CINEFILER

Jack Hannah

Born
January 5, 1913
Died
June 11, 1994
Jack Hannah (January 5, 1913 - June 11, 1994) was an animator, writer and director of animated shorts.He began his career at the Walt Disney Studios as an animator in the short Modern Inventions (released on May 29, 1937). After thirteen films in that capacity, he was assigned to the story department writing cartoon short continuities, beginning withDonald's Nephews (released on April 15, 1938). He received writing credit on 21 Disney cartoon shorts.In 1942 he collaborated with Carl Barks on the first two comic books Barks worked on, Pluto Saves the Ship and Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. Hannah in subsequent years did a handful of other Donald Duck comic book stories but unlike Barks he stayed at the studio and eventually was given a chance to be a director. The short Donald's Off Day (released on December 8, 1944) was the first of 94 films he would direct. These include most of the shorts featuring Donald Duck in the post-war era along with all starring Chip 'n Dale and Humphrey the Bear; he also directed some shorts starring Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Pluto and some minor Walt Disney characters. After Disney stopped producing animated shorts Hannah did 14 episodes of the Walt Disney anthology television series (composed of footage from the classic cartoons along with new linking material) and fulfilled his ambition to direct live-action by handling Walt Disney's introductions for the episodes. Hannah hoped to segue into a career in live-action but "Walt had me pegged as an animation director so he balked at the suggestion. We had a few heated discussions and I became aware that I had come to an impasse." He then went to the Walter Lantz Studio and directed a number of films featuring Woody Woodpecker and some minor characters. Besides directing shorts Hannah also was Assistant Director for the TV series The Woody Woodpecker Show, which started airing on October 3, 1957. "I did more or less the same thing that I did with Walt Disney in directing live action except Lantz was better at taking direction." His last directing effort was the short Charlie's Mother-In-Law (released on April 16, 1963). He retired shortly thereafter.Hannah was one of the co-founders, along with T. Hee, of the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.Hannah was honored as a "Disney Legend" in 1992. As Carl Barks is credited with creating the personality of Donald Duck's comic book version, Jack Hannah is credited with developing, if not creating, the personality of the animated version. It is for this reason Disney historian Jim Korkis has dubbed him "Donald Duck's Other Daddy".Hannah died in 1994, aged 81.
Known For
Mickey's House of Villains
(2001)
Director
Trick or Treat
(1952)
Director
Corn Chips
(1951)
Director
Lambert the Sheepish Lion
(1952)
Director
Dragon Around
(1954)
Director
Pluto's Christmas Tree
(1952)
Director
Chip an' Dale
(1947)
Director
Beezy Bear
(1955)
Director
Winter Storage
(1949)
Director
Let's Stick Together
(1952)
Director
Trailer Horn
(1950)
Director
Bearly Asleep
(1955)
Director
Full Filmography
Directing
Donald's Off Day
(1944)
Director
No Sail
(1945)
Director
The Eyes Have It
(1945)
Director
Double Dribble
(1946)
Director
Lighthouse Keeping
(1946)
Director
A Knight for a Day
(1946)
Director
Frank Duck Brings 'em Back Alive
(1946)
Director
Squatter's Rights
(1946)
Director
Straight Shooters
(1947)
Director
Foul Hunting
(1947)
Director
Chip an' Dale
(1947)
Director
Clown of the Jungle
