Bob Givens began his career in animation immediately after high school as an animation checker and 'in-betweener' working primarily for Grim Natwick at Disney studios in 1937.
He honed his drawing skills in subsequent years by attending night classes at the Chouinard Art Institute and the New York Art Students League.
In 1940, Bob moved to Leon Schlesinger's animation unit at Warner Brothers as a layout and storyboard artist.
He is famously credited with creating early model sheets for Bugs Bunny, which significantly improved upon Ben Hardaway's original designs.
Bob's refined design, with additional refinements by Tex Avery, became the blueprint for future incarnations of the character.
His work was initially featured in the cartoon A Wild Hare (1940),which also established the personalities of both Bugs and his arch-nemesis Elmer Fudd.
In 1942, Bob was drafted into the army and spent the war years creating military training films at Culver City under the direction of Rudolf Ising, one of the original creators of Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies.
After the war, Bob returned to 'Termite Terrace' and worked mainly as a layout artist for Robert McKimson and Chuck Jones.
From 1954 onwards, he freelanced at various animation studios, including U.P.A., Hanna-Barbera, and DePatie-Freleng, and also created graphics for numerous Western Publishing comics and children's books.
Bob Givens retired in 2001, after a six and a half decade career in animation, and was that year awarded the prestigious Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement.
Biography:
Bob Givens was a renowned American animator, layout artist, and storyboard artist who had a remarkable career spanning over six and a half decades.
