Once Upon A Time In New York City
Oliver & Company Animator Dave Pruiksma
Please, welcome… The King of Cute! Well, animator Dave Pruiksma, of course! A title that seems particularly appropriate in that over the past 20 years Pruiksma has been cast on some of the more adorable characters to come out of the Disney menagerie.
Dave Pruiksma had the usual interest in animation from an early age. Growing up in the Virginia suburbs, just minutes from the heart of Washington D.C., he was first influenced by early television cartoons, but remembers being really “blown away” by the 1964 television broadcast of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. It was then that Pruiksma decided what his life’s vocation would be. Dave drew constantly through school, eventually making his own series of Super-8 films. Upon graduating from High School in 1975 he was accepted into the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn N.Y. where he received a very solid formal Art and Film training for two years.
He was one of a handful of students selected to work on a theatrical film project (based on a Bertholt Brecht play) that was being done at the school by veteran puppet animator Lou Bunin. Still, Dave felt that he wasn’t getting the training he needed to become a professional animator. His instructors recognized his ability and suggested a move to Los Angeles, where the animation industry was based. He applied to California Institute of the Arts and was accepted into their Character Animation program starting in the Fall of 1979.
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Persons
Jérémie Noyer (author)David Pruiksma (interviewee)
Ruben Aquino (reference)
James Baxter (reference)
Chris Buck (reference)
Ron Clements (reference)
Andreas Deja (reference)
Ken Duncan (reference)
Will Finn (reference)
Mike Gabriel (reference)
Eric Goldberg (reference)
Don Hahn (reference)
Jack Hannah (reference)
T. Hee (reference)
Mark Henn (reference)
Glen Keane (reference)
Angela Lansbury (reference)
Eric Larson (reference)
John Lasseter (reference)
John Musker (reference)
Ken O’Connor (reference)
Nik Ranieri (reference)
George Scribner (reference)
Barry Temple (reference)
Gary Trousdale (reference)
Kirk Wise (reference)
Keywords
101 Dalmatians (1961)3D
Aladdin (1992)
Alice
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Animation
Anniversary
Ariel
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
California
California Institute of the Arts
Christmas
Cinderella (1950)
Computer Generated Imagery
Cranium Command
Design
Enchanted (2007)
EPCOT
Hawaii
Hercules (1997)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Mad Tea Party
Mickey Mouse
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
Mr. Toad
Nine Old Men
Oliver & Company (1988)
Peter Pan (1953)
Pocahontas (1995)
Research
Silly Symphonies
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Studio
TEA
Technicolor
Television
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
The Disney Look
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
The Rescuers (1977)
The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
The Three Caballeros (1944)
Ursula
Walt Disney Archives