Hey! I jumped at the opportunity to write about my friend, animator Bill Littlejohn and his beautiful wife, Fini. Heck - until I met the everyday working cel artist, I didn't even know that there were 24 frames per second in film. In the early Sixties, I asked my husband if he would object to my attending an animation festival in Annecy, France. Of course, he didn't, so off I flew to meet animation artists from all over the world, even Hollywood. And who was there? Bruno Bozzetto was. Norman McLaren was. Ward Kimball was. And most of all, Bill and Fini were. It was a purely accidental meeting. At a picnic, either thrown in or dared, I plunged into icy Lake Annecy and swam shivering toward a raft and its occupants. Who was there to pull me up? You guessed it. Bill Littlejohn.

Bill Littlejohn. Courtesy of the UCLA Animation Workshop.

Over those wonderful European beers between screenings, we all sat by the lake in front of the theater and discussed not only films but our personal lives. Bill has now been animating for over sixty years. I've never asked how old he is 'cuz I'm of the "don't ask, don't tell" school, but he started animating probably before he learned to shave as a youngster at the Van Buren studio in New York in 1934 and for MGM in 1938. However, much as he loved his profession, duty called during World War II. Thus, in 1943 he left animation to become an aeronautical engineer and pilot. Mercifully the war ended two years later in 1945. William C. Littlejohn, being the thoughtful person that he is, left the east coast and returned to Hollywood in 1948 and discovered to his chagrin that animators were slaving at their desks for a few bucks a week, just enough to fill our gas tanks today. So what did he do? He became one of the founders of the Screen Cartoonists Union 852. As one of the union's presidents, he helped solve the inequities of the biz. He also met with the famous and infamous union leaders outside of our industry. (Bill, you gotta write a book about them. Your stories are mesmerizing.) Apparently, times changed during the Disney strike with his union being transmogrified from 852 into another in existence today, but Bill wanted to return to his profession anyway, animation. So in 1952, he went back to the drawing board. Wouldn't you have thought that Bill and Fini met during the Disney strike? Nope.

Fini had been an extraordinary screen actress in her native Vienna where, as a matter of fact, she was honored just a few short years ago; naturally, she and Bill hopped a plane to Vienna to participate in the glory. Fini's real love however was art. Consequently, when she left Austria, the place to be was in Tinseltown, where the up and coming Walt Disney was hiring competent artists -- Fini being one of them. Dozens of them were summarily dismissed during the strike in 1941 though and freelancing was the only way to go. That was Fini's solution, since she was one of the down-sized. Somehow, because it's such a tight-knit profession, animation people get to meet and know each other. In this case, handsome William and gorgeous Fini met in Malibu and were married in 1943. I wonder if it was the same place in Malibu where they've been living for decades.

Anahoo, Bill resumed his drawing in earnest in 1952. Although I hadn't met him yet, my being a neophyte in recording for the cel profession, I had heard about him. Of course, Annecy changed all that. The Littlejohns and the Donavans (my husband and I) became fast friends, giving parties for festival returnees, as well as our visiting foreign counterparts: Bruno Bozzetto, John Halas, Gyorgy Matolcsy, Renzo Kinoshita, Frédéric Back, Bob Stenhouse. Scores of them. It was the International Animation Film Society (ASIFA) which started the festivals in Annecy and Zagreb that inspired Bill with Ward Kimball and Les Goldman to form an ASIFA chapter in Hollywood, the hub of animated features, shorts and television series. Now ASIFA-Hollywood is one of the largest ASIFA branches in the world. As if that weren't enough, they created the Tournee of Animation attended by artists all over the world.

The International ASIFA executives were no fools. They voted him an international board member for countless years. They knew that Bill always had time for preserving and promoting animation besides working like crazy at his craft. Commercials galore. As a matter of fact, I worked on one of his for Tiger Paws tires awoooing as a lonely wolf. If you've ever seen some of John and Faith Hubley's films, the major animator was Littlejohn, and he continues today on all of Faith Hubley's award winning films. Everyone knows the animated Peanuts. Well, if you notice the credits, Bill's name is there, because he's still working for Bill Melendez on the series, specials and commercials. Also, if you're still wont to study credits, you'll find his name on Jay Ward's George of the Jungle, along with mine in a different capacity of course. Ever see the 2000 Year Old Man? Bill did because he worked on it. And what about him being the prime animator on the Doonesbury short which was nominated for an Oscar!?! No wonder UCLA decided to honor him for his lifetime achievement. I tell ya. That man's a workaholic to this day. But wait. There's more.