Grim Natwick – The Creator of Betty Boop

July 6, 2006 · Filed Under Animation Stars 

It’s about time the Dimples team got back to good ol’ black and white, hand-drawn, vintage animation. And, there’s no better way to get there than with Grim Natwick, one of the greatest animators that ever lived.

Natwick was a master of every style imaginable. In his long career he worked for Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney where he animated Snow White and the immortal Mickey Mouse as seen in Fantasia, Walter Lantz, UPA and the Richard Williams crew. How was it possible for one person to excel and dominate so many different animation styles? Like many super successful hard working artists, Mr. Natwick lived a very long time. Read this interview done when he was 97 years old. He’s as sharp as any young man in his mid-twenties could hope to be. What a marvel! He lived to be over 100 years old.
His given name was actually Myron but he earned the name Grim for being perpetually upbeat. He was a poet and a highschool football star. In fact, he was such a good athelete that he was invited to the 1908 Olympics.

I was recently reading a Daniel Clowes comic that challenged the reader to name one other person’s life that you would like to lead. He said if you did enough research you would find out that no one’s life was worth living. I think I might find Grim Natwick’s life very much worth living.

[tags]Grim Natwick, Betty Boop, vintage animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia[/tags]

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