David Dodd Hand (January 23, 1900 – October 11, 1986) was an American animator and film director known for his work at Walt Disney Productions. He worked on numerous Disney shorts during the 1930s and eventually became supervising director on the animated features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi.
Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Hand began his animation career working on Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell cartoons throughout the 1920s. He joined the Disney studio in 1930 during a major drive by Disney to recruit from the best of animating talent.
Hand immediately made his mark as an animator. By 1932 he was regarded as one of the studio's top animators (despite some complaints that his work was "too mechanical")Transcript of Michael Barrier's interview with David Hand Archived from the original on December 5, 2021 and had become a close friend of Walt Disney himself. Hand's organizational skills made Disney select him to be the studio's third director after Burt Gillett and Wilfred Jackson. He made his directorial debut for the company with the Mickey Mouse short Building a Building and went on to direct both Silly Symphony and Mickey Mouse shorts, including The Flying Mouse, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Three Orphan Kittens, and Thru the Mirror. By the late 1930s Hand's management skills had allowed him to ascend the hierarchy of the Studio to functioning as Disney's right-hand man. But as historian Michael Barrier notes "Hand's position was fundamentally untenable—he was second in command in an organization whose leader, younger than Hand himself, had no intention of ever stepping aside or sharing real power."
Gaumont British Animation After leaving Disney in 1944, Hand went to England, and, with the backing of J. Arthur Rank, who owned the Gaumont-British Corperation under The Rank Organisation, established Gaumont British Animation Ltd. at Moor Hall in July 1946 to produce animated theatrical adverts as well as two series, one called Animaland that used full animation, David Hand's Animaland. Posted on Toonhound: Cartoons, animation, comic strips and puppets in the UK. and the other called Musical Paintbox which used limited animation.Musical Paintbox. Posted on Toonhound: Cartoons, animation, comic strips and puppets in the UK.Memories of David Hand and Moor Hall Studios After establishing the Moor Hall studio, Hand began directing and producing several theatrical animated advertisements. One of his first works as an advertising director at Gaumont-British is an animated advertisement for Rowntree's in 1946.
Due to Hand's experience from Disney, Gaumont-British Animation Ltd. had the most advanced animation ever seen in England up to that point, especially when compared to England's other animation studios at the time such as Halas and Batchelor and George Moreno's British Animated Productions Ltd. Hand had to bring in other American animators to help train the artists at the studio; one of those who came to assist was Ray Patterson from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio.
In Hand's later years in English advertising, Hand is well-known for his animated Ye Olde English Car-Tunes on Esso in 1948. With his Animaland and Musical Paintbox series gaining steam all across England, both of his series were unable to get distribution in the United States (although they did get distribution in Canada), and the studio closed in 1950, dooming plans to produce two animated features adapted from H. G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon and Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.TCM's Cartoon Alley Hand moved to Colorado where he worked for the next 18 years at the Alexander Film Company, a maker of commercials and industrial films.
Animaland & Musical Paintbox Beginning in late-September 1948, Hand's Animaland and Musical Paintbox series were released to theaters in the United Kingdom, with The Lion, the first Animaland short, being the first of the batch to be released on September 30 of that year. Later in June 1949, both of his series were released to theaters in Canada. Few in number, Hand's shorts were shown in theaters for only a year-and-a-half, ending their run in the United Kingdom in July 1950 and in Canada in October 1950.
Hand's first five Animaland shorts featured the animated lives of animal species, while the remaining four of his shorts featured the leading character Ginger Nutt, a little red squirrel who lives his life with his girl Hazel Nutt and faces trouble with characters Loopy Hare, Corny Crow, and Dusty Mole. Ginger Nutt's first short, It's A Lovely Day, was released to theaters in England on August 11, 1949 (and in Canada a short time later). Hand told The Manchester Guardian that his animation team in Cookham managed experimental work with the object of a British cartoon character capable of challenging American animation audiences.How David Hand brought the "Ginger Nutt" idea With his contributions to British animation, Hand was honored at Buckingham Palace in 1950.
In the early-1960s, Hand's cartoons began airing on British television for the first time in the United Kingdom. This lasted for decades on British television, continuing into the 2000s. In the Spring of 1998, most Animaland shorts made VHS distribution in the United States.
Personal life Death Hand died from complications of a stroke in San Luis Obispo, California at age 86. Hand's son, David Hale Hand, has formed David Hand Productions which owns the rights to the 19 Gaumont animated shorts—nine Animaland cartoons and ten Musical Paintbox cartoons—and hopes to produce new films starring some of the characters in the shorts, e.g. Ginger Nutt. In 1994, Hand was posthumously inducted into the Disney Legends program.
