Floyd Gottfredson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Floyd Gottfredson |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Arthur Floyd Gottfredson May 5, 1905 Kaysville, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | July 22, 1986 (aged 81) Montrose, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Artist, writer |
|
Notable works
|
Mickey Mouse comic strip |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (1983) |
Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (born May 5, 1905 – died July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist. He is famous for his important work on the Mickey Mouse comic strip. He drew this comic from 1930 until he retired in 1975. Many people think his work on Mickey Mouse is as important as Carl Barks's work on Donald Duck comics. Years after he passed away, Floyd Gottfredson was honored with the Disney Legends award in 2003. He was also added to the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
Contents
Floyd Gottfredson's Early Life and Career
Floyd Gottfredson was born in Kaysville, Utah, in 1905. He grew up in a large family. When he was a child, he had a serious hunting accident that hurt his arm. While he was recovering at home, he became very interested in drawing cartoons. He took several cartooning classes by mail. Because of his injury, Gottfredson had to learn to draw using his whole arm.
In 1926, he took a special drawing course. By the late 1920s, he was drawing cartoons for magazines and the Salt Lake City Telegram newspaper. In 1928, he won second place in a cartoon contest. After that, 23-year-old Gottfredson moved to Southern California with his family. He looked for work at newspapers but couldn't find any. He had worked as a movie projectionist in Utah, so he found a job doing that in California.
About a year later, the movie theater where he worked was torn down. This meant he had to find another job. By chance, Gottfredson asked about a job at Disney studios. They hired him the very same day!
Creating the Mickey Mouse Comic Strip
Walt Disney Productions hired Floyd Gottfredson on December 19, 1929. He started as an apprentice animator. This means he helped draw the in-between pictures that make cartoons move.
In April 1930, he began working on the Mickey Mouse daily comic strip. This comic strip was only four months old at the time. Walt Disney himself first wrote the stories, and Ub Iwerks drew them. Later, Win Smith took over the drawing.
In May, Win Smith decided he didn't want to draw the strip anymore. Walt Disney asked Gottfredson to take over. Disney promised it would only be for a short time until they found someone else. But Gottfredson ended up drawing the Mickey Mouse strips for the next 45 years!
Gottfredson's First Mickey Mouse Comics
Gottfredson's first daily comic strip was published on his 25th birthday, May 5, 1930. In January 1932, he also started working on the new Mickey Mouse color Sunday strip. He continued drawing both the daily and Sunday strips until mid-1938. Gottfredson was in charge of the comics department at Disney from 1930 to 1946.
At first, Gottfredson wrote and drew the Mickey Mouse strip all by himself. But in 1932, he started focusing on creating the story ideas and drawing the main pictures (called penciling). Other people wrote most of the dialogue. Some of the writers included Webb Smith, Ted Osborne, and Bill Walsh. Gottfredson always worked closely with his writers. He would often suggest changes to make the stories better. Many different inkers also helped draw the final lines on the strips over the years.
New Characters and Storylines
From the very beginning, the comic strips told long, continuing stories. These stories introduced many new characters. Gottfredson created characters like the Phantom Blot, Eega Beeva, and the Bat Bandit. Walt Disney created characters like Eli Squinch and Mickey's nephews, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse.
The stories usually didn't have titles when they were first published. Titles were often added later when the strips were printed in books. Starting in the 1950s, Gottfredson and writer Bill Walsh were asked to stop telling long stories. Instead, they were told to create only short, funny daily gags. Gottfredson continued to draw the daily strip until he retired on October 1, 1975.
Collecting and Rereleasing Mickey Mouse Comics
Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse strips were often collected and reprinted in the 1930s and 1940s. Many Big Little Book series used his Mickey stories. Dell Publishing's Walt Disney's Comics and Stories also printed his stories until 1948.
Modern reprints in America began in 1973. Later, in 2011, Fantagraphics Books started publishing a full collection of Gottfredson's work. This series is called Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse. Between 2011 and 2018, 14 volumes were published. They collected all of Gottfredson's Sunday color comics and all of his daily comic strips.
Floyd Gottfredson's Legacy
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Floyd Gottfredson gave many interviews. He spoke to magazines about comics and other publications. A special edition of the book Mickey Mouse in Color even included a small record with an audio interview. On it, Gottfredson talked with Carl Barks, another famous Disney artist.
Between 1978 and 1983, Gottfredson created 24 paintings. A collector named Malcolm Willits asked him to make them. These paintings showed different stories from the classic Mickey Mouse comic strip.
Gottfredson's work was printed in newspapers, magazines, and comic books all over the world for more than 50 years. But because he was a Disney employee, he was never allowed to sign his work. Fans finally learned who he was in the mid-1960s. After that, reprints of his Mickey Mouse strips in the 1970s started giving him credit.
Floyd Gottfredson passed away at his home in Southern California when he was 81 years old. In 2006, he was added to the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards' Hall of Fame. He also received an Inkpot Award in 1983.
Another Disney Legend, Floyd Norman, noted that the drawing desk Gottfredson used is now in a special room at Disney's Publishing department in Burbank.
Images for kids
-
Floyd Gottfredson, the amazing artist behind Mickey Mouse comics.
See also
In Spanish: Floyd Gottfredson para niños
