Wolfgang Reitherman Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography

Wolfgang Reitherman

Wolfgang Reitherman

Visual Effects

Biography

Wolfgang Reitherman (June 26, 1909 – May 22, 1985) was a German-American animator and filmmaker. He began working for Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts, including The Band Concert, Music Land, and Elmer Elephant and in all, Reitherman worked on various Disney feature films produced from 1937 to 1981, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Slave in the Magic Mirror) to The Fox and the Hound (co-producer). He did the climatic dinosaur fight in Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in Fantasia, the Headless Horseman chase in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" section in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the Crocodile in Peter Pan, and Maleficent as a dragon in Sleeping Beauty (the former three he animated and the latter he directed). Beginning with 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, "Woolie", as he was called by friends, served as Disney's chief animation director. One of Reitherman's productions, the 1968 short Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also served as a producer and sequence director, and starred as himself in the 1941 feature film The Reluctant Dragon. All three of Reitherman's sons — Bruce, Richard and Robert — provided voices for Disney characters, including Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, and Wart in The Sword in the Stone. Reitherman directed several Disney animated feature films including, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970),Robin Hood (1973) and The Rescuers (1977). He is also known for reusing animation in movies directed by him. According to Floyd Norman, this was just one of his trademarks, and had nothing to do with time or cost savings: "Woolie was our director on The Jungle Book. Reuse was just Woolie’s thing. He never did it to save money. I really don’t think the “Old Guard” ever had any interest in saving money. I was never a big fan of reuse, but it wasn’t my place to tell these old guys what to do. One final thought. It never seemed to bother Walt, and I never heard him complain about reuse."

Filmography Movies

Acting

The Pixar Story movie poster
MOVIE

The Pixar Story

7.6(0.2K)
The Pixar Story
Self (archive footage)
Waking Sleeping Beauty movie poster
MOVIE

Waking Sleeping Beauty

7.2(0.1K)
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Self (archive footage)
Mickey, les J.O. rigolos movie poster
MOVIE

Mickey, les J.O. rigolos

5.0(0.0K)
Mickey, les J.O. rigolos
A Story of Dogs movie poster
MOVIE
A Story of Dogs
Self
The Making of 'Pinocchio': No Strings Attached movie poster
MOVIE

The Making of 'Pinocchio': No Strings Attached

Not rated yet
The Making of 'Pinocchio': No Strings Attached
Self (Archive Footage)
From Walt's Table: A Tribute to Disney's Nine Old Men movie poster
MOVIE

From Walt's Table: A Tribute to Disney's Nine Old Men

10.0(0.0K)
From Walt's Table: A Tribute to Disney's Nine Old Men
Self (Archive Footage)
From Fantasia to FantasylandMOVIE
MOVIE

From Fantasia to Fantasyland

Not rated yet
From Fantasia to Fantasyland
self

Production

The Aristocats movie poster
MOVIE

The Aristocats

7.3(5.4K)
The Aristocats
Director
The Aristocats movie poster
MOVIE

The Aristocats

7.3(5.4K)
The Aristocats
Producer
The Rescuers movie poster
MOVIE

The Rescuers

6.8(2.7K)
The Rescuers
Director
The Rescuers movie poster
MOVIE

The Rescuers

6.8(2.7K)
The Rescuers
Producer
Mickey and the Beanstalk movie poster
MOVIE

Mickey and the Beanstalk

6.8(0.3K)
Mickey and the Beanstalk
Animation
Robin Hood movie poster
MOVIE

Robin Hood

7.3(4.6K)
Robin Hood
Director
Robin Hood movie poster
MOVIE

Robin Hood

7.3(4.6K)
Robin Hood
Producer
The Sword in the Stone movie poster
MOVIE

The Sword in the Stone

7.2(4.1K)
The Sword in the Stone
Director
The Jungle Book movie poster
MOVIE

The Jungle Book

7.3(6.7K)
The Jungle Book
Director
One Hundred and One Dalmatians movie poster
MOVIE

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

7.2(6.7K)
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Director

Gallery

Wolfgang Reitherman portrait
Wolfgang Reitherman portrait
Wolfgang Reitherman portrait
Wolfgang Reitherman portrait