Editing Floyd Gottfredson

{{short description|American cartoonist}}
{{Infobox comics creator

| image         = Gottfredson photo.jpg
| alt = Gottfredson smiling in a suit
| caption       = 
| birth_name    = Arthur Floyd Gottfredson
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1905|05|05}}<ref>"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JB77-V3D : accessed 26 February 2013), Floyd Gottfredson, July 1986; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).</ref>
| birth_place   = [[Kaysville, Utah|Kaysville]], [[Utah]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1986|07|22|1905|05|05}}
| death_place   = [[Montrose, California|Montrose]], [[California]], U.S.
| nationality   = [[United States|American]]
| area          = Artist, writer
| alias         = 
| notable works = [[Mickey Mouse (comic strip)|''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip]]
| awards        = [[Inkpot Award]] (1983)<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref>
}}

'''Arthur Floyd Gottfredson''' (May 5, 1905{{Snd}}July 22, 1986) was an American [[cartoonist]] best known for his defining work on the [[Mickey Mouse (comic strip)|''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip]], which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contribution to Mickey Mouse comics is comparable to [[Carl Barks]]'s on the Donald Duck comics. 17 years after his death, his memory was honored with the [[Disney Legends]] award in 2003<ref name="Peri" /> and induction into the [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Comic Book Hall of Fame]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=San Diego Comic-Con Awards: 2000s |url=https://www.comic-con.org/awards/2000s |website=Comic-con.org |date=2 December 2012 |access-date=24 July 2019 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141006153947/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/2000s |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Gottfredson was born into a large family in [[Kaysville, Utah]], in 1905, and raised in the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].<ref name="Andrae"/> As a child, Floyd severely injured his arm in a hunting accident. Housebound during a long recovery, he became interested in cartooning and took several cartooning [[correspondence course]]s. Because of his injury, Gottfredson had to draw using his whole arm. In 1926, he took the Federal Schools of Illustrating and Cartooning's correspondence course, and by the late 1920s, he was drawing cartoons for trade magazines and the ''[[Salt Lake City]] Telegram'' newspaper.<ref name="Andrae">{{cite book|last1=Gottfredson|first1=Floyd|last2=Andrae|first2=Thomas|editor1-last=Gerstein|editor1-first=David|editor2-last=Groth|editor2-first=Gary|title=Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse|date=2011|publisher=Fantagraphics Books|location=Seattle, WA|isbn=978-1-60699-441-2|chapter=Foreword: Of Mouse and Man}}</ref>

After achieving second place in a 1928 cartoon contest, the 23-year-old Gottfredson moved to [[Southern California]] with his wife and family, just before Christmas. At the time, there were seven major newspapers in the area, but he was unable to find work with any. One job he had held in [[Utah]], however, was as a movie [[projectionist]] and he found employment in that field in California. A year later, the movie theater where he had been working was torn down, resulting in another job search. On a whim, Gottfredson inquired at [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney studios]], which hired him the same day.<ref name="Andrae"/>

===Mickey Mouse===
[[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Productions]] hired Gottfredson as an apprentice [[animator]] and [[Inbetweening|in-betweener]] on December 19, 1929. In April 1930, he started working on the four-month-old ''Mickey Mouse'' daily comic strip.<ref name="Hunter"/> It had originally been scripted by [[Walt Disney]] and drawn by [[Ub Iwerks]] who was succeeded by [[Win Smith (cartoonist)|Win Smith]]. Iwerks later left Disney and tried to hire Gottfredson, but [[Roy O. Disney|Roy Disney]] refused to allow Gottfredson out of his contract.<ref name="Nemo" /> In May, Win Smith refused to write the strip,<ref name="Korkis">{{cite book|last1=Korkis|first1=Jim|last2=Fischier|first2=Tony|editor1-last=Ghez|editor1-first=Didier|title=Walt's People|date=2009|publisher=Xlibris|isbn=978-1-4415-5183-2|chapter=Floyd Gottfredson (1905–1986)|volume=8}}</ref> and Disney assigned Gottfredson to it, promising it would be only a temporary arrangement until someone else could be found to take over. Gottfredson continued to produce the ''Mickey Mouse'' strips for the next 45 years.<ref name="Andrae"/>

