May 11 - Albert Hurter

On this day, in 1883, Albert Hurter, Jr. was born in Zurich, Switzerland. The eldest of three sons, Albert was inspired to become an artist by his father, a technical drawing teacher at Zurich’s Berufsschule. At a young age, he was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease, brought on by rheumatic fever (which can occur after getting strep throat). The series of diseases is something that would be easily curable by the early 1900’s, but which did irreversible damage to Albert’s heart, not killing him outright, but shortening his life considerably. Luckily, the disease didn’t keep him from living in the meantime.

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In 1903, Albert moved to Berlin to begin his formal art training. He studied diligently for seven years, returning to Switzerland shortly before Albert Senior died. Partly to escape from the overwhelmingly fond memories of his father (and partly because that’s where an exciting new art form was starting to explode), Albert soon moved to America, taking up residence in New York City. He began working in animation at the Barre-Bower Studio on the Mutt and Jeff shorts in 1912. Six years later, he suddenly left Barre-Bower (and the animation business altogether), apparently over continuous disagreements with his fellow co-workers (although what exactly those fights were supposedly about, no one really knows).

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Albert moved west to Southern California. For the next decade he eked out a living, designing clothes, furniture and magazine layouts for whoever would pay him. In 1931, he reconnected with Ted Sears, an old co-worker from his Barre-Bower days, who was then working for the Walt Disney Studio. Disney was always looking for new talent and hired Albert on Ted’s word. It quickly became apparent that Albert was a genius when it came to anthropomorphizing both animals and objects. Walt moved him into the Story Department (which, including Albert, now had three members) and turned him loose. Albert also sketched quickly and with great proliferation. Given a simple story idea (like "The Three Little Pigs"), he could go into seclusion for days, coming out the other side with dozens (if not hundreds) of characters, gags, settings, props, animal sidekicks, etc.

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Albert worked mostly on the Silly Symphonies, but when features came along, his fingers are all over Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Fantasia. It's almost impossible to overstate how many characters that came out of the studio in the Thirties and early Forties had their origin in Albert's brain. It's as equally impossible to pinpoint specific bits of animation that can be considered 'Albert's,' since most of his work was more on the concept end. Not only could he come up with all sorts of variations on a theme, his sketches often inspired the animators around him to explore new directions and themes. And the grounding he got in classic art back in Berlin elevated everything Disney did to artistic heights Mutt and Jeff could only dream of.

image courtesy bpib.com

One of the few characters that didn't change a whole lot from his early sketches was the first Disney Princess, Snow White. He nailed her right from the beginning. A big chunk of his ideas, though, ended up getting used on different projects from the one that gave birth to them. One general rule of thumb around the studio was that nothing Albert drew should ever be thrown away because eventually a project will come along that it will be perfect for. Albert's weak heart finally give out on him on March 28, 1942, but his sketches would continue to influence the look of Disney films for over a decade longer, showing up in Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp.

In his will, Albert, who never married or had any children, designated money to publish a book of his work, leaving it up to his old pal, Ted Sears, to make it happen. Ted toiled away faithfully and honored his friends last wish. Seven years after Albert's death, He Drew As He Pleased was published, featuring over 700 of his doodles, drawings and incredible concepts. I've only seen a fraction of what's in it but what I have seen is absolutely delightful (it is out of print but copies are available on Amazon for around $250). I really get the feeling that if Albert had lived longer or been slightly later in Disney history, made it past World War II perhaps, he would be better known. But, regardless of his lack of fame, his talent and influence are undeniable. Without Albert, the Disney we know and love, might never have existed.