The Persistence of Animation

Manuel Moreno: Animator/Director at Universal, 1929-1937

Abstract: The Universal cartoon studio, headed by Walter Lantz, employed the most significant Mexican-American animation artist of the 1930s: Manuel Moreno. He was chosen to be Walter Lantz’s own assistant director and then, by the mid-1930s, he became the director of the Meany, Miny, Moe cartoon series. He redesigned Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1936 and remained a figure of great creative authority at the studio, rising in stature alongside Tex Avery, yet Moreno’s contributions remain largely overlooked today.

Biographical Statement: Tom Klein is on the faculty at Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television, in Los Angeles, as an assistant professor teaching Animation. He catalogued the Walter Lantz studio archive while a graduate student at UCLA, and has since presented and published numerous articles on the Universal/Lantz cartoons. He has been a consultant to Universal Cartoon Studios and served as an Animation Director for many years at Vivendi-Universal Games.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 4:42 pm and is filed under American animation, Animation filmmakers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.