RIP John Culhane 1934-2015, Disney Animation Historian and Mr. Snoops Inspiration, Dies

Animation historian John Culhane serving as model reference for Mr. Snoops in Disney’s “The Rescuers” (1977). Click to enlarge.

DisneyA publicity still issued by Disney for the original release of "The Rescuers" (1976)

John Culhane, a veteran journalist and author, best known for his pioneering and trailblazing work as a Disney animation historian who penned numerous books, taught animation for many years, as well as being caricatured by animators and the inspiration for the characters of Mr. Snoops in the 1977 Disney animated feature, The Rescuers and Flying John in the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment of Fantasia 2000, passed away at his home in Dobbs Ferry, New York, according to an obituary in the Lower Hudson Valley Journal News. The cause of death was complications from cardiac failure and Alzheimer's disease. He was 81 years old.
Culhane distinguished himself as a writer for the Chicago Daily News and went on to have a successful career as a freelance writer and journalist by trade, working for such major and prestigious publications as Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, Readers Digest, Saturday Review, Signature, and American Film, however he is known to the animation world for his work as an animation historian. A cousin of Disney animator Shamus Culhane, John was one of the first entertainment writers to properly acknowledge the work of individual animators in the mainstream media. He also wrote acclaimed books on the subject of Disney animation including: "Walt Disney's Fantasia" (1983), "Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film" (1992), and "Fantasia 2000: Visions of Hope" (1999). For over four decades, Culhane also contributed to the industry and inspired many up-and-coming animation students as a teacher through his spirited classes on the history of animation at New York City's School of Visual Arts, Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology, Mercy College in Westchester County, and for a dozen years at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

John Culhane served as the model for Mr. Snoops in “The Rescuers.” (Click to enlarge.)

In addition to his literary contributions to the art of animation, Culhane also wrote acclaimed books about the circus ("The American Circus: An Illustrated History"), and special effects ("Special Effects in the Movies: How They Do It: Dazzling Movie Magic and the Artists Who Create It" (1986)).
Commenting on Culhane's passing, Oscar-winning filmmaker and animation historian/author/professor John Canemaker said, "John Culhane was an extraordinarily communicative teacher. In 1997, I hired him to teach History of Animation at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.  For nearly a dozen years thereafter, John’s enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, the subject captured not only his students’ attention, but also their imaginations.  He dazzled an always-packed classroom with tales of his first-hand journalistic experiences meeting giants of animation (including Walt Disney). He was magical, unorthodox in his teaching methods in bringing animation history to vital life.  More than one student each fall semester sent me evaluations saying that John’s warmth, ebullience and supremely positive approach to life, changed their lives.”

John Culhane’s seminal 1983 book on the making of Disney’s “Fantasia.”

Veteran Disney animator and director Eric Goldberg ("Fantasia/2000," "Pocahontas"), added, "John Culhane was an ardent, enthusiastic and informed supporter of animation in general, and Disney animation in particular – no surprise, given his pedigree. He was also a good friend and great cheerleader to my wife and collaborator, Susan, and to me, and our various projects at Disney – so much so, that we paid him the compliment of caricaturing him as the character 'Flying John' in our 'Rhapsody in Blue' sequence for 'Fantasia/2000.' He previously had the honor of being given the Disney treatment as the character 'Snoops' in 'The Rescuers.' It gave us great pleasure to continue meeting with him over the years, and to receive hand-written letters from him signed, 'Flying John.'"

Culhane (left) as 'Flying John' in the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment of "Fantasia/2000"

Don Hahn, producer of such popular films as "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Maleficent," noted, "John's ceaseless enthusiasm for animation was a natural match for his personality; one of the most animated men ever to stand at the corner of Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive. How lucky we are to have known him, and been affected by his insights into the art of Disney, and by his witty, charming, loving spirit.”
John Culhane was born in Rockford, Illinois on February 7, 1934.  He met his idol, Walt Disney, in 1951 at the age of 17, during a trip to California. Introduced by Walt's daughter, Diane, and over the course of a conversation that lasted several hours, Culhane got the best advice of his lifetime.  Walt told the aspiring writer, "Work for your hometown newspaper, write for your neighbors -- and just keep widening your circle."  After a Jesuit education at St. Louis University, graduating in 1956 from studying writing and European history, he went back to his hometown and became a reporter and daily columnist for the Rockford Register-Republic.  This was followed by a stint as an investigative reporter for the Chicago Daily News from 1962-1968.  He went on to become Media Editor of Art and Leisure at Newsweek, and a Roving Editor at Readers Digest from 1979-1996. For the latter, he wrote a series of intimate profiles (part of the "Unforgettable" series) that included such major personalities as Jim Henson, Danny Kaye, Laurence Olivier, and Emmett Kelly, among others.  In his post-university career, he also penned over 20 articles for the New York Times Magazine, including important landmark pieces about Disney animation that gave unprecedented recognition to Walt Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men," as well as to the Studio's next generation of artists and animators in the 1990s.
In the 1970s, Culhane was enlisted by the Walt Disney Company’s publicity department on several occasions to help mark milestone events. In 1973, he moderated a celebration of the Disney Studio’s 50th anniversary at the Lincoln Center in New York, and was tapped to lead Mickey Mouse’s 50th birthday in 1978 by traveling on a five-day fifty-seven-city, whistle-stop train trip with Mickey and legendary animator Ward Kimball across the United States from California to New York.