Gottfredson's first daily strip was published in newspapers on his 25th birthday, May 5, 1930.<ref name="Andrae"/> In January 1932, he began work on the newly inaugurated ''Mickey Mouse'' color Sunday strip which, in addition to the daily, he continued through mid-1938.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Newton|last2=Madej|first2=Krystina|title=Disney stories: Getting to digital|date=2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4939-0182-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9GVJJqNjGAC&q=Gottfredson+inker+mickey&pg=PA80|access-date=23 February 2017}}</ref> Gottfredson headed the comics department at Disney from 1930 to 1946,<ref name="Peri">{{cite book|last1=Peri|first1=Don|title=Working with Walt Interviews with Disney Artists.|date=2008|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|location=Jackson|isbn=978-1-60473-918-3}}</ref> and was replaced by [[Frank Reilly (Disney)|Frank Reilly]].<ref name="Nemo" />

Originally, Gottfredson wrote and drew the ''Mickey Mouse'' strip alone, but in 1932, he pulled back to plotting the stories and doing the [[penciling]], while the dialogue was mostly done by other hands.<ref name="Andrae"/> Scripts were written by [[Webb Smith]] (1932–33), [[Ted Osborne]] (1933–38), [[Merrill De Maris]] (1933–42), [[Dick Shaw]] (1942–43), [[Bill Walsh (producer)|Bill Walsh]] (1943–64), [[Roy Williams (artist)|Roy Williams]] (1962-69) and [[Del Connell]] (1968–88).<ref name="Holtz">{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=978-0-472-11756-7 |pages=260–264}}</ref> Even so, Gottfredson always worked closely with his writers, and would often suggest changes in the scripts whenever he thought it would improve a story.<ref>Peri, Don: Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), pp. 109–118. {{ISBN|978-1-60473-023-4}}.</ref> There were a variety of [[inker]]s on the strip through the years; inkers for the Sunday strips included [[Al Taliaferro]] and Ted Thwaites in the 1930s, and [[Manuel Gonzales]] until 1981; Taliaferro also inked daily strips.<ref name="Nemo" /> Gottfredson returned to inking daily strips himself in 1947.<ref name="Holtz" />

From the beginning, the strips were parts of long continuing stories. These introduced characters such as the [[Phantom Blot]], [[Eega Beeva]], and [[the Bat Bandit]], which Gottfredson created; Disney created [[Eli Squinch]], Mickey's nephews, [[Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse]], and [[Sylvester Shyster]], who were also introduced in the comic.<ref name="Nemo" /> Gottfredson plotted the continuities until Bill Walsh started writing the strip in 1943.<ref name="Peri" /> The stories were always untitled. Titles were usually assigned later, when the strips or pages were reprinted in picture-books or comic books, which the artists had no influence on.<ref name="Nemo" /> Starting in the 1950s, Gottfredson and writer Bill Walsh were instructed to drop the storylines and do only daily gags.<ref name="Andrae in color">{{cite book|last1=Andrae|first1=Thomas|last2=Gottfredson|first2=Floyd|title=Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse in color.|date=1988|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-394-57519-3|edition=1st|chapter=Of Mouse and the Man}}</ref><!--source says "mid 50s" and that Gottfredson was only inking at this point. In the Andrae interview Gottfredson thinks it could have been 1959--> Gottfredson continued illustrating the daily strip until he retired on October 1, 1975.<ref name="Nemo">{{cite journal|last1=Andrae|first1=Thomas|title=Floyd Gottfredson's 45 years with Mickey: The Mouse's Other Master|journal=Nemo: The Classics Comics Library|date=April 1984|issue=6|url=http://jeffoverturf.blogspot.de/2010/05/floyd-gottfredson-mickey-mouses-comic.html|access-date=23 February 2017}}</ref>

