John Lounsbery was an American animator and animation director from Cincinnati, Ohio. He eventually became one of "Disney's Nine Old Men", a group of senior animators who were in charge of the Walt Disney Animation Studios from approximately 1945 to 1977.
Born in Ohio, Lounsbery spent much of his childhood in Colorado. He attended the East Denver High School, then received art lessons at the Art Institute of Denver. He continued his art education in Los Angeles, taking lessons at the ArtCenter College of Design.
One of Lounsbery's college instructors arranged a job interview for him, as a prospective animator for the Disney studios. Lounsbery was hired in early July 1935 and was put to work as an uncredited assistant animator for the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937).
Lounsbery quickly became one of Disney's "star animators", due to his exceptional skill as a draftsman. His first major assignment was animating two of the villains in "Pinocchio" (1940),the conman duo of J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon. He served as one of the main animators in a ballet-themed segment of "Fantasia" (1940),the "Dance of the Hours". He was tasked with animating one of the main dancers of the segment, Ben Ali Gator.
Lounsbery made his debut as a directing animator in the feature film "Song of the South" (1946),an adaptation of the "Uncle Remus" stories of Joel Chandler Harris. His subsequent credits as a directing animator included the feature films "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947),"Melody Time" (1948),"The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949),"Cinderella" (1950),"Alice in Wonderland" (1951),"Peter Pan" (1953),"Lady and the Tramp" (1955),"Sleeping Beauty" (1959),"One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961),"The Sword in the Stone" (1963),"The Jungle Book" (1967),"The Aristocats" (1970),and "Robin Hood" (1973).
Lounsbery co-directed the anthology feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977),which was released a year following his death. It was his debut as a director. In the film, he was also the main animator for the depressed donkey Eeyore. At the time of his death in 1976, Lounsbery was working in the upcoming feature film "The Rescuers" (1977). He was one of the three credited directors of the film, though he did not live long enough to complete it.
On February 13, 1976, Lounsbery suffered a sudden heart attack while working. He died shortly after, at the age of 64. He died about a month before his 65th birthday. At the time, most of the other "Nine Old Men" were considering retirement and a new generation of animators were in training. Lounsbery was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Lounsbery was posthumously awarded with a "Winsor McCay Award" in 1986 and was named a "Disney Legend" in 1989. His work is still highly regarded by fans of classic animation, though he is possibly the least famous among "Disney's Nine Old Men".