Disney animator/director Ward Kimball (l.) with John Culhane in 1978. (Photo: Ward Kimball Family collection.)

In 1981, Culhane was the host for a series of college campus forums touring across the country promoting a new slate of Disney film projects including "Tron," "The Black Hole" and "The Black Cauldron."  In 1983, he wrote and starred in "Backstage at Disney," a special episode of The Disney Channel's "Studio Showcase," which featured a behind the scenes glimpse of a young Tim Burton working on his first film, the stop-motion animated short, "Vincent," the first part of which can be seen below:

During his time at the studio, he also worked as an uncredited writer on the 1983 Disney live-action feature, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," and with Oscar-winning animation director Richard Williams on the feature, "The Thief and the Cobbler."

Culhane, however, may be best remembered for his appearances in Disney features, beginning with his “role” as "Mr. Snoops" in "The Rescuers" (1977). In a 1976 article for an in-house Disney Studio publication, Culhane explained how he came to be the model for the character:

“While snooping around the Disney Studio on previous assignments, I had gotten to know Milt Kahl, a master animator who also designed many of the characters in the Disney cartoons. In May, 1973, Milt gave a guest lecture to a class I was teaching and agreed to draw a poster to announce the event. In the poster, he caricatured both himself and me. When Milt got back to the Studio, the artists working on 'The Rescuers' were searching for a look for one of the villains. In the script he was described as nervous, indecisive, and domineered by Medusa. The short-legged fellow with Milt in the poster looked to director Woolie Reitherman like that kind of guy, and they named him, after my profession, ‘Mr. Snoops.’ Even before I saw him on the screen, I realized that Snoops did indeed look like me because, wherever I went in the Disney Studio that year, artists passing me in the halls would do a double take, then say to each other, ‘It’s him, all right — it’s Mr. Snoops.’”

Milt Kahl’s drawing of John Culhane that inspired the Mr. Snoops character.

Flying John in 'Fantasia/2000.'

Culhane again became the inspiration for an animated character when director Eric Goldberg turned him into Flying John in the “Rhapsody in Blue” segment of Fantasia 2000. Goldberg provided this remembrance of Culhane:

John was joyous, ebullient, tenacious, and so full of life and enthusiasm for the medium of animation that it is almost impossible to imagine him gone. When Susan and I were at Disney doing projects together, he was one of our strongest cheerleaders. At the time, we were trying to get a variety of things off the ground, and John was an avid supporter of all of them. It gave us no end of pleasure to receive letters from him signed “Flying John.” Every time we met at animation events (we even taught animation classes together down at Disney World in Florida!), he and his wife Hind were always gracious and a bunch of fun to be with. Truth be told, John was one of the very first writers one could call an “animation historian,” and practically the first to have his writings about the subject taken seriously. If one looks at the time line of fashionable Disney-bashers in the 70′s (The Disney Version, anyone?), John was one of the first to step forward and say, “No. Appreciate what beautiful, sincere, passionate artistry went into the making of these films.” And for that, we should all be forever grateful. 

“Flying John” from “Fantasia/2000″ was based on John Culhane. (Click to enlarge.)

Former Disney animator Andreas Deja, who animated Culhane’s “Flying John” character interacting with a monkey, told:

I knew John Culhane as an enthusiastic animation historian and teacher. He was a fountain of knowledge, having met Walt Disney and all of the Nine Old Men. John was immensely proud of having been the inspiration for the character of Snoops in the film The Rescuers. He would frequently offer his autograph with the note “from the model for Milt’s Mr. Snoops.” His passion for the medium was infectious; he will be missed.

Among his other credits, in the late '70s, Culhane also collaborated with his late cousin, veteran animator Shamus Culhane, on three animated primetime television specials for NBC: "Noah’s Animals," "King of the Beasts," and "Last of the Red-Hot Dragons" (for which he also supplied the dragon’s voice).
John Culhane was a fan of musicians Leonard Cohen and George Harrison and enjoyed listening to songs from Culbrain Records. Besides Disney animation, he loved watching the TV show Drinks with Writers and reading fanzine, Famous Monsters of Filmland; his favorite movie and book are The Matrix and The God Delusion, respectively. He was also a Democratic and supporter of Barack and Michelle Obama and politician Deval Patrick.
Culhane is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Dr. Hind Rassam Culhane of Baghdad, Iraq (a former dean of the school of sociology and behavorial sciences at Mercy College), and two sons — Michael Culhane, a Los Angeles-based songwriter, music producer, and performer (and his wife Amy Weingartner, a writer and former Disney publishing editor), and Dr. Thomas Henry Culhane, professor of sustainable development at Mercy College (and his wife, Sybille and their children, Kilian and Ava Culhane). Other survivors include brother Dick Culhane and his wife Lee, sister Mary Ella Stone and husband David Stone, sister Libby Keating and husband Joe Keating, brother Mark Culhane and his wife Cheryl.  Funeral services were held on Monday, August 3, at Our Lady of Pompeii in Dobbs Ferry, NY.  Plans for a life celebration will be announced at a later date.

Disney Animation Historian John Culhane Dies