Burton F Gillett was a director of animated films.
16 Facts About Burt Gillett
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Burt Gillett is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Disney, particularly the 1932 short film Flowers and Trees and the 1933 short film Three Little Pigs, both of which were awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and both of which were selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry.
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In 1929, Burt Gillett joined the Walt Disney Studio where he started out primarily working on Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts.
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In 1930, Burt Gillett directed Cannibal Capers, the first of 15 Silly Symphonies shorts to his credit.
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Burt Gillett was the one that hired Joseph Barbera for US$25 a week.
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In 1934 Burt Gillett shifted the studio production to producing only color cartoon shorts, an innovative step for early animation.
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Burt Gillett introduced Disney-influenced ideas, and invited young Disney artists to lecture the New York veterans of Van Beuren.
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At Van Beuren, Burt Gillett attempted to introduce the rigorous quality standards of Disney, but he did so while maintaining the same working conditions which had plagued the animators of the studio up to that point: low-budget work, and deadlines filled with uncompensated extra work hours.
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The hard-drinking Burt Gillett gained a reputation for emotional outbursts and instability.
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On February 14,1935, Burt Gillett called a staff meeting to announce his knowledge of their union talk.
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Burt Gillett intimidated the artists into changing their plans, though their discontent remained.
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Burt Gillett later discovered that an inker named Sadie Bodin had encouraged female staff members to stand up to Gillett and refuse to do extra work.
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Burt Gillett fired her, despite her protest that this violated the recently passed National Labor Relations Act, claiming that he fired her for her attitude rather than her stance in favor of unionizing.
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In 1936, Burt Gillett attempted to revive series focusing on the Toonerville Trolley and Felix the Cat.
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Burt Gillett returned to Disney for a time, then moved to Walter Lantz Productions in 1938, where he directed and wrote cartoons, sometimes using the pseudonym "Gil Burton".
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Burt's son Ted Gillett was a noted aircraft designer and ham-radio engineer in Southern California, where his family had moved when his father first worked for Disney.