Burt Gillett

Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 - December 28, 1971) was a director of animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Disney, particurarly the 1933 short film "Three Little Pigs".

He was born in Elmira, New York, USA. His animation career probably started around 1916 when he was employed by the International Film Service, an early animation studio under the ownership of William Randolph Hearst and the supervision of Gregory La Cava. The studio had been formed in 1915 and first employed experienced animators Frank Moser and William Nolan. Within a year the veterans had been joined by several new recruits. Gillett was probably recruited along with notable co-workers John Foster, Jack King, Isadore Klein, Walter Lantz, Grim Natwick, Ben Sharpsteen and Vernon Stallings.

Because of the success of Three Little Pigs, Gillett was recruited to run the Van Beuren Studios in 1934. While working at the Van Beuren Studios, Gillett directed the Technicolor Rainbow Parade animated shorts featuring Molly Moo-Cow, Toonerville Folks and several color Felix the Cat cartoons. [ cite web | url = http://www.toonopedia.com/mollymoo.htm| title = Molly Moo-Cow entry | publisher = Toonopedia ] When that studio closed in 1936, Gillett returned to Disney. He moved to Walter Lantz Productions in 1938, where he directed and wrote cartoons, sometimes using the pseudonym "Gil Burton". Gillett left the animation business in 1940.

According to fellow animator Shamus Culhane, Gillett was mentally unstable. In his autobiography, Culhane speculates that Gillett suffered from bipolar disorder and notes that he swung from excessive enthusiasm to violent rages to paranoia (once attacking Culhane himself with a spindle when they worked together at Van Beuren's studio), and that he was eventually institutionalized for many years. [ cite web | url = http://www.awn.com/asifa-sf/0698/books.html | title = June 1998 Newsletter | publisher = ASIFA - San Francisco ]

Burt's son Ted Gillett(e) was a noted aircraft designer and ham radio engineer in Southern California, where his family had moved when Burt first worked for Disney. [A Life in the Shadows [http://outadaloop.com/W6HX.htm] ]

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