This Thursday, May 3rd, is Ray’s 94th birthday. Who is Ray Favata? His friend and colleague Jim Martin wrote: “Ray Favata had an interest in drawing since he was a child. His artistic talents led him to a position in the US Army’s art department during World War II. His formal career in animation began in 1951, when he was discovered by Dave Hilberman at Tempo Productions, a leading animation studio in New York City. Favata continued to build his own reputation working with many other studios throughout the years including Terrytoons, Academy, UPA, Dancer Fitzgerald, and Romper Room among others. Many of the characters he worked on such as Sugar Bear, Granny Goodwitch, Billy Jo Jive, Charmkins, The Great Space Coaster, and My Little Pony, are not only familiar to the baby boomers of the time, but also have a following to this day. Later in his career, Favata joined Jumbo Productions where he worked on a new character named “Doug” created by Jim Jinkins. Favata eventually worked with Disney when Jumbo became a Disney product.”

Fans of Ray’s are encouraged to visit his facebook page and wish him a Happy Birthday!

Here are a couple of examples of Ray Favata’s great work. Happy Birthday, Ray!

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.

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