Burnette 'Burny' Mattinson, who died on Monday after a short illness, was the longest-serving employee of The Walt Disney Company. He joined the organisation as a teenager in 1953, working in the post room before becoming part of the animating team as an assistant on the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp.
He was a vital part of several Disney productions, including many of the company's contemporary classics. Here are five of his career-defining films.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
Mattinson worked as an assistant animator on the film. It was the second he worked on in that capacity after 1959's Sleeping Beauty, with the renowned Marc Davis. For the next decade, he would work alongside another revered Disney animator, Eric Larson, on several titles including the television series Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, which ran from 1961-1979, 1964 film Mary Poppins and the 1970 films The Jungle Book and The Aristocats.
Robin Hood (1973)
Mattinson’s big break as a fully fledged animator came with the 1973 film Robin Hood, which he worked on after an eight-week training programme at Disney. He then became a key animator on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too (1974) and did the storyboards for the 1977 film The Rescuers.
“Storyboards are as close to direction as you can get,” Mattinson once said. “You’re telling cameras where to go, what’s happening on screen, where to cut and really making a blueprint for the film.”
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
This film was another milestone in Mattinson’s career. After hearing the 1974 Disneyland Records album An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Mattinson sent the music, along with an idea for a film, to then head of The Walt Disney Studio Ron Miller.
The move was a brazen one by the still-budding animator, but it would prove to be fruitful. Miller assigned Mattinson to direct and produce Mickey’s Christmas Carol, paving the way for his next big project as a director — The Great Mouse Detective, a 1986 mystery adventure about a kidnapped toymaker.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Besides being an important animator at Disney, Mattinson was also revered for his contributions to the stories of some of the highest-regarded classics in the company’s oeuvre.
His most prolific stint as a story contributor to Disney began with the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast. After proving his prowess, Mattinson worked on several other would-be classics, including Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999).
Big Hero 6 (2014)
One of Mattinson’s final projects as a story artist in the animation department, Big Hero 6 was released in 2014. It tells the story of the relationship between an inflatable robot named Baymax and tech prodigy Hiro Hamada, and was a critical success.
Mattinson's last film as part of Disney’s art department was the 2022 film Strange World. It tells the story of a family of explorers who find themselves in an unmapped land with extraordinary creatures.
Scroll through the gallery below to see other people we've lost in 2023 so far
-
American comedian Kelly Monteith died on January 1 aged 80. Getty Images -
Daredevil rally driver Ken Block died on January 2 aged 55. EPA -
Child actor Adam Rich died on January 7 aged 54. AP -
British guitarist Jeff Beck died on January 10 aged 78. AFP -
German model Tatjana Patitz died on January 11 aged 56. Reuters -
Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, died on January 12 aged 54. Reuters -
Italian movie star Gina Lollobrigida, one of the last from the Golden Age of Hollywood, died on January 16 at 95. PA News -
Wrestlers and brothers Jay, right, and Mark Briscoe. Jay died on January 17 aged 38. jaybriscoe84 / Twitter -
American folk-rock star David Crosby died on January 18 aged 81. EPA -
Balkrishna Doshi, one of India’s most distinguished architects, died on January 24 aged 95. AP -
TikTok star Randy Gonzalez died on January 25 aged 35. @enkyboys / Instagram -
Cindy Williams, who played Shirley on the hit sitcom Laverne & Shirley, died on January 25 aged 75. AFP -
Barrett Strong, one of Motown’s founding artists, died on January 29 aged 81. AP -
The Last of Us and 24 actress Annie Wersching died on January 29 aged 45. AP -
South Indian director and actor K Viswanath died on February 2 aged 92. Photo: Wikimedia Commons -
Fashion designer Paco Rabanne died on February 3 aged 88. Reuters -
Veteran Indian singer Vani Jayaram died in Chennai on February 4 aged 78. Photo: Twitter -
Pop composer Burt Bacharach died on February 8 aged 94. AFP -
South African rap sensation Kiernan Forbes, popularly known as AKA, died on February 10 aged 35. AFP -
David 'Trugoy the Dove' Jolicoeur of the US hip-hop band De La Soul died on February 12 aged 54. EPA -
Manga artist Leiji Matsumoto died on February 13 aged 85. AP -
American actress Raquel Welch died at the age of 82 on February 15. EPA -
Stella Stevens, pictured in New York in 1968, died on February 18 aged 84. AP -
Law & Order actor Richard Belzer died aged 78 on February 19. AP -
Jansen Panettiere, who appeared in shows such as Major Crimes and The Walking Dead, died aged 28 on February 19. Getty -
Football commentator John Motson died on February 23 aged 77. PA -
Hollywood film producer Walter Mirisch died aged 101 on February 24. AP -
Animator and director Burny Mattinson worked with Disney for nearly 70 years until his death aged 87 on February 27. WireImage -
French football player Just Fontaine died aged 89 on March 1. EPA -
Pulp bassist Steve Mackey, right, died aged 56 on March 2. Getty -
Wayne Shorter, an influential jazz musician, died aged 89 on March 2. AFP -
Architect Rafael Vinoly died aged 78 on March 2. Getty -
Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore died aged 61 on March 3. Reuters -
Gary Rossington, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, died aged 71 on March 5. EPA -
Pakistani actor Qavi Khan died aged 80 on March 5. Photo: Parveen Shah Productions -
Bollywood actor, comedian, writer and director Satish Kaushik died aged 66 on March 8. Jeff Topping / The National -
Israeli actor Chaim Topol died aged 87 on March 8. AP -
British TV presenter and comedian Paul O'Grady died on March 28 at the age of 67. PA -
Moonbin, a member of K-pop boy band Astra, died at the age of 25 on April 19. AFP -
Bodybuilding social media influencer Jo Lindner, popularly known as Joesthetics, died on July 1 at the age of 30. @joesthetics / Instagram -
Peter Hellyer, who moved to the UAE in the 1970s, died on July 2 at the age of 75. Pawan Singh / The National -
British-French actress and singer Jane Birkin, who inspired the famous Hermes Birkin bag, died aged 76 on July 16. AFP -
American musician Tony Bennett died on July 21 at the age of 96. Reuters -
Acclaimed Irish singer Sinead O’Connor died at the age of 56 on July 26. Sarah Dea / The National -
Matthew Perry, one of the stars of TV sitcom Friends, died on October 28 aged 54. AFP -
Former US first lady Rosalynn Carter died at the age of 96 on November 19. AP -
South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known for his role in Parasite, died on December 27 aged 48. Reuters