(1947)
Director
Bootle Beetle
(1947)
Director
Inferior Decorator
(1948)
Director
Soup's On
(1948)
Director
They're Off
(1948)
Director
Daddy Duck
(1948)
Director
Tea for Two Hundred
(1948)
Director
Three for Breakfast
(1948)
Director
Honey Harvester
(1949)
Director
Sea Salts
(1949)
Director
Slide Donald Slide
(1949)
Director
Toy Tinkers
(1949)
Director
The Greener Yard
(1949)
Director
Winter Storage
(1949)
Director
All in a Nutshell
(1949)
Director
Donald's Happy Birthday
(1949)
Director
Hook, Lion and Sinker
(1950)
Director
Lion Around
(1950)
Director
Out on a Limb
(1950)
Director
Trailer Horn
(1950)
Director
Bee at the Beach
(1950)
Director
Crazy Over Daisy
(1950)
Director
Lucky Number
(1951)
Director
Test Pilot Donald
(1951)
Director
Out of Scale
(1951)
Director
Bee On Guard
(1951)
Director
Corn Chips
(1951)
Director
Dude Duck
(1951)
Director
Chicken in the Rough
(1951)
Director
Pluto's Christmas Tree
(1952)
Director
Let's Stick Together
(1952)
Director
Trick or Treat
(1952)
Director
Uncle Donald's Ants
(1952)
Director
Lambert the Sheepish Lion
(1952)
Director
Donald Applecore
(1952)
Director
Two Chips and a Miss
(1952)
Director
Working for Peanuts
(1953)
Director
Rugged Bear
(1953)
Director
The New Neighbor
(1953)
Director
Canvas Back Duck
(1953)
Director
Don's Fountain of Youth
(1953)
Director
Walt Disney's Halloween Hilarities
(1953)
Director
Grin and Bear It
(1954)
Director
Spare the Rod
(1954)
Director
Dragon Around
(1954)
Director
The Flying Squirrel
(1954)
Director
The Donald Duck Story
(1954)
Director
No Hunting
(1955)
Director
Up a Tree
(1955)
Director
Bearly Asleep
(1955)
Director
Beezy Bear
(1955)
Director
Hooked Bear
(1956)
Director
In the Bag
(1956)
Director
Walt Disney's Where Do the Stories Come From?
(1956)
Director
On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends
(1956)
Director
The Great Cat Family
(1956)
Director
From All of Us to All of You
(1958)
Director
Duck Flies Coop
(1959)
Director
Southern Fried Hospitality
(1960)
Director
Hunger Strife
(1960)
Director
Freeloading Feline
(1960)
Director
This Is Your Life Donald Duck
(1960)
Director
Clash and Carry
(1961)
Director
Voo-Doo Boo-Boo
(1961)
Director
Poop Deck Pirate
(1961)
Director
Gabby's Diner
(1961)
Director
Woody's Kook-Out
(1961)
Director
Franken-Stymied
(1961)
Director
Tricky Trout
(1961)
Director
Eggnapper
(1961)
Director
Doc's Last Stand
(1961)
Director
Tin Can Concert
(1961)
Director
Bear and the Bees
(1961)
Director
Kids Is Kids
(1961)
Director
Tin Can Concert Presents: The Cinderella Overture by Rossini
(1961)
Director
Rocket Racket
(1962)
Director
Rock-a-Bye Gator
(1962)
Director
Fish and Chips
(1962)
Director
Mackerel Moocher
(1962)
Director
Fowled-Up Birthday
(1962)
Director
Mother's Little Helper
(1962)
Director
Corny Concerto
(1962)
Director
Pest of Show
(1962)
Director
Punchy Pooch
(1962)
Director
The Adventures of Chip 'N' Dale
(1980)
Director
Donald Duck's First 50 Years
(1984)
Director
Daisy
(1984)
Director
Donald
(1984)
Director
Here's Goofy!
(1987)
Director
Mickey's House of Villains
(2001)
Director
Walt Disney Treasures - The Complete Goofy
(2002)
Director
Everybody Loves Donald
(2003)
Director
Chip 'n' Dale: Here Comes Trouble
(2004)
Director
Chip 'n Dale: Trouble in a Tree
(2005)
Director
Classic Cartoon Favorites Volume 8: Holiday Celebration with Mickey and Pals
(2005)
Director
Disney's Christmas Favorites
(2005)
Director
Donald Duck's Christmas Favourites
(2012)
Director
100 Years of Disney Animation: A Shorts Celebration
(2023)
Director
Acting
Visual Effects
Writing
Data provided by TMDB