Rokuro "Bob" Kuwahara[1] (August 12, 1901 – 1964) was a Japanese-bornAmericananimator best known for his work withWalt Disney andTerrytoons between the 1930s and 1960s.
Kuwahara was born inTokyo on August 12, 1901, and his family moved to the United States in 1910, where he graduated from Los AngelesPolytechnic High School in 1921. After high school he attended theOtis Art Institute in Los Angeles until 1928. In 1929 Kuwahara moved toNew York City to work as a commercial artist, but theWall Street crash of 1929 forced him to return to Los Angeles.
In 1932 Kuwahara began working as an animator and writer for Walt Disney, where he had a hand in shorts likeThru the Mirror and theAcademy Award-nominatedWho Killed Cock Robin?, as well as the feature-length filmSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In 1937 Kuwahara went to work for theMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, but later spent three years in theHeart Mountain internment camp duringWorld War II following the signing ofExecutive Order 9066.[2]
In 1945 Kuwahara and his family moved toLarchmont, New York where he wrote and drew acomic strip calledMiki for five years before low circulation forced him to drop the strip. In 1950 Kuwahara returned to animation, signing on withPaul Terry'sTerrytoons studio, and stayed with the studio followingCBS' purchase of the studio in 1955. In 1959 Kuwahara wrote and directed the first of 14Hashimoto-san theatrical shorts, for which he is probably best remembered today. Production of these shorts continued until 1963, after which time they were incorporated into CBS'The Hector Heathcote Show. During the same period Kuwahara was also a director for the popularDeputy Dawg series. Kuwahara's final TV series was 1965's syndicatedThe Astronut Show.
Kuwahara died in 1964. He was survived by a wife, Julia (1904–1996), and two sons, Denis and Michel.
