Bill Littlejohn

Who was Bill Littlejohn?

William Charles "Bill" Littlejohn was an American animator and union organizer. Littlejohn worked on both animated shorts and features from the 1930s through to the 1990s. His notable works include the Tom and Jerry shorts, the Peanuts television specials, the Oscar-winning short, "The Hole", and the Oscar-nominated "A Doonesbury Special". He has been inducted into the Cartoon Hall of Fame and received the Winsor McCay Award and lifetime achievement awards from the Annie Awards and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Director Michael Sporn has called Littlejohn "an animation 'God'."

Littlejohn was also co-founded and served as the first president of the Screen Cartoonists Guild Local #852 in 1938. He led the effort to gain recognition for the union at the major Hollywood animation studios. When Walt Disney refused to negotiate with the union and fired 16 pro-union artists, Littlejohn led the union in the 1941 Disney animators strike. The strike lasted nine weeks and resulted in Disney's recognition of the union, substantial salary increases, a 40-hour work week and screen credits. The Disney strike has been recognized as a watershed moment in the movement to unionize the animation industry.