Don Lusk, one of the last remaining animators to have worked directly with Walt Disney, passed away at on Sun 30th Dec 2018 at a retirement home in San Clemente, California. He was 105.
Lusk was born on 28th Oct 1913 in Burbank, California. For many in the industry, his death is a sad herald of a closing chapter in the history of animation. He was one of the original animators to have worked on the Walt Disney Company’s very first production in 1937 – Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.
Between Snow White and the 101 Dalmatians, Disney produced 17 animation features. Lusk worked on 13 of these projects. In Pinocchio, he animated Figaro & Cleo. In Fantasia, he animated the Arabian Fish Dance. In Sleeping Beauty, he animated the pixie dust throwing scene between Merryweather & Flora. The Alice-falling-down-the-rabbit-hole scene in Alice in Wonderland was animated by Lusk. He also animated the scene in the 101 Dalmatians where the nanny runs out yelling for help into the streets after the puppies are stolen.
Lusk enjoyed an illustrious career at Disney that included working on some of their most coveted projects like Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, Song of the South, Peter Pan, Cinderella & the Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad.
In 1941, he was one of the 334 employees who held a strike to protest the working conditions at the studio. Fortunately for him, Lusk went onto have a long & a prosperous career at Disney in spite of his participation – one of only a handful of workers about whom the same can be said. However, he did suffer some short-term setbacks to his advancement within the company owing to his activities.
Shortly after the strike at Disney ended, World War II broke out. Lusk was drafted to serve as a Marine. We worked out of the training film unit in Quantico, Virginia. There, he worked alongside fellow animators such as Carl Fallberg, Pete Alvarado & Tom Codrick. After the war ended, he returned to work with Disney.
Don Lusk was one of the pioneers of the animation art form. He started working at Disney in 1933 – 4 years before the first ever animation release in the US. The techniques and methods developed by him continue to serve as blueprints to generations of animators who have come after him. While he may not have been one of the original nine Disney men fables about whom are now part of animation folklore, his work remains pivotal in the evolution of the industry & its modern transformation.
Lusk retired from animation work in 1993 at the age of 80. He is survived by his children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. In 2015, ASIFA-Hollywood conferred upon him the Winsor McCay Award for his lifetime contributions to the betterment of the Animation industry.
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