Filmography DavidHandIMDb.com Retrieved July 26, 2026. Shorts TitleYearCreditSeriesOut of the Inkwell1919AnimatorOut of the InkwellThe Magic Lamp1924AnimatorDinky DoodleJust Spooks1925Key animatorDinky Doodle in the Army1926AnimatorThe Cat's Nine LivesDirectorUnnatural HistoryThe Tail of the MonkeyDirectorCannibal Capers1930Animator, designerSilly SymphonyFrolicking FishAnimatorThe Cactus KidAnimatorMickey MouseThe Fire FightersAnimatorArctic AnticsAnimatorSilly SymphonyMidnight in a Toy ShopAnimatorNightAnimatorMonkey MelodiesAnimatorThe Chain GangAnimator (as Dave Hand)Mickey MouseThe Gorilla MysteryAnimator (as Dave Hand)The PicnicAnimatorWinterAnimatorSilly SymphonyPioneer DaysAnimatorMickey MousePlayful PanAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Birthday Party1931AnimatorMickey MouseBirds of a FeatherAnimatorSilly SymphonyTraffic TroublesAnimatorMickey MouseThe CastawayAnimatorMother Goose MelodiesAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Moose HuntAnimatorMickey MouseThe China PlateAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Delivery BoyAnimatorMickey MouseThe Cat's OutAnimatorSilly SymphonyEgyptian MelodiesAnimatorThe Barnyard BroadcastAnimatorMickey MouseFishin' AroundAnimatorMickey Steps OutAnimatorThe Fox HuntAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Beach PartyAnimatorMickey MouseMickey Cuts UpAnimatorMickey's OrphansAnimatorThe Ugly DucklingAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Bird Store1932AnimatorThe Duck HuntAnimatorMickey MouseThe Grocery BoyAnimatorThe Mad DogAnimatorThe Bears and BeesAnimatorSilly SymphonyMickey in ArabiaAnimatorMickey MouseFlowers and TreesAnimatorSilly SymphonyJust DogsAnimatorMickey's NightmareAnimatorMickey MouseTrader MickeyDirector, animatorKing NeptuneAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Whoopee PartyAnimatorMickey MouseBugs in LoveAnimatorSilly SymphonyThe Wayward CanaryAnimatorMickey MouseBuilding a Building1933DirectorThe Mad DoctorDirectorBirds in the SpringDirectorSilly SymphonyThe Mail PilotDirectorMickey MouseOld King ColeDirectorSilly SymphonyCamping Out1934DirectorMickey MouseMickey's Steam RollerDirectorThe Flying MouseDirectorSilly SymphonyThe DognapperDirectorMickey MouseMickey's Man Friday1935DirectorMickey's KangarooDirector, writerThe Robber KittenDirectorSilly SymphonyWho Killed Cock Robin?DirectorPluto's Judgement DayDirectorMickey MouseThree Orphan KittensDirectorSilly SymphonyMickey's Polo Team1936DirectorMickey MouseThree Little WolvesDirectorSilly SymphonyThru the MirrorDirectorMickey MouseAlpine ClimbersDirectorThree Blind MouseketeersDirector (as Dave Hand)Silly SymphonyMickey's ElephantDirectorMickey MouseThe Country CousinProduction supervisorSilly SymphonyMother PlutoAnimatorMore KittensDirectorMagician Mickey1937DirectorMickey MouseLittle HiawathaDirectorSilly SymphonyMoth and the Flame1938Executive producerWynken, Blynken and NodExecutive producerThe WhalersProduction supervisorMickey MouseMickey's ParrotExecutive producerFarmyard SymphonyExecutive producerSilly SymphonyFerdinand the BullExecutive producerMerbabiesProduction supervisorSilly SymphonyHow Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made1939SelfThe Practical PigExecutive producerSilly SymphonyThe Ugly DucklingExecutive producerThe Hockey ChampExecutive producerDonald DuckThe PointerExecutive producerMickey MouseThe Autograph HoundExecutive producerDonald DuckDonald's Camera1941Production supervisor, organizational leader7 Wise DwarfsProduction supervisorAll Together1942SupervisorThe Grain That Built a Hemisphere1943Production supervisorThe Thames1948ProducerMusical PaintboxThe CuckooProducer, executive producerAnimalandThe Lion (Felis Leo)ProducerWalesProducerMusical PaintboxThe House-Cat (Felis Vulgaris)ProducerAnimalandSomerset1949ProducerMusical PaintboxA Fantasy on IrelandProducerThe OstrichProducerAnimalandYorkshire DittyProducerMusical PaintboxThe Australian PlatypusProducerAnimalandIt's a Lovely DayProducerGinger Nutt's Bee-BotherProducerSketches of ScotlandProducerMusical PaintboxCornwallProducerCanterbury RoadProducerGinger Nutt's Christmas CircusProducerAnimalandDevon Whey1950ProducerMusical PaintboxA Fantasy on London LifeProducerGinger Nutt's Forest DragonProducerAnimaland
Features TitleYearCreditServants’ Entrance1934AnimatorSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs1937DirectorFantasia1940Director (as David D. Hand), associate producerBambi1942Director (as David D. Hand)Victory Through Air Power1943Animation supervisor
References
External links
David Hand's Disney Legends bio David Hand Productions