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He voiced iconic cartoon characters like Pete Puma, Junyer Bear, and Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 99th birthday party of animator Willis Pyle. Pyle has had a cartoon career for the ages. On Pinocchio, he cleaned up Milt Kahl’s scene of Jiminy Cricket getting dressed while running to work. He was a key animator during the early days of UPA and animated on the studio’s first theatrical short for Columbia, Robin Hoodlum, as well as the first Mister Magoo short Ragtime Bear. In the classic UPA film Gerald McBoing Boing, Pyle animated the climactic scene of Gerald performing sound effects at the radio station.

I’m incredibly grateful that we still have living links to the Golden Age of animation like Willy, and attending his party made me wonder who else is still around. The list below is every animation industry veteran I can think of who is 85 years or older. I’m sure there are plenty of others too, and I invite you to help fill out the list. The growth and development of our art form owes much to these men and women.

• Bob Balser – 86 years old

Rudy Cataldi – 86 years old

Sam Clayberger – 87 years old

Stan Freberg – 87 years old

Ken Mundie – 87 years old (?)

Walt Peregoy – 88 years old (?)

Ray Favata – 89 years old

Gene Deitch – 89 years old

Charles Csuri – 91 years old

David Weidman – 92 years old (?)

X. Atencio (pictured right) – 94 years old

Martha Sigall – 95 years old (?)

June Foray – 95 years old

Bob Givens – 95 years old

Stan Spohn – 98 years old

Willis Pyle – 99 years old

Tyrus Wong – 102 years old

British animation director, designer and studio owner John Wilson (above, left) passed away on Friday, June 21st, according to a report published by Michael Sporn. Wilson was born in 1920 in Wimbledon, London, England. Per his personal biographical notes:

He attended the Royal College of Art and was working by age 18 as a commercial artist with Willings Press Service. In WWII he served with the London Rifle Brigade in African where he was seriously wounded. Recuperating in hospital, he drew many cartoons of which several were printed. Eventually he would recover and get work at Pinewood Studios in the art department where he worked on Great Expectations and The Thief of Baghdad, among other films.

Wilson’s animation career began at the Gaumont British Animation studio in the late-1940s. He moved to the United States in the early-1950s, where he worked at UPA and Disney. His sole screen credit from this period was as a layout artist on the Disney short Pigs is Pigs (1954):

In 1954, he started his own studio Fine Arts Films. Among his well known projects from the period was a 1956 short film Petroushka that was arranged and conducted by Igor Stravinsky himself. The 16-minute film aired as part of the The Sol Hurok Music Hour, and is regarded as an early example of an animated TV special.

Wilson also directed this classic television spot voiced and written by Stan Freberg for Instant Butter-Nut Coffee (1958):

Other projects included directing the trailer for the live-action feature Irma La Douce (1963):

…directing the animated feature Shinbone Alley (1971):

…and directing the main titles for the 1978 musical film Grease:

A biography and full credit list can be found at John Wilson’s website FineArtsFilms.com. A generous selection of his artwork is available at Michael Sporn’s website.