BILL JUSTICE

William Barnard "Bill" Justice was an animator and engineer for The Walt Disney Company from 1937 to 1979. He joined Walt Disney Studios as an animator in 1937 and worked on such features as 1940's Fantasia, 1944's The Three Caballeros, 1951's Alice in Wonderland, and 1953's Peter Pan. He is arguably best known as the animator of the rabbit Thumper from 1942's Bambi and chipmunks Chip 'n Dale. He was the director of 1957's The Truth About Mother Goose, 1959's Noah's Ark, and 1962's A Symposium On Popular Songs, all of which were nominated for Academy Awards as Best Short Subject, Cartoon. In 1960, Justice started redesigning and making new Disney character costumes for Disneyland, and later for the other Disney parks and resorts. In 1965, Justice joined Walt Disney Imagineering, where he programmed figures for several Disney attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and Country Bear Jamboree. Justice retired from the Disney Company in 1979 and was named a Disney Legend in 1996. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 97.