Jack Kinney

John Ryan Kinney, better known as Jack Kinney, was an American animator, producer, and director of animated shorts. Born on March 29, 1909, in Utah, Kinney spent most of his career at Walt Disney Productions and is best known for directing the first film in the Donald Duck series to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also directed numerous films for the Goofy series and is credited with many of the series' most notable creations. In total, Kinney directed 39 entries in the Goofy series. Alongside his work on short films, Kinney directed 10 of the Disney theatrical feature films including Pinocchio, Dumbo, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. He left Disney in 1958 having worked there for 27 years, and went on to form his own independent animation studio, Kinney-Adelquist Productions, Inc. He also had successful stints working on the Popeye the Sailor television series and on many Saturday morning cartoons for Hanna-Barbera. Kinney's contributions to the art of animation were recognized with a Winsor McCay Award in 1983.