Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman
German-born Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman was the second Nine Old Men to be highlighted during the presentation and joined The Walt Disney Studios in 1933. Woolie shared this in regards to his love for animation, “It was a romance from the start. The minute you know you can make a drawing move, the static drawing loses its appeal: movement is life.”
Woolie contributed his animation efforts to many different Disney classics…
…until becoming the first animator to direct an entire feature film for the Studios, starting with the Disney classic The Sword in the Stone.
His directorial efforts continued with Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, and “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” before retiring in 1981 and losing his life in a car accident in 1985.
