Rudy Larriva

Directing • 1916-02-12 • El Paso, Texas, USA

Rudolph "Rudy" Larriva (February 12, 1916 – February 19, 2010) was an American animator and director from the 1940s to the 1980s. Larriva worked at a number of studios, including Format Films, Filmation, and Walt Disney Productions, but is best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons and UPA. He was an animator in Chuck Jones' unit, starting in 1939 with the short Dog Gone Modern. He later animated for shorts like Elmer's Pet Rabbit and Porky's Cafe. Larriva was considered by Jones to be his top animator in the late 1930s and early 1940s, where he particularly delivered Disney-quality animation. Some of the productions he worked on include the 1965-1967 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Format Films, Song of the South, Mr. Magoo (the first short, "The Ragtime Bear"), Gerald McBoing Boing, Fangface, The Alvin Show and The Lone Ranger. He was also the animation director of The Twilight Zone opening titles for 1959–1960. He died in Irvine, California on February 19, 2010, aged 94. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]