Eric Gurney
Birth : 1910-03-16, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Death : 1992-11-17
History
He grew up in Toronto, where he began a career as a commercial artist. In 1938 he emigrated to the USA to work with The Walt Disney Company, where he was a story writer and collaborated on several classic Disney films. Turning freelance in 1948, he did cartoon illustrations for magazines and advertising campaigns, notably for the Ethyl Corporation.
Gurney is best known for his humorous illustrations in books for children and adults. He illustrated Punctured Poems (1971) by Richard Armour; How to Live with a Neurotic Dog (1960) (text by Stephen Baker); How to Live with a Calculating Cat (1962) (text by William Nettleton); an edition of Sportsmanlike Driving (1965), a textbook published by the American Automobile Association; and many other titles, whose total sales number in the millions.
He received the National Cartoonists Society Advertising and Illustration Award for 1961 and 1971 for his work.
His first wife, Nancy Gurney, was his collaborator on several books including The King, the Mice, and the Cheese (1965). He was also the illustrator of other notable Beginner Books including The Digging-est Dog and Hand Hand Fingers Thumb. After her death, Gurney married a second Nancy. They also collaborated on The Return of the Calculating Cat. In later years they resided in Tucson, Arizona.
Writer
Writer
Walt Disney, who is on vacation, gives Jiminy Cricket a phone call to take over hosting duties for one TV episode while he is away. Jiminy decides to gather the other Disney stars together to help him out. Unfortunately, they, too, are on vacation, but how they are spending their respective vacations helps put the show together for him.
Writer
Walt Disney animation animated cartoon musical compilation ("The BIG Parade of MIRTH and MELODY"; "Offering hits re-released from 'Make Mine Music' and 'Melody Time'"; featuring cartoons from the 1946 musical, "Make Mine Music," and the 1948 musical "Melody Time") featuring Donald Duck, Joe Carioca, and other Disney cartoon characters, and also songs by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, Frances Langford, Roy Rogers and Trigger, The Andrews Sisters (Laverne, Maxene, and Patty Andrews), Freddy Martin and his orchestra, Sons of the Pioneers, Jerry Colonna, and Ethel Smith
Story
A bootle beetle elder tells the story of Morris, the moose about the size of a rabbit. Thunderclap the moose is taking on all challengers, and Morris decides to try, much to the amusement of Thunderclap. As a result, he meets Balsam, a full-size moose with tiny antlers (Morris' antlers are full size). The two team up, and with the help of a log that makes them very tall, defeat Thunderclap.
Story
Pluto's primitive wolf nature emerges and berates him for going soft. But their little hunting trip goes bad when Pluto encounters a rabbit and bear that give him some trouble.
Story
A coyote and his rather dim son stalk the sheep that Pluto is guarding.
Story
Pluto is playing with a ball in the park when he mistakes a bubble gum machine for it. He tries briefly to get a gumball from the machine when a bee flies into the machine and carries a gumball off to his hive. Pluto goes after the hive and knocks it down; it's full of gumballs, which he eagerly scoops up and begins chewing. The bee returns and is understandably upset; he tracks down Pluto, but Pluto manages to defend himself with gum bubbles for quite a while. The bee manages to wrap the gum from one bubble around Pluto's legs, hobbling him. Finally, the bee flies into Pluto's mouth; Pluto blows a giant bubble around the bee, and when it explodes, they both fly into the air and land in a flower patch; the bee finally manages to sting Pluto (and, being a cartoon bee, lives through it).
Story
Minnie Mouse knits a sweater for Pluto. When she puts it on him, Pluto does whatever he can to try to get it off, eventually shrinking it to the perfect size for Figaro.
Story
Pluto tries to bring in the mail, which gets more difficult when a package sprouts legs and tries to go swimming. Between the wandering turtle and the wind blowing the other mail around, Pluto's got quite a task ahead. And it's not made easier when both the letters and the turtle go off a large cliff.
Story
Mickey goes into a souvenir shop out west and leaves Pluto with a buffalo bone to chew on. A small dog comes to take it away and runs into a ring of cactus with it; Pluto is too big to enter the same way, so he comes in from above and finds himself stuck inside until the small dog helps.
Story
A little bird tries to fly too soon and lands in Pluto's water dish. Pluto saves it and returns it to the nest but soon the bird tries again. This time, Pluto decides to give flying lessons, first pulling the bird like a kite, then launching him with an improvised slingshot.
Story
Morning, and Figaro the kitten wants to play. Pluto, on the other hand, has been out all night and wants to sleep. Finally, the sandman who has been putting Pluto to sleep calls in Figaro's sandman.
