Earl Hurd | |
|---|---|
 Hurd in 1917, with Bobby Bumps superimposed | |
| Born | (1880-09-14)September 14, 1880 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.[1] |
| Died | September 28, 1940(1940-09-28) (aged 60) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Animator,film director,comic stripcartoonist |
| Years active | 1911–1940 |
| Relatives | Andy Luckey (cousin twice removed) |
Earl Hurd (September 14, 1880 – September 28, 1940) was a pioneering Americananimator andfilm director. He is noted for creating and producing thesilentBobby Bumpsanimatedshort subject series for early animation producerJ.R. Bray'sBray Productions. Hurd and Bray are jointly responsible for developing the processes involved incel animation, and were granted patents for their processes in 1914.[2]
AnimatorAndy Luckey is a maternal cousin, twice removed, of Hurd's.
Hurd, a native ofKansas City, Missouri, was a cartoonist for The Chicago Journal andThe New York Herald. He then later worked for Bray Productions. Inspired by the cartoon characterBuster Brown, Hurd invented the cartoon character Bobby Bumps, and his series of cartoons lasted from 1915 to 1925. The series is notable for the first example of a character appearing "out of the inkwell", years before theFleischer Brothers. He and Bray developed and patented cel animation in 1914, which eliminated needs to redraw the background. They made a profit off of it with the Bray-Hurd Processing Co. until 1932, when the patent went into thepublic domain. After Bray, he worked forThe Van Beuren Corporation, before ultimately making his own studio, making animations from 1922 to 1925.[2][3][4]
He worked later at theIwerks studio and theWalt Disney studio as astoryboard artist. Animation historian Giannalberto Bendazzi has called Hurd "probably the best American animator of his time" after Bray and said of his films that they "display an uncommon visual inventiveness, gentle humour and attention to drawing and scenography".[1][4]
Hurd died on September 28, 1940, in his home inBurbank, California.[4]
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