He was due to be given Disney’s first-ever 70th anniversary service award (Picture: Getty/Rex)
Burny Mattinson, an animator, director and story artist, and the longest-serving Disney castmember in the company’s history, has died at the age of 87.
He spent 70 years working at the Walt Disney Company and was due to receive his 70th anniversary service award – the first ever awarded in Disney’s history – on June 4.
The studio announced that Mattison, an official Disney Legend, died after a short illness on Monday at an assisted living facility in Los Angeles.
Mattison’s work began as a teenager when his mother dropped him off after high school at the Disney studio gate in Burbank, California, and he secured a job in the mailroom.
Six months later he began as an in-betweener on the art for 1955’s Lady and the Tramp, kicking off a full-time career at Disney he was still enjoying in 2023.
Classic Disney films that Mattison worked on included Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians and Mary Poppins, and he directed Mickey’s Christmas Carol and co-directed The Great Mouse Detective.
He is survived by his wife Ellen, son Brett, daughter-in-law Kelly, daughter Genny, son-in-law Larry and four grandchildren.
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Mattison enjoyed a 70-year career with Disney, beginning when he was just a teen.
