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James Algar (June 11, 1912 – February 26, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked at Walt Disney Productions for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He was born in Modesto, California and died in Carmel, California.
James Algar. Director: The African Lion. James Algar studied at Stanford where he developed his skills as a cartoonist by drawing for the university's satirical magazine, The Chaparral. He joined the Disney Organisation in 1934, initially as animator.
- January 1, 1
- Modesto, California, USA
- January 1, 1
- Carmel, California, USA
- Overview
- Filmography
James Nelson Algar was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He received the Disney Legends award in 1998.
Algar was born in California and studied at Stanford where he developed his skills as a cartoonist by drawing for the university's satirical magazine, "The Chaparral". He joined Disney in 1934 initially as animator before becoming a director. He also directed the classic "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Fantasia, as well as several sequences of Bambi.
Algar was one of several key personnel to whom Walt Disney delegated higher executive functions. During the 1950s, he assumed the mantle of chief writer/director for Disney's True-Life Adventures series, turning out Oscar-winning documentaries, such as The Living Desert and The Vanishing Prairie. He also directed the Oscar-winning documentary White Wilderness, which contains a scene that supposedly depicts a mass lemming migration, and ends with the lemmings leaping into the Arctic Ocean which caused some controversy over animals right and misinformation.
He retired in 1977 and died in 1998.
•Servants' Entrance (1934 animator - uncredited)
•Broken Toys (Short) (1935 animator - uncredited)
•Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 - animator)
•Fantasia (1940 - director: segment The Sorcerer's Apprentice)
•Bambi (1942 - sequence director)
•Four Methods of Flush Riveting (1942 - director)
- 3 min
James Algar. Director: The African Lion. James Algar studied at Stanford where he developed his skills as a cartoonist by drawing for the university's satirical magazine, The Chaparral. He joined the Disney Organisation in 1934, initially as animator.
- June 11, 1912
- February 26, 1998
Feb 26, 1998 · James Algar (June 11, 1912 – February 26, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked at Walt Disney Productions for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He was born in Modesto, California and died in Carmel, California.
Mar 23, 1998 · James Algar, longtime Walt Disney Co. producer, writer and director, and helmer of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” died Feb. 26 at his home in Carmel following a brief illness. He...
Feb 28, 1998 · James Nelson Algar, animator, writer, director and producer at Walt Disney Studios for 43 years, who shared nine Academy Awards for nature and adventure documentaries and features, has died. He...
