Van Kaufman
Animator Van Kaufman joined the Disney Studio on June 6, 1938, after having studied at Chouinard. He worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo, as well as on the short Pluto’s Playmate. During World War II, along with Hank Porter, Roy Williams, Bill Justice, Ed Parks, and George Goepper, he was part of the small team that created more than 1,200 insignia. He left the Studio on November 20, 1942.
Mark Langer: Do you remember when and how you first heard about the making of Dumbo, that it was planned?
Van Kaufman: I do not. And some of that runs together in my mind. I did work in the Fergie [Norman Ferguson] unit for most of the animation part of my career there. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t until the last six, eight months before we all went into the armed services that I began to do work for [Wilfred] Jackson and other people. I worked with Dick Lundy on a movie. He and I were the sole—we did the whole picture together. But for most of my animation time, three years or better, I spent in the Fergie unit. I knew Fergie very well.
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Parent contents
- Parent entry
- 1 - Letters of Otto Englander (Otto Englander)
- 2 - Jack Campbell [biography] (Steven Hartley)
- 3 - Van Kaufman
- 4 - Ward Kimball (Mark Langer)
- 5 - Bill Hurtz (Mark Langer)
- 6 - Fini Rudiger-Littlejohn (Michael Barrier)
- 7 - Fini (Josephine) Rudiger-Littlejohn (Helmut G. Asper)
- 8 - Eric Gurney interview and letters to Eric Gurney (Random House)
- 9 - Wilfred Jackson (Dave Smith)
- 10 - Eric Larson (John Culhane)
- 11 - Burny Mattinson (EMC West)
- 12 - Letter by George Harding Foster to Harrison B. Kinney (George Harding Foster)
- 13 - Marc Davis (Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston)
- 14 - Claude Coats and Evie Coats (Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston)
- 15 - Wathel Rogers (Dave Smith)
- 16 - Bob Otto (Michael Broggie)
- 17 - Marvin Davis and Marjorie Davis (Michael Broggie, Gary Oakland)
- 18 - Marty Sklar (Chuck Schmidt)
- 19 - Marty Sklar (Michael Broggie)
- 20 - Joe Fowler (Jay Horan)
- 21 - Rock Hall (Jim Korkis)
- 22 - Pat Burke (Alain Littaye)