Burton Fred Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was an American animator and film director. He is particularly noted for his direction of early Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons for Walt Disney Productions.
After a couple jobs as a newspaper cartoonist, Gillett entered the animated cartoon industry during its early beginnings in New York. He animated popular characters like Mutt and Jeff, Koko the Clown, Krazy Kat, and Felix the Cat with a variety of pioneer cartoonists. At one point he briefly ran his own studio, Associated Animators. Gillett moved to Los Angeles was recruited as an animator at Disney, eventually being promoted to layout artist and after as one of Disney's first dedicated directors.
Gillett was offered a job at The Van Beuren Corporation to supervise the entire operation of its cartoon facility and upgrade its output to compete with Disney. This stint came with multiple production issues from Gillett's alleged arrogance and erratic direction methods, which brought on some of the earliest union activity in the animation industry until the studio closed in 1936. After another directorial stint at Disney, among a couple other short jobs, Gillett left the animation industry in 1939.
Gillett's most famous contributions to animation were for Disney, particularly on the 1932 short film Flowers and Trees and the 1933 short film Three Little Pigs. Both films won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and were selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry.
Early life Born in Elmira, New York to Lewis Martin Gillett and Fra McClure, Gillett moved to Pennsylvania during his high school years, where his early artistic contributions included multiple issues in the amateur artists page of Judge magazine, one of which won him a prize in a drawing contest. Subsequently, Gillett traveled to New York to study at the Art Students League. The 1910 U.S. Census lists him as living in both Connellsville, Pennsylvania"Pennsylvania, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RJZ-9YX?view=explore : Jul 11, 2026), image 181 of 1143; United States. National Archives and Records Administration.
Image Group Number: 004973411 and New York City, working as a cashier for a lumber company."New York, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRVF-3VF?view=explore : Jul 11, 2026), image 679 of 1222; United States. National Archives and Records Administration.
Image Group Number: 004973040
Career
Early career Burt Gillett started his creative career contributing cartoons to The Connellsville News, then became the head of the Newburgh Daily News' art department in 1912. Gillett moved careers from newspaper cartooning to animation in 1918 when he was employed by the International Film Service, an early animation studio under the ownership of William Randolph Hearst and the supervision of Gregory La Cava.Maltin (1987), p. 12 The studio had been formed in 1915 and first employed experienced animators Frank Moser and William Nolan.Maltin (1987), p. 12 By July of the same year, the studio shut down, and Gillett relocated to The Mutt and Jeff Film Company, headed by Charles Bowers, with animation veteran Raoul Barré joining soon after, causing the studio to be renamed Barré-Bowers.Maltin (1987), p. 13 Gillett had been hired among a group of notable co-workers like Jack King, Izzy Klein, Walter Lantz, Ben Sharpsteen and Vernon Stallings.Maltin (1987), p. 13 He switched between these two jobs in brief periods, working at Hearst's reopened studio in 1919 and moving back to the old Barré-Bowers studio in 1921 after IFS shut its doors. Barré-Bowers studio was renamed Jefferson Film Corporation, supervised by Dick Friel, then Gillett briefly assumed directorial duties before the studio shuttered in 1922.
Gillett found himself at Max Fleischer's cartoon studio, animating on Out of the Inkwell cartoons with Koko the Clown. Subsequently, in 1925 Gillett formed his own studio, named Associated Animators, with veteran New York animators Ben Harrison, Manny Gould, and Dick Huemer serving as partners. The independent studio produced 26 cartoons, then shut down in mid-1926, leading Gillett to join Pat Sullivan's studio to work on Felix the Cat cartoons.
