Gary Trousdale

Trousdale was raised in La Crescenta, north of Glendale, California. He had planned to be an architect, but had failed at math. Instead, he had decided to study animation at CalArts, where he studied for three years. After his studying, he applied to work as an animator for Carter/Mendez Productions. He was hired in 1982 to design storyboards and do other animation. He then went to work designing restaurant menus and T-shirts.
Trousdale was hired by Walt Disney Productions in 1984 as an inbetween effects animator on The Black Cauldron (1985). Trousdale then worked as a storyboard artist on Oliver & Company (1988) and The Little Mermaid (1989). It was on the former film Trousdale became re-acquainted with Kirk Wise, his future collaborator. Wise recalled, "Gary and I actually met at CalArts in my first year, that would've been 1981 ...We didn't cross paths again until I was at Disney. I w…