Bill Peet facts for kids

William Bartlett Peet (born Peed; January 29, 1915 – May 11, 2002) was a talented American artist. He was famous for illustrating children's books and for his work as a story writer and animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Peet joined Disney in 1937 and helped finish the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Over time, he became more involved in Disney's animated films. He stayed there until the early stages of The Jungle Book (1967). He left Disney after a disagreement with Walt Disney about the movie's direction.

After leaving Disney, Peet became a successful writer and illustrator of many children's books. Some of his well-known books include Capyboppy (1966), The Wump World (1970), The Whingdingdilly (1970), The Ant and the Elephant (1972), and Cyrus the Unsinkable Serpent (1975).

Growing Up: Bill Peet's Early Life

Bill Peet was born in Grandview, Indiana, on January 29, 1915. From a very young age, he loved to draw. He would fill notebooks with his sketches.

His happiest childhood years were after World War I. During this time, he lived with his mother and brothers near Indianapolis. His grandmother ran their home.

Animals were always special to Peet. He and his friends explored the woods, looking for frogs, tadpoles, and minnows. He often tried to catch animals so he could sketch them. These experiences shaped two main ideas in his books: the harshness of nature and the problems caused by human progress. He wrote about how difficult it was for him to accept nature's cruel ways. He also saw how pollution from pipes harmed the creek, killing fish and making the air smell bad.

Instead of doing schoolwork, Peet often drew in the margins of his textbooks. These books became very popular when he sold them back because of his extra drawings.

Young Peet also loved sneaking into train stations to see the trains up close. As a teenager, he tried to sketch the circus tents. He often memorized the scene and drew it later from memory.

After ten years, Peet's father returned home. His return brought difficulties for the family. Peet's grandmother passed away, and their family home was sold. This marked the end of Peet's happy early years.

Around this time, Peet started at Arsenal Technical High School. At first, he wasn't interested in art as a career. But after struggling in other classes, he took art classes on a friend's advice. Peet did very well and tried many different art materials. He earned a scholarship to the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis. He attended for three years. In his first class, he met Margaret Brunst, who later became his wife in 1937.

Peet took many painting classes. He admitted his paintings often had serious or thought-provoking subjects. He preferred drawing older men, "perfected with age, like a gnarled oak tree." He also loved drawing the circus, but always the setting up of the tents, not the show itself.

Bill Peet's Time at Disney Studios

After college, Peet sent some of his cartoon sketches to Disney. He heard they were hiring artists for animated films. He traveled to Los Angeles for a month-long tryout. Only three out of fifteen artists got jobs as "in-betweeners." This meant drawing the frames between the main drawings for Donald Duck shorts. He found this work a bit boring.

At this time, Disney was making Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Many people in Hollywood thought it would fail. But Snow White became a huge success! Peet then sent character sketches for Pinocchio to Disney's team. Before he heard back, he felt tired of drawing ducks. He almost left the studio for good. Luckily, he returned the next day to pick up his jacket and found a note. It said he was promoted to the story department!

Peet officially became a sketch artist. His job was to turn story ideas into pictures for the films. He first met Walt Disney when Disney reviewed his storyboards. Even though his first ideas were not used, Peet continued to work on Pinocchio for a year and a half. After that, he worked on Fantasia and Dumbo.

When World War II started, Disney made propaganda films to help the war effort. Peet helped with these. After the war, he got his big chance. Walt Disney was so impressed with his work that he made Peet a full story man. This meant Peet also designed characters.

Peet tried painting again, but he felt out of practice. Art had changed a lot while he was at Disney. Abstract art was popular, and his realistic paintings seemed old-fashioned. He tried drawing cartoons for newspapers but didn't succeed there either. So, Peet decided to keep working at Disney. He developed short cartoons and worked on feature films.

He worked very closely with Walt Disney. Peet respected Disney's amazing creativity, but he found him to be a challenging person at times. Peet described the Disney studio as a competitive place. After successfully developing short stories for the company, Peet had his first book published, Hubert’s Hair-Raising Adventure.

Walt Disney himself wasn't animating anymore, but he made all the big artistic decisions. He reviewed all the work and gave the final approval. Both Peet and Disney were strong-willed and creative. They often had disagreements about parts of films, like a dancing scene in Sleeping Beauty. Peet left Disney on January 29, 1964, his 49th birthday. This happened after a big disagreement with Walt about The Jungle Book.

Bill Peet: A Beloved Children's Author

While still working at Disney, Peet started writing and illustrating children's books. Many of his ideas came from bedtime stories he told his own children. He wrote and illustrated several books before leaving Disney.

After leaving the studio in 1964, Peet focused entirely on writing children's books. His stories became very popular because they taught important lessons. These lessons included trying hard even when things seem hopeless, not letting others' teasing stop you, and finding fair solutions. Unlike many children's authors, Peet didn't make his vocabulary too simple. He used more challenging words but gave enough clues in the story so kids could understand their meaning. All of his books published by Houghton Mifflin Company are still available today.

Bill Peet's Legacy

Bill Peet passed away on May 11, 2002, at the age of 87. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).

In 2015, Walt Disney Animation Studios created a cartoon short called The Further Adventures of Thunderbolt. This was a bonus feature for the 101 Dalmatians Blu-ray. It was based on Peet's early ideas for the "Thunderbolt the Wonder Dog" part of the movie.

Justin Marks, who wrote the 2016 live-action Jungle Book film, has said he plans to use some of Peet's original ideas for the sequel. Peet's early story ideas for the 1967 animated Jungle Book were not fully used at the time. Marks and director Jon Favreau looked through Disney's old archives and found some of Peet's great ideas that they want to include in the new film.

Bill Peet's Film Work

Bill Peet contributed to many Disney animated films and shorts. Here are some of them:

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) (helped with drawings)
• Pinocchio (1940) (helped adapt the story)
• Fantasia (1940) (helped develop the story for "The Pastoral Symphony" part)
• Dumbo (1941) (helped develop the story)
• Song of the South (1946) (helped with cartoon story and animation planning)
• Cinderella (1950) (story)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951) (story)
• Peter Pan (1953) (story)
• Sleeping Beauty (1959) (additional story)
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) (story and character design)
• The Sword in the Stone (1963) (story and character design)
• The Jungle Book (1967) (early story ideas)

Bill Peet's Books

Bill Peet wrote and illustrated many popular children's books. Here are some of his well-known titles:

• Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure (1959)
• Goliath II (1959)
• Huge Harold (1961)
• Smokey (1962)
• The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg (1963)
• Ella (1964)
• Capyboppy (1966)
• The Wump World (1970)
• The Whingdingdilly (1970)
• The Ant and the Elephant (1972)
• Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent (1975)
• Big Bad Bruce (1977)
• Cowardly Clyde (1979)
• Pamela Camel (1984)