Seymour Kneitel
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Seymour Kneitel (March 16, 1908 - July 30, 1964) was an American animator. He is best known for his work with Fleischer Studios and its successor, Famous Studios.
Kneitel was born in New York City. He joined Fleischer Studios in the late 1920s, where he provided animation for the Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor series. When Fleischer obtained the rights to animate Superman, Kneitel was given the opportunity to direct several of the shorts
In 1942, the Fleischer brothers were forced to resign from the studio they had created. Paramount Pictures purchased the studio and renamed it Famous Studios. Kneitel was promoted to management, and become one of the most prolific directors of the Popeye shorts. He also directed many of the Casper the Friendly Ghost shorts.
In 1957, Paramount ended the run of theatrical Popeye shorts. King Features Syndicate, aware of the high ratings that the Popeye shorts had earned on television, commissioned a new series of Popeye shorts for syndication. Kneitel, head of the Paramount Cartoon Studios (renamed from Famous Studios), was one of four animation units assigned to this project. Due to the lower budgets for these shorts, the animation is of a noticably lower quality.
Kneitel died of a heart attack on July 30, 1964. Three years later, Paramount shut down their animation studio.
Kneitel was married to Ruth Fleischer, making him Max Fleischer's son-in-law and director Richard Fleischer's brother-in-law. He was also the nephew of musician Sammy Timberg, who wrote many of the scores for Fleischer's cartoons.
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