February 9 - Bill Justice

On this day, in 1914, William Barnard Justice was born in Dayton, Ohio. Raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Bill was a student at John Herron Art Institute, now a part of Indiana University. He graduated in 1935 and moved out to southern California. In 1937, he became a part of the Walt Disney Studio. Bill may have started his Disney career as an animator, like all of the company greats, but he would go on to do a little bit of everything (and do it all spectacularly).

Bill lent his animation skills to feature films like Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. He's best known in that arena for his work on Thumper in Bambi. He also worked in the Shorts Department, most notably as a lead animator for Chip and Dale.

Image copyright Disney

In the mid-Fifties, Bill started directing. One of his first projects in the director's chair was the opening march for The Mickey Mouse Club. He went on to direct The Truth About Mother Goose in 1957, Noah's Ark in 1959 and A Symposium on Popular Songs in 1962. All three of those shorts were nominated for Academy Awards. He didn't get any statues to put on his mantle, but that's still an impressive run.

Image copyright Disney

In the early Sixties, Bill was busy redesigning character costumes for Disneyland as well as coming up with the floats for the park's first Christmas parade. He also made early sketches for the Main Street Electrical Parade. The natural result of these projects was his transfer into the Imagineering department. That's when Bill became more of an engineer than an animator, although he still remained an artist. He got involved with the development of Audio-Animatronics and was soon an expert on programming them. He would be responsible for the movements of figures in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Carousel of Progress, Mission to Mars, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree and America Sings (just to give some highlights). When Walt Disney World opened, Bill had his hand in the Hall of Presidents and the Mickey Mouse Revue as well.

Image courtesy imaginerding.com

Bill retired from Disney in 1979. In 1992, he published his autobiography, detailing his career, called Justice For Disney. He was made an official Disney Legend in 1996 for his amazing contributions, spanning practically every department in the company for 42 years. In his later years, Bill loved to attend Disneyana conventions, chat with people and (to the annoyance of ever hotel he stayed in) draw Disney characters on linen napkins.He passed away in his sleep at a nursing home in Santa Monica, California on February 10, 2011. He was 97 years 1 day old.