David Dodd Hand (January 23, 1900 â€" October 11, 1986) was an
animator and animation filmmaker, best known for his work at Walt
Disney Productions. Hand worked on numerous Disney shorts during the
1930s, eventually becoming supervising director on the animated
features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi.Born in Plainfield,
New Jersey, Hand began his animation career working on the Out of the
Inkwell cartoons throughout the 1920s. He joined the Disney studio in
1930, during a major drive by Disney to recruit from the cream of
animating talent. Hand immediately made his mark as an animator,
contributing to mostly to Silly Symphonies such as Midnight in a Toy
Shop, The China Plate and Egyptian Melodies.By 1932 he was regarded as
one of Disney's top animators (despite some complaints that his work
was "too mechanical"). as well as having become a close friend of Walt
Disney. Hand's organizational skills made Disney select him to be the
studio's third director after Burt Gillett and Wilfred Jackson. He
made his directorial debut for the company with the Mickey Mouse short
Building a Building, and went on to direct both Silly Symphony and
Mickey Mouse shorts, including The Flying Mouse, Who Killed Cock
Robin?, Three Orphan Kittens and Thru the Mirror. By the late 1930s
Hand's management skills had allowed him to ascend in the hierarchy of
the Studio to functioning as Disney's right-hand man. But as historian
Michael Barrier notes "Hand's position was fundamentally
untenableâ€"he was second in command in an organization whose leader,
younger than Hand himself, had no intention of ever stepping aside or
sharing real power."After leaving Disney in 1944, Hand went to England
and for J. Arthur Rank established Gaumont British Animation at Moor
Hall in 1946 to produce the Animaland and Musical Paintbox cartoon
series. When these were unable to get distribution in the United
States, the studio closed in 1950 and Hand moved to Colorado where he
worked for the next 18 years at the Alexander Film Company, a maker of
commercials and industrial films. The closure also put an end to the
studio's plans to produce two animated features adapted from H. G.
Wells' "The First Men in the Moon" and Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of
the Snark" as well.
animator and animation filmmaker, best known for his work at Walt
Disney Productions. Hand worked on numerous Disney shorts during the
1930s, eventually becoming supervising director on the animated
features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi.Born in Plainfield,
New Jersey, Hand began his animation career working on the Out of the
Inkwell cartoons throughout the 1920s. He joined the Disney studio in
1930, during a major drive by Disney to recruit from the cream of
animating talent. Hand immediately made his mark as an animator,
contributing to mostly to Silly Symphonies such as Midnight in a Toy
Shop, The China Plate and Egyptian Melodies.By 1932 he was regarded as
one of Disney's top animators (despite some complaints that his work
was "too mechanical"). as well as having become a close friend of Walt
Disney. Hand's organizational skills made Disney select him to be the
studio's third director after Burt Gillett and Wilfred Jackson. He
made his directorial debut for the company with the Mickey Mouse short
Building a Building, and went on to direct both Silly Symphony and
Mickey Mouse shorts, including The Flying Mouse, Who Killed Cock
Robin?, Three Orphan Kittens and Thru the Mirror. By the late 1930s
Hand's management skills had allowed him to ascend in the hierarchy of
the Studio to functioning as Disney's right-hand man. But as historian
Michael Barrier notes "Hand's position was fundamentally
untenableâ€"he was second in command in an organization whose leader,
younger than Hand himself, had no intention of ever stepping aside or
sharing real power."After leaving Disney in 1944, Hand went to England
and for J. Arthur Rank established Gaumont British Animation at Moor
Hall in 1946 to produce the Animaland and Musical Paintbox cartoon
series. When these were unable to get distribution in the United
States, the studio closed in 1950 and Hand moved to Colorado where he
worked for the next 18 years at the Alexander Film Company, a maker of
commercials and industrial films. The closure also put an end to the
studio's plans to produce two animated features adapted from H. G.
Wells' "The First Men in the Moon" and Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of
the Snark" as well.
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