[…]
Jim Bodrero's illustrations started appearing in other people's books in the '20s. He also wrote and illustrated a couple of books of his own, most notably Bomba, a children's story about a donkey, in 1938. As for how he came to work for Walt Disney in that year, Bodrero tells that story himself at the beginning of the interview, where he drops one of the many famous names he really did know as friends. […]
At Disney's, Bodrero fit naturally in Joe Grant's model department, then a haven for gifted young artists like John P. Miller […] and Martin Provensen. The model department, initially a source of character designs for Pinocchio, had very quickly become a fountain of inspirational sketches, and Bodrero produced many such for the "Pastoral Symphony" segment of Fantasia. […]
