
FUMETTI PER QUOTIDIANI / NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS
Editore/Publisher: WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS/KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC.
True Life Adventures – Vignetta quotidiana / Daily panel: Matite e chine / Pencils and inks Mar 14 1955-Apr 14 1973.
ILLUSTRAZIONI PER LIBRI / BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS
Editore/Publisher: WHITMAN (aka WESTERN PUBLISHING)
Cozy Corner Book – Donald Duck in Help Wanted #2406 (1955).
Tell-a-Tale – Cinderella #964 (1954) [Ristampe / Reprints: #2604, #2427-2, #2456-32].
Editore/Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER (aka GOLDEN PRESS, WESTERN PUBLISHING)
A Little Golden Book – Donald Duck’s Safety Book #D41 (1954) [Matite/Pencils: Manuel Gonzales, Colori/Colors: George Wheeler].