Walt Disney Studio
In 1929, Gillett joined the Walt Disney Studio where he started out primarily animating and soon after laying out scenes on Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts.Barrier (1999), p. 60 At this point, Ub Iwerks was the only experienced animator on staff. Walt Disney visited New York City with the goal of hiring more experienced staff. The first notable animator hired this way was Ben Sharpsteen, a veteran of the Fleischer Studios. A visit by Disney to the studio of Pat Sullivan resulted in Disney hiring Gillett, the second New York animator to be hired. He started working for Disney in April, 1929.Barrier (2007), p. 71–72
The move of the two New Yorkers to the studio coincided with a significant change in the way the staff functioned. Up to 1929, Walt Disney had been the de facto director of most of the studio's films, but now he was pulling back and establishing new directors. Gillett soon moved into the "music room" (the director's office). The division of responsibilities between them was still, however, informal and somewhat unclear. Disney did not hesitate to intervene and criticize Gillett in front of fellow staff members.Barrier (2007), p. 71–72
By the Summer of 1929, Iwerks and Gillett were the primary directors of the studio. Iwerks was tasked with directing the Silly Symphonies shorts, and Gillett directed the Mickey Mouse shorts as early as Mickey's Choo Choo.Barrier (1999), pp. 60-61 The Gillett-directed Mickey shorts The Chain Gang and The Picnic, released the following year, marked the earliest appearances of Pluto. The involvement of Disney himself in production details declined during this period.Barrier (2007), p. 74 When Iwerks left the studio in 1930, Gillett assumed directorial duties of Silly Symphonies cartoons, starting with Cannibal Capers.Barrier (1999), p. 67 Gillett was remembered by animators for his exuberant acting and enthusiasm when planning out shorts with staffers.Barrier (1999), p. 102 He eventually directed the Academy Award winners Flowers and Trees and The Three Little Pigs, the former the earliest Disney short to employ Technicolor and the latter one of the earliest attempts at more defined character animation, and one most successful animated shorts of the 1930s.Maltin (1987), p. 41
Van Beuren Studio Due to the success of The Three Little Pigs, Gillett was recruited to run the Van Beuren Studios in 1934 to more effectively compete with Disney.Barrier (1999), p. 169 At Van Beuren, Gillett hired a young Joseph Barbera for $25 a week for one of his earliest jobs in animation.Joseph Barbera: My Life in 'Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century, Turner Pub, Nashville 1995, , p. 45 He first started a series of live-action and animation hybrid shorts called Toddle Tales, which featured live children interacting with animated characters in wraparound segments for animated stories, of which three were released.Maltin (1987), p. 205 Then, he directed the all-color series of Rainbow Parade animated shorts, mostly featuring one-off characters but sometimes including recurring characters like Molly Moo-Cow.Maltin (1987), p. 205 Gillett shifted the studio production to producing only color cartoon shorts, an innovative step for early animation. The Rainbow Parade shorts imitated the Silly Symphonies, and immediately phased out the studio's prior established series and characters.Koszarski (2008), p. 319-320
The failure of both attempts highlighted the weaknesses of his efforts to integrate the West Coast style of Disney with the East Coast style of Van Beuren. Most of these films diverted from the absurdist energy and imagination of earlier products of the studio, while also not fully reaching the Disney charm, graphic sophistication, and story structure they intended to compete with.Maltin (1987), p. 205 In 1936, Gillett attempted to revive series focusing on the Toonerville Trolley and Felix the Cat. Despite the weaknesses of the whole series' direction, these films were more ambitiously produced, commercially successful, and acclaimed by audiences of the time.Maltin (1987), p. 207
Van Beuren Studios released its films through a distribution deal with RKO Pictures. In 1936, RKO signed an exclusive distribution deal with the Disney studio, consequently dumping Van Beuren.Barrier (1999), p. 170 RKO pulled out of its deal with Van Beuren's animation division after the 1935-36 contract expired, and the studio closed after remaining cartoons were finished.Maltin (1987), p. 207-208
Later career After a month-long vacation in England, Gillett returned to Disney on August 22, 1936, where he directed the Mickey Mouse cartoon Lonesome Ghosts. Gillett was fired in 1937, cited by some accounts for his behavior and for constantly running over budget. Two other cartoons were still in production under Gillett's supervision, the Silly Symphony Moth and the Flame and Mickey Mouse's Brave Little Tailor, but animator Dick Huemer replaced Gillett as director of the former while animator Bill Roberts took over directorial duties of the latter.
Gillett was offered a job at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's cartoon studio and directed there in 1938, but left after a few months. Later that year, he then directed and wrote cartoons at Walter Lantz Productions,Sito (2006), unnumbered pages sometimes using the pseudonym "Gil Burton". Walter Lantz considered Gillett to be a perfectionist who worked by trial-and-error and constantly ran over budget. Gillett's shorts at Lantz rapidly ran significantly over budget and behind schedule, partially contributing to the studio's brief closure in 1940 (after distributor Universal cut the studio's weekly advance, facilitating financial unsustainable shortages).
By the time Gillett left Lantz, his extremely poor reputation in both New York and California's animator community led to him retiring from the animation industry; the 1940 U.S. Census listing him as unemployed and unable to work since the previous year."California, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9MT-DSJ1?view=explore : Jul 11, 2026), image 10 of 935; United States. National Archives and Records Administration.
Image Group Number: 005456297 Gillett stayed in Los Angeles, working at a McDonnell's Drive-In restaurant in 1942,"California, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-7JYL-3?view=explore : Jul 11, 2026), image 2283 of 2662; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Pacific Region, San Francisco.
Image Group Number: 004669299 as a machine operator a year later,"Orange, California, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93W-YBB?view=explore : Jul 11, 2026), image 1070 of 2445; California. County Court (Orange County).
Image Group Number: 005698362 and as a maintenance worker at a candy company in 1950."Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHJ-5QHW-MKLF?view=explore : Jul 11, 2026), image 39 of 49; National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 108822381 Gillett died in 1971 in Los Angeles, California.
Personal life