Raymond "Ray" Patterson (November 23, 1911 - December 30, 2001) was an American animator. Patterson was born in Hollywood, California, and was the brother of animator Don Patterson.

Career

Early career

Patternson's earliet work in animation were at Charles B. Mintz, where he started as an inker in 1929. He remained at Mintz for ten years.

Walt Disney Studio

In 1940, he moved to Walt Disney Studio, where he provided artwork for Dumbo and Fantasia, as well as several Pluto shorts (Bone Trouble and Pluto's Playmate).

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Patterson left Disney in 1941 to work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he was assigned to the Hanna-Barbera unit. Patterson worked with this unit for over twenty years, though he occasionally provided animation for Dick Lundy and Tex Avery's unit. He worked on several Academy Award winning animation shorts: Mouse Trouble (1944), Quiet Please! (1945), The Little Orphan (1948), and Johann Mouse (1952).

Grantray-Lawrence Animation

Patterson left MGM in 1954 to co-found (with former MGM colleague Grant Simmons) Grantray-Lawrence Animation, which he operated until 1967. GrantRay-Lawrence's early work was providing animation for television commercials, including the original "Winston Tastes Good" campaign. The company later moved on to producing such animated television series as Spider-Man and The Marvel Superheroes.

Hanna-Barbera

After GrantRay-Lawrence folded in 1967, Patterson joined his former bosses at Hanna-Barbera, where he worked as a supervising director on several animated television series. Patterson was eventually promoted to Vice President in charge of animation direction, a position he held until his retirement in 1993.

Awards and honors

Patterson was awarded the 1999 Winsor McCay Award by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood for his lifetime of contributions to the animation field.

Death

On December 30, 2001, (nine months after the passing of William Hanna) Patterson died of natural causes, in Encino, California.

References in popular culture

In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Trash of the Titans" (1998), the commissioner of sanitation is named Ray Patterson and played by Steve Martin.

Notes

External links

• Ray Patterson at the Internet Movie Database
• Death notice at the Animation Guild website