Last July, Art Babbitt, the illustrious master animator, consented to appear at an ASIFA (Animation Association) meeting when he passed through New York City en route from a European vacation to his Hollywood home. An enthusiastic, respectful group of about fifty people crowded a small Park Avenue screening room attracted by the opportunity to see examples of the unrivaled animation Babbitt contributed to classic Disney and U.P.A, films and to hear the man himself discuss his work.
Babbitt arrived accompanied by his wife, the gifted actress Barbara Perry, who recently won rave reviews for her one-woman stage show in Los Angeles. Babbitt, who is 72 this year, appeared relaxed and in good spirits and he was immediately surrounded by several of the people who worked with him on the animated feature RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY three years ago. Like veterans of some distant war (the film was not, fora variety of reasons, a pleasant production experience), Babbitt and the other RAGGEDY survivors could now laugh and talk easily about it all.
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