Thomas McKimson(1907-1998)
- Animation Department
- Director
The oldest of the three talented McKimson brothers began his career
with Disney in 1928, assistant to
Norman Ferguson. His next
sojourn was with the fledgling animation team of
Hugh Harman and
Rudolf Ising, who went on to inaugurate the
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Brothers, under
the auspices of Leon Schlesinger.
Harman and Ising eventually moved on after a dispute over money, while
Tom stayed on as animator and layout artist with
Robert Clampett's unit at Schlesinger's
'Termite Terrace'. Tom was instrumental in developing the Bugs Bunny
character and is credited with creating the characters of Tweetie Pie
and Beaky Buzzard. From 1947 until his retirement in 1972, Tom worked
for Dell Comics/Western Publishing as art director and illustrator,
creating drawings for Bugs Bunny and Road Runner comic strips and
colouring books. Along with younger brother Charles (who joined Dell in
1954), Tom also created and illustrated the
Roy Rogers Daily Comic Strip.
