Shamus Culhane

Biography

Culhane worked for a number of American animation studios, including Fleischer Studios, the Ub Iwerks studio, Walt Disney Productions, and theWalter Lantz studio. He began his animation career in 1925 working for J.R. Bray studios, and is known for promoting the animation talents of his inker/assistant at the Fleischer Studios in the early 1930s, Lillian Friedman Astor, making her the first female studio animator. While at the Disney studio, he discovered while working on Hawaiian Holiday's crab sequence an animation method that involved stewing for multiple days, before drawing the entire thing in rough sketches all at once, straight ahead, without invoking the left side of the brain. He was a lead animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, animating arguably the most well-known sequence in the film, the animation of the dwarves marching home singing "Heigh-Ho". The scene took Culhane and his assistants six months to complete. During this time he developed his 'High-speed' technique of using only the right side of the brain and animating with quick dashed-off sketches. In 1944, he collaborated on The Greatest Man in Siam with the layout artist Art Heinemann. In that animation, "…

Directed

1. The Barber of Seville (1944) — Director
2. Chew-Chew Baby (1945) — Director
3. Woody Dines Out (1945) — Director
4. Ski for Two (1944) — Director
5. Fish Fry (1944) — Director
6. Fair Weather Fiends (1946) — Director
7. The Reckless Driver (1946) — Director
8. The Dippy Diplomat (1945) — Director
9. The Beach Nut (1944) — Director
10. Who's Cookin Who? (1946) — Director
11. The Loose Nut (1945) — Director
12. Boogie Woogie Man (Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out) (1943) — Director
13. The Merry Kittens (1935) — Director
14. The Pied Piper of Basin Street (1945) — Director
15. Mousie Come Home (1946) — Director
16. Take Heed Mr. Tojo (1943) — Director
17. The Painter and the Pointer (1944) — Director
18. Showdown at Ulcer Gulch (1956) — Director
19. The Opera Caper (1967) — Director
20. A Balmy Knight (1966) — Director
21. Jungle Jive (1944) — Director
22. The Night the Animals Talked (1970) — Director
23. The Trip (1967) — Director
24. The Space Squid (1967) — Director
25. Robin Hoodwinked (1967) — Director
26. The Squaw Path (1967) — Director
27. The Plumber (1967) — Director
28. My Daddy the Astronaut (1967) — Director
29. Think or Sink (1967) — Director
30. The Blacksheep Blacksmith (1967) — Director
31. Geronimo and Son (1966) — Director
32. Potions and Notions (1966) — Director
33. A Wedding Knight (1966) — Director
34. Throne for a Loss (1966) — Director
35. The Defiant Giant (1966) — Director
36. I Want My Mummy (1966) — Director
37. Meatless Tuesday (1943) — Director
38. Noah's Animals (1976) — Director
39. King of the Beasts (1977) — Director
40. Last of the Red-Hot Dragons (1980) — Director