Animation critic [[Geoffrey Blum]] said "Gottfredson's [[Mormon]] upbringing and his unflaggingly positive outlook made him the perfect keeper for this icon. Never complaining, chocking back his hurts... this is the ethic he brought to Mickey. Gottfredson's mouse combines the virtues of a good citizen and a good soldier."<ref name="Hunter">{{cite book|last1=Hunter|first1=J. Michael|editor1-last=Hunter|editor1-first=J. Michael|title=The Mormon Influence at Disney|date=2013|publisher=Praeger an imprint of AABC-CLIO|volume=1: Cinema, Television, Theater, Music, and Fashion|series=Mormons and Popular Culture|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-0-313-39167-5|pages=45–70}}</ref>{{rp|47}}<!--the original essay appears in the Mickey Mouse in color book-->

==Reprints and compilations==
Gottfredson's Mickey strips were often collected in the 1930s and 1940s. [[Western Publishing]]'s ''[[Big Little Book]]'' series based most of its Mickey volumes on the strip; Dell Publishing's ''[[Walt Disney's Comics and Stories]]'' serialized stories from the strip through 1948.

Modern-day American reprints began with "The Bar None Ranch" (1940), which appeared in ''[[Walt Disney Comics Digest]]'' #40 (1973).<ref>{{Cite web |title=GCD :: Issue :: Walt Disney Comics Digest #40 |url=https://www.comics.org/issue/26079/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=www.comics.org}}</ref> The following year "The Bat Bandit" (1934) appeared in a deluxe edition, ''The Best of Walt Disney Comics''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GCD :: Issue :: The Best of Walt Disney Comics #96171 |url=https://www.comics.org/issue/27038/ |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=www.comics.org}}</ref> [[Abbeville Press]]' large size ''Best Comics'' anthologies in the late-1970s included two all-Gottfredson volumes (one headlined "Goofy"), though the stories were relettered and sometimes condensed.  In 1980, Abbeville issued a small-size ''Best Comics'' series that included three all-Gottfredson volumes (again, one headlined "Goofy"), all of which reprinted stories from the earlier large-size editions.  In 1986, [[Another Rainbow]]/[[Gladstone Publishing]] (and later [[Gemstone Publishing]]) began a tradition of serializing Gottfredson stories in regular Disney monthly comic books, which continued on and off until 2008, when they ceased publication. Gladstone also collected a number of Gottfredson's serials in the larger-size "comic albums" it issued during the 1980s;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gladstone's Series I Comic Albums, Disney comic books, Gladstone comics, Uncle Scrooge comics, Mickey Mouse comics, Donald Duck comics, child books |url=https://www.brucehamilton.com/GLAD/AAA%20Steve%20Files/Series1Albums/AlbumsText.htm |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=www.brucehamilton.com}}</ref> in 1990, [[Disney Comics (publishing)|Disney Comics]] issued "Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot" (1939) in the same format.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Untitled Document |url=https://www.brucehamilton.com/GLAD/AAA%20Steve%20Files/DisComics/DISNEY%20ALBUMS/Albums%201-4.htm |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=www.brucehamilton.com}}</ref>

In 2007, [[Gemstone Publishing]] announced ''The Floyd Gottfredson Library'', a comprehensive edition of Gottfredson's serialized stories (Mickey 1930–1955, plus later non-Mickey material). The series was postponed, then canceled once Gemstone no longer had the Disney license. In 2011, [[Fantagraphics Books]] resumed production of the series with the same editorial team, now titled ''[[Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse]]''. A total of 14 volumes were published between 2011 and 2018, collecting the entirety of Gottfredson's Sunday color work (two volumes) and all of his serialized daily strips (12 volumes).

==Legacy==
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, before his health deteriorated, Gottfredson gave interviews to many comics-oriented magazines as well as mainstream publications. The deluxe edition of the book ''[[Mickey Mouse in Color]]'' included a small [[gramophone record|record]] containing an audio interview with Gottfredson and Disney [[Donald Duck]]-comic book artist [[Carl Barks]]. During the 1970s, Gottfredson attended the [[OrlandoCon]] and in 1983 the [[San Diego Comic-Con International|San Diego Comic Book convention]] and annual convention of The Mouse Club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Birth of Disney Fandom Part One: The Mouse Club |url=https://www.mouseplanet.com/9899/Birth_of_Disney_Fandom_Part_One_The_Mouse_Club |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=www.mouseplanet.com|date=28 March 2012 }}</ref>