Story
Mickey Mouse sends Pluto to buy sausage at the butcher shop, but Butch schemes to steal it.
Story
When a pilot has to turn back due to a severe storm, he drops the mail at a remote outpost where it can be delivered by dogsled. The falling mail pouch lands on Pluto, and he sets out to deliver it. He is continually delayed by a rabbit along the way, but in the end, the rabbit helps Pluto deliver the mail pouch.
Story
Figaro is hungry for a small, yellow canary named Frankie but must pass a barrier; Minnie Mouse.
Story
The snow covered mountains; but not to worry, rescue dog Pluto is on duty. Actually, given that he barely keeps himself safe, maybe you should worry. A playful seal keeps stealing his cask of grog.
Story
Pluto has just finished moving his bones into a spiffy new doghouse when a turtle comes along and starts moving them out. While Pluto is dealing with the turtle, Butch takes up residence. Butch chases Pluto back to his grungy old doghouse, and now it's his turn to deal with the tenacious little turtle. The turtle wins, and he and Pluto become friends.
Story
Minnie gives Figaro a bath and ties a ribbon around his neck. Figaro feels like a sissy, and when he mixes it up with some alley cats, they mock him, and the leader attacks. But Figaro is so afraid that his shaking topples a series of trash cans onto the aggressor. The rest of the cats didn't see this happen, and think Figaro defeated their leader. Of course, now he's all dirty, and he needs another bath.
Writer
Disney's animated adaptation of Prokofiev's masterpiece, in which every character is represented musically by a different instrument. Young Peter decides to go hunting for the wolf that's been prowling around the village. Along the way, he is joined by his friends the bird, the duck and the cat. All the fun comes to end, however, when the wolf makes an appearance. Will Peter and his friends live to tell of their adventures?
Story
In the tradition of Fantasia, Make Mine Music is a glorious collection of nine musically charged animated shorts featuring such fun-filled favorites as "Peter And The Wolf", narrated by the beloved voice behind Winnie The Pooh. In addition, you'll enjoy such classic cartoon hits as "Casey At The Bat," "The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At The Met" and "Johnnie Fedora And Alice Bluebonnet."
Story
Pluto is guarding a flock of sheep in the West; a coyote is sneaking up on that flock. The coyote fakes a bad leg; Pluto chases it away, only to have it run back ahead of him and go after the sheep. Pluto gets back and finds the coyote chasing the lone black sheep of the flock, after trapping the rest. The chase ends with the coyote buried under a toppling spire of rock, which forms a coyote of rock on the top.
Story
As a ship's crew is on shore leave, seadog Pluto is left to stand watch. He sees a threatening shape, but it turns out to be a cache of bones. He grabs one and settles in contentedly. A rat sneaks on, and Pluto springs into action. The rat toys with him, until it finds the officer's mess. He bribes Pluto, until he hears an officer approaching. The rat hides, and Pluto gets thrown in the brig, while the rat sneaks off with his sandwich. But Pluto gets even.
Story
Seduced by a satyr, Pluto celebrates spring. He goes around enjoying the scents, then imitating various animals. But when he imitates the butterfly (that transformed from a caterpillar before our eyes), he gets in trouble. The butterfly had done a little dance with a water droplet; Pluto picks a beehive as his "ball". The bees, of course, attack, and Pluto escapes by diving into some bushes of poison ivy. Then the "gentle" rains of spring come, along with the hail ("hail, hail the rains"), making a mess of Pluto's house. When the rains end and the satyr returns, Pluto gives him the greeting he deserves.
Animation
Jealous over Mickey's attention to a kitten, Pluto's devil-self argues with his angel-self over whether or not to rescue the kitten when it falls into a well. The angel-self wins, and Pluto is treated like a hero. In the end, he and the kitten become friends.
Animation
Mickey's going golfing, and Pluto is his caddy. Besides the usual caddy duties, Pluto runs to the ball and points to it. But when the ball lands in a gopher hole, Pluto's got another task: chase the gopher. They eventually chase each other through a number of holes in a knoll where Mickey is trying to putt out, causing the knoll to collapse.
Animation
Mickey Mouse lies in bed like a lord, getting served breakfast by man's (and mouse's?) best friend Pluto as gentleman's gentleman. Next duty is to fetch the paper, but also pay for it with a coin for the vending machine, and those round things have a nasty habit of escaping a dog's teeth and bouncing over the pavement till they end up in the gutter. After enough attempts to fish and spend the penny, Pluto has a newspaper to carry the same way. The wind has a nasty way to get a better grip on page after page then the dog, so by the time he delivers the daily dose of printed news it's an embarrassingly muddy mess.
