Hal King was an American animator, notable for his work at Walt Disney Studios.
King started out like many of his contemporaries as an in-betweener on shorts in the late 1930s before moving to features, like Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, and The Three Caballeros. By the early 1940s, King started working as a full-fledged animator on the Donald Duck series. Many of them were geared towards World War 2 and Hal’s first credit was on wartime cartoon Donald Gets Drafted, directed by Jack King. He also was animating on the postwar package features, such as Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
When working started on Cinderella, Disney’s return to feature-length storytelling in animation, King was brought up to feature-film talent status. He animated some of the mice, especially the girl mice in the song sequence, as well as scenes of the Duke including in the famous ending sequence where Cinderella puts on the glass slipper, bringing the physical emotions of the character. This is a similar trait he would use again in Lady and the Tramp, when Lady learns of Tramp past girlfriends.
He continued to animate other films for the company and served as a great mentor to future animators, like Dale Baer and Ted Kierscey, until after Robin Hood, when his health issues forced him to retire. He briefly returned in the 1980s to help animate the shows Adventures of the Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles before passing away in 1986. King didn’t have much contact with either students or the studio before his passing.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Pinocchio | assistant animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | The Riveter | animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | Tugboat Mickey | animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | Put-Put Troubles | animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | Donald's Vacation | animator |
| 1940 | Pluto's Dream House | animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | Window Cleaners | animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip | animator - uncredited |
| 1940 | Fantasia | assistant animator - segment "The Pastoral Symphony", uncredited |
| 1940 | The Fire Chief | animator - uncredited |
| 1941 | Timber | animator - uncredited |
| 1941 | Pluto's Playmate | animator - uncredited |
| 1941 | A Gentleman's Gentleman | animator - uncredited |
| 1941 | Canine Caddy | animator - uncredited |
| 1941 | The Nifty Nineties | animator - uncredited |
| 1941 | Early to Bed | animator |
| 1941 | Dumbo | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Mickey's Birthday Party | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Symphony Hour | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Donald's Snow Fight | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Donald Gets Drafted | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Bambi | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | The Vanishing Private | animator |
| 1942 | How to Swim | animator - uncredited |
| 1942 | Bellboy Donald | animator |
| 1943 | Fall Out-Fall In | animator |
| 1943 | The Old Army Game | animator |
| 1943 | Home Defense | animator |
| 1944 | How to Be a Sailor | animator - uncredited |
| 1944 | Trombone Trouble | animator - uncredited |
| 1944 | Contrary Condor | animator - uncredited |
| 1944 | Commando Duck | animator - uncredited |
| 1944 | Springtime for Pluto | animator - uncredited |
| 1944 | First Aiders | animator - uncredited |
| 1944 | The Three Caballeros | animator |
| 1945 | Duck Pimples | animator |
| 1945 | Hockey Homicide | animator |
| 1946 | Make Mine Music | animator: "Willie the Operatic Whale" "All the Cats Join In" "The Martins and the Coys" |
| 1946 | Wet Paint | animator |
| 1946 | Lighthouse Keeping | animator |
| 1946 | Defense Against Invasion | animator - uncredited |
| 1946 | Song of the South | animator |
| 1947 | Clown of the Jungle | animator |
| 1947 | Donald's Dilemma | animator - uncredited |
| 1947 | Fun and Fancy Free | character animator: "Bongo" |
| 1947 | Mickey's Delayed Date | animator - uncredited |
| 1948 | Mickey Down Under | animator - uncredited |
| 1948 | Melody Time | character animator animator: "Once Upon a Wintertime" "Blame It on the Samba" |
| 1948 | Pluto's Purchase | animator - uncredited |
| 1948 | So Dear to My Heart | animator |
| 1949 | Pueblo Pluto | animator - uncredited |
| 1949 | Pluto's Sweater | animator - uncredited |
| 1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | character animator "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" animator |
| 1949 | Slide, Donald, Slide | animator - uncredited |
| 1950 | Pluto and the Gopher | animator - uncredited |
| 1950 | Cinderella | character animator: Mice |
| 1951 | Dude Duck | animator - uncredited |
| 1951 | Plutopia | animator - uncredited |
| 1951 | Test Pilot Donald | animator |
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | character animator |
| 1951 | R'Coon Dawg | animator - uncredited |
| 1952 | Susie the Little Blue Coupe | animator |
| 1952 | Pluto's Party | animator - uncredited |
| 1952 | Pluto's Christmas Tree | animator - uncredited |
| 1953 | Peter Pan | character animator |
| 1953 | The Simple Things | animator - uncredited |
| 1953 | Ben and Me | animator |
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp | directing animator |
| 1957-1968 | The Magical World of Disney | animator |
| 1959 | Sleeping Beauty | character animator |
| 1960 | Goliath II | character animator |
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | character animator |
| 1961 | Donald and the Wheel | animator |
| 1963 | The Sword in the Stone | character animator |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | character animator |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | character animator |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | animator |
| 1973 | Robin Hood | character animator |
| 1977 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | animator: "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" |
| 1985 | The Wuzzles | animator - uncredited |
| 1985-1986 | Adventures of the Gummi Bears | animator - uncredited |
Gallery[]
