Around 1941, when Dante was six, TIME Magazine did a story about DUMBO, focusing on animator Bill Tytla. Dante got Preston Blair’s how-to book about animation, learning the basics. You know what!?! Young Dante Barbetta did want something . . . he wanted to meet Bill Tytla and Preston Blair, and he wanted to be a professional animator!
Dante Barbetta went into training. He tackled art with the endurance of an Olympic runner. Dante’s little brother Victor was often by his side. Building a portfolio, mostly inspired by the Disney style, secured Dante’s enrollment in the High School of Industrial Arts on East 79th Street, four blocks from Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art. In 1951, at age 16, he won the NY Journal-American’s city-wide coloring contest promoting Disney’s latest movie ALICE IN WONDERLAND. The High School of Industrial Arts is where Dante Barbetta met Pablo Ferro.
In many ways they were opposites. Pablo – head-strong and wild. Dante – sedate and straight=laced. They met respectfully, as serious artists. The worst Pablo was able to corrupt Dante was to convince him to ditch school one nice spring day.
And so begins Dante’s career that would continue into the 1990s!
Happy birthday to Dante! Love his work in animation, especially the late-era Famous Studios (Paramount).