Abe Levitow
Abe Levitow | |
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Born | Abraham Levitow (1922-07-02)July 2, 1922 Los Angeles, California, United States |
Died | May 8, 1975(1975-05-08) (aged 52) Hollywood, California[1] |
Alma mater | Chouinard Art Institute[2] |
Occupation | Animator |
Years active | 1940–1975 |
Employer(s) | Warner Bros. Cartoons (1940-1941,1946-1962) United Productions of America (1958-1970)[1] MGM Animation/Visual Arts (1962-1970)[1] Richard Williams Studios (1971-1972; 1975)[1] |
Spouse | Charlotte Winniferd Lewis[3] |
Children | Roberta Levitow, Judy Levitow[4] and Jon Levitow |
Website | www.abelevitow.com |
Abraham Levitow (July 2, 1922 – May 8, 1975) was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and MGM Animation/Visual Arts. He is best known for his work under Chuck Jones' direction.
Career
Levitow was born in Los Angeles, California to William Levitow and Sarah Schlafmitz.[3] He began working as an in-betweener and assistant animator at Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1940 at the age of 17.[1][3] Levitow briefly left Warner Brothers when he was drafted during World War II working on training films, in which during that time he met Stan Lee and became close friends with him.[3] Levitow returned to the studio, working as an assistant animator for Ken Harris under the Chuck Jones unit, and he was later promoted to animator in 1950 and would receive his first animations credit in 1953 for the cartoon Wild Over You.[3] He worked steadily for Jones over the remainder of the 1950s, and directed several cartoons for release in 1959, including the Pepé Le Pew cartoon "Really Scent". While working under Jones, he made characters' joints more angular than most other animators. Those characters with fur (Wile E. Coyote, for example) looked especially shaggy in Levitow's scenes.
Levitow joined UPA in 1958 to work on the Mr. Magoo feature 1001 Arabian Nights, staying behind even after the studio was sold to Henry G. Saperstein. In 1962, he directed the first feature-length animated television special, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. 1962 also saw the release of his theatrical feature Gay Purr-ee, with the voices of Robert Goulet, Judy Garland, and others. By 1962, he was working with Jones at MGM as an animator and a director in the Tom and Jerry series. He co-directed the feature film The Phantom Tollbooth with Chuck Jones at MGM.[3][5][6] In addition, he worked with UPA on more Mr. Magoo cartoons, including The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, and also collaborated with Chuck again on the program Curiosity Shop through Format Films.[3] He animated on the Chuck Jones-produced A Christmas Carol, directed by Richard Williams at Williams' London studio in 1971.
In 1972, he and producer Dave Hanson founded Levitow/Hanson Films. The studio produced several animated pieces for Sesame Street, the most notable being Willie Wimple. His last completed project was B.C.: The First Thanksgiving, which aired in November of 1973.[3]
At the time of his death on May 8, 1975, Levitow was in line to direct the animated feature film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. The project was taken over by Richard Williams when Levitow died from a bone tumor during pre-production at the age of 52.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Biography". www.abelevitow.com. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ^ "Resume". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Beck, Jerry (2022-07-02). "A Tribute To Abe Levitow (1922-1975)". Cartoon Research. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ^ @dee_bax (26 October 2020). "Courtesy of Judy Levitow, here are a..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "'Gay Purr-Ee' Debuts On RKO Circuit". Brooklyn Daily. 1962-12-05. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ^ "TV Finds a New Scrooge in 'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol'". Salamanca Republican Press. 1962-12-15. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
External links
- Abe Levitow at IMDb
- Official website
- Abe and Charlotte Levitow collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- v
- t
- e
- Harman-Ising Productions (1930–1933)
- Leon Schlesinger Productions (1933–1944)
- Warner Bros. Cartoons (1944–1964)
- DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (1964–1967, 1979–1980)
- Format Films (1965–1967)
- Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969)
- Chuck Jones Enterprises (1976–1980, 1994–1997)
- Warner Bros. Animation (1980–present)
- Tex Avery
- Bea Benaderet
- Mel Blanc
- Bernard B. Brown
- Arthur Q. Bryan
- John Burton
- Daws Butler
- Bob Clampett
- Cal Dalton
- Arthur Davis
- David H. DePatie
- Earl Duvall
- Milt Franklyn
- Stan Freberg
- Friz Freleng
- June Foray
- Ben Hardaway
- Hugh Harman
- Ken Harris
- William L. Hendricks
- Cal Howard
- Rudolf Ising
- Chuck Jones
- Jack King
- William Lava
- Abe Levitow
- Michael Maltese
- Frank Marsales
- Norman McCabe
- Robert McKimson
- Tom Palmer
- Hawley Pratt
- Virgil Ross
- Leon Schlesinger
- Rod Scribner
- Edward Selzer
- Norman Spencer
- Carl W. Stalling
- Frank Tashlin
- Ben Washam
Major | |
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Secondary |
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- 1929–1939
- 1940–1949
- 1950–1959
- 1960–1969
- 1970–present
- Featuring Bugs Bunny
- Featuring Daffy Duck
- Featuring Elmer Fudd
- Featuring Marvin the Martian
- Featuring Porky Pig
- Featuring Speedy Gonzales
- Featuring Sylvester
- Featuring Yosemite Sam
- Blue Ribbon reissues
- Censored Eleven
Compilations |
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Feature-length theatrical animated |
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Live-action/animation |
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Direct-to-video |
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Documentaries |
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series
specials
- "Camptown Races"
- "Dance of the Comedians"
- "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)"
- "Merrily We Roll Along"
- "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"
- "Powerhouse"
- Private Snafu
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- Animaniacs
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
- Video games
- Category