Riley Thomson

Riley A. Thomson, Jr. (October 5, 1912 – January 26, 1960) was an American animator and comics artist who spent most of his career working with Walt Disney films and characters. He directed six Disney short films including The Nifty Nineties and Symphony Hour.

Career

Thomson began his career in 1935 at Leon Schlesinger Productions (Warner Bros.) as an animator. While there he worked on Merrie Melodies cartoons and focused on the character Porky Pig. The following year Thomson went to work at Walt Disney Productions. He was first an animator and worked on Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphonies, and Donald Duck short films. He also worked on the feature length film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Fantasia (1940).

After working on Fantasia Thomson moved to the story department where he became a writer and director. He directed the short films Put-Put Troubles (1940), The Little Whirlwind (1941), The Nifty Nineties (1941), the 1941 remake of Orphans' Benefit, Mickey's Birthday Party (1942), and Symphony Hour (1942). He also received story credits for They're Off (1948) and Dude Duck (1951). (The latter misspells his surname as "Thompson.")