Between 1978 and 1983, Gottfredson did a total of 24 paintings commissioned by collector [[Malcolm Willits]], inspired by the success of the paintings of the Disney ducks done by Carl Barks. The paintings depict various storylines from the classic period of the Mickey strip.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Floyd Gottfredson paintings < Disney Comics Worldwide Blog |url=https://www.wolfstad.com/dcw/blog/2008/08/floyd-gottfredson-paintings/ |access-date=2022-04-30}}</ref>

Gottfredson's work had been printed in newspapers, magazines, and comic books worldwide for over 50 years, but as a Disney employee, he was never allowed to sign it. Gottfredson's identity was finally revealed in the mid-1960s by fan Malcolm Willits. Subsequently, reprints of his ''Mickey Mouse'' strips in the 1970s gave him credit.

Floyd Gottfredson died at his home in Southern California at the age of 81. In 2006, Gottfredson was inducted into the [[Will Eisner]] Comic Industry Awards' Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite comic | writer=[[David Gerstein|Gerstein, David]] | penciller= | inker= | story=Introduction | title=Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse—Free Comic Book Day | volume= | issue= | date=May, 2007 | publisher=[[Gemstone Publishing]] | page=inside cover | panel= }}</ref> He also was awarded an [[Inkpot Award]] in 1983.<ref>[[Inkpot Award#1983]]</ref>

Fellow Disney Legend [[Floyd Norman]] notes the drawing desk Gottfredson used today "occupies a corner in a special room at Disney's Publishing department in Burbank."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Floyd |date=2004-07-20 |title=One Mouse, two Floyds |url=https://jimhillmedia.com/one-mouse-two-floyds/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Jim Hill Media |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Floyd Gottfredson. "Mickey Mouse and Me". ''The Illustrator''. v.63 #4 (Fall 1976), pp.&nbsp;4–7, 28–31.
*''The Malcolm Willits Collection of Mickey Mouse Paintings by Floyd Gottfredson.'' Burbank, CA: Howard Lowery, 1993.
*An Interview by Malcolm Willits. ''Vanguard'' #2 (1968), reprinted in ''The Duckburg Times'' #9 (1980).
*Jim Korkis. "The Mouse Man" ''The Duckburg Times'' #6 (1979). Revised version in ''The Duckburg Times'' #17/18 (1983).
*David R. Smith. "The Man Who Drew the Mouse—An Interview with Floyd Gottfredson". ''Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse in Color''. Prescott, AZ: Another Rainbow Publishing, 1988. pp 97–112
*"The Mouse's Other Master: Floyd Gottfredson's 45 Years with Mickey". ''Nemo'' #6 (Apr. 1984), pp.&nbsp;6–23
*"Barks and Gottfredson Meet: Two Disney Legends Share Their Memories" ''Nemo'' #7 (June 1984), pp.&nbsp;12–15

==External links==
*{{Inducks author|FG}}
*[https://lambiek.net/artists/g/gottfredson_floyd.htm Floyd Gottfredson] at [[Lambiek|Lambiek Comiclopedia]]
*[http://ob7.free.fr/mice_and_ducks/mmd/mdayl.html The Classic Mickey Mouse Daily Strips by Floyd Gottfredson]
*[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_X_E2NMuAa8k/S0QC_63y6rI/AAAAAAAABcU/ElLg7jc0SVo/s1600-h/gottfred+model.jpg Model sheet of "Mickey Mouse Expressions and regular cast of characters" by Floyd Gottfredson]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottftredson, Floyd}}
[[Category:American comic strip cartoonists]]
[[Category:American comics artists|Gottfredson, Floyd]]
[[Category:American comics writers|Gottfredson, Floyd]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah]]
[[Category:1905 births|Gottfredson, Floyd]]
[[Category:1986 deaths|Gottfredson, Floyd]]
[[Category:American people of Danish descent|Gottfredson, Floyd]]
[[Category:Disney comics writers]]
[[Category:Disney comics artists]]
[[Category:American humorists]]
[[Category:Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)]]
[[Category:People from Kaysville, Utah]]
[[Category:Inkpot Award winners]]