Clair Weeks

Clair Weeks
Born	September 14, 1911(1911-09-14)[1] Mysore, India
Died	August 26, 1996(1996-08-26) (aged 84) Los Alamitos, California, U.S.
Occupation	Animated film producer, Illustrator, Animator, Technical Advisor
Years active	1931–2006 (his death)
Religion	Christian (Methodist)

Clair Weeks^[2] (September 14, 1911 – August 26, 1996) was an American film cartoon animator, cartoon film producer and illustrator who had prominent works for Disney Studios, the most notbale being his work in the animated film classics Snow White (1937), and Bambi (1942). and Cinderella (1950).^[3]

Early life and education

Weeks's, whose father was a Methodist missionary, working on many missions in India for roughly 40 years. Weeks, who because of his parents' missionary work, traveled extensively as a child, eventually re-locatiing with the family permanently in America by the early 1930s, the family settling in California. After graduation from high school, Weeks studied at Chouinard on a scholarship. As he was about to graduate after 1935-36 school year, Disney had advertised for full-time positions in their Animation Department in various schools, and had sent talent scouts out to search for talented young artists. Weeks was accepted to a 2 week tryout at Disney based on his Chouinard portfolio. The entire two weeks were spent in Life Drawing sessions.

Weeks recalls the training sessions:

"Then you were put on a sort of probation, a temporary status; you were hired...put on a payroll for $15... for six months. Johnny Bond and George Goepper were among the trainers at the time, working with George Drake...gradually there was a moving across the street. As you got more proficient, and as you demonstrated your potential, and as you became noticed, what you were demonstrating, and what you were doing in the practical scenes--of course, at first we were given old stuff to practice on. Then you were given production scenes to do, and as you demonstrated your potential, you were moved across...Also, one of our aims, one of our ambitions or hopes, ass to get with a good animator, one whose work we liked or was the kind we wanted to do."^[4]

Career

Weeks began his full-time production career at Disney in 1936, working on Snow White as an assistant for Jack Campbell, a Junior Animator assigned to animator Grim Natwick, working on the title character. Weeks' big step came after Snow White as he was assigned to Milt Kahl. Weeks recalls, "I learned everything know about feature animation from Milt...by example. A feeling for draftsmanship, emphasizing good drawing, and all the marvelous character development...insight into what made a character live on screen." He would spend a total of sixteen years at Disney serving mainly as an clean- Up assistant, advisory consultant, and a character Animator. Also during this time, Weeks participated in the 1941 Cartoon Animators' Strike, and also served in World War II in 1943, afterwards returning to Disney in 1946.

Disney animated film feature works

On Bambi, Weeks was assigned to the story unit and served as a creative assistant throughout the production stage. Weeks provided the original sketch for the Bambi character, which he borrowed from an idea from his young son. After his work on Bambi, Weeks got to work very closely with animator Marc Davis on Cinderella (1950) and Peter Pan (1953), Sleeping Beauty (1959), but with both of the latter two film features as a consultant and assistant animator after his full-time employment with Disney Studios had ended in 1952. Little by little, Weeks would pick up animation scenes, most notbaly on Alice in Wonderland. He finally got screen credit on Peter Pan on which he primarily animated the 'Tinkerbell' character, and then was also assigned to 'Princess Aurora' character in Sleeping Beauty.

The Banyan Deer (1957), other works in India

In 1956, Weeks was invited to Films Division of India (FDI) in Bombay, India to establish and train the country's first animation studio as part of the American Technical Co-Operation mission, he trained a core group of Indian animators. During his time in India he made a film called The Banyan Deer (1957). He would spend years of service abroad working for the US Agency for International Development. He toured Southeast Asia and headed up a communications office in Katmandu, Nepal. He made films and audio-visual programs that aided in the social development and economic growth of third world countries. After returning to the U. S. he would then teach animation at the American Animation Institute and Orange Coast Community College. During the late 60’s and early 70’s Weeks taught at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India.

Death

Weeks, a longtime resident of Los Alimitos, California, died of cancer there on August 26, 1996.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ "Clair Weeks". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0917305/. Retrieved 2010-11-23. 
2. ^ Clair Weeks full bio at AMCTV webvsite
3. ^ movies.nytimes.com/person/177855/​Clair-Weeks Clair Weeks-About this person at NYTimes.com
4. ^ Clair weeks bio sketch at Animation Archive, created 2006/1/3, accessed 2010/11/23.
5. ^ Clair Weeks; Longtime Disney Animator, LA Times obituary article, 1996/9/5, accessed 2010/11/23.
6. ^ Weeks in Memoriam at Animation Guild website

External links

• Clair Weeks at the Internet Movie Database
• Clair Weeks bio article at Animation Archive.org

Persondata
Name	Weeks, Clair
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 14, 1911
Place of birth	Mysore, India
Date of death	August 26, 1996
Place of death	Los Alamitos, California, United States