Collection: Tom McKimson (1907-1998) Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Tom McKimson, born Thomas Jacob McKimson (March 5, 1907 – February 14, 1998) was an American animator, best known for his work at the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio. He was the older brother of animators Robert and Charles McKimson. Tom McKimson was born in Denver, Colorado, but relocated to Los Angeles with his family in the 1920's. He attended Otis Art Institute (now called Otis College of Art and Design). He began his career in animation in 1928, together with his brother Robert, when they joined the Walt Disney Studio, where Tom McKimson became an assistant to animator Norm Ferguson.

Tom McKimson left Disney in the early 1930's to work briefly for Romer Grey Studios, then joined Harman-Ising Studios around 1932, that produced cartoons for Warner Bros. In 1937, Tom and Robert were joined by their brother Charles in their animation work. After Harman and Ising left Warner Bros Animation for MGM, Tom McKimson became a member of Bob Clampett's animation unit, where he is credited as a layout artist and the original design for Tweety Bird. McKimson also provided layout designs for Arthur Davis's unit after he took over Clampett's unit by 1946. During his time at Warner Bros McKimson also worked for Dell Comics, providing illustrations for the Bugs Bunny and Road Runner comic books. He also did the 'Bugs Bunny' newspaper strip in the late 1940's, as well as Disney comics for the Cheerios Premium Giveaways. also illustrated the Roy Rogers daily comic strip from 1949 to 1953 in collaboration with his brother Charles and artist Pete Alvarado, using the collective pseudonym "Al McKimson."

Tom McKimson left Warner Bros in 1947 when Don Smith replaced him as layout artist for Davis' unit. In 1948, Tom McKimson took over as the art director for Western Publishing’s comic books, succeeding Carl Buettner, an old colleague Cartoon Films, Ltd., a few years earlier. He occasionally drew various Golden Books with the Warner Bros. characters, in addition to his editorial duties. As art director of the comics, McKimson gave assignments to an artist after editor Chase Craig approved the script. While he served as art editor for Western, McKimson, along with editor Al Stoffel, established the syndicated newspaper strip featuring popular Western star Roy Rogers, which began its run in 1949, credited with the byline “Al McKimson.”

Tom McKimson would become an art director for Dell's parent company Western Publishing. Besides supervising issues of comic book magazines with popular animated characters (Warners, Disney, MGM and Walter Lantz), he also handled art direction for various genre comics, along with adaptations of feature films and television shows, among countless others. He retired as art editor in 1972, but came back as a cartoonist after a year, drawing various comic book stories with Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and “Beep-Beep” the Road Runner at home. In 1984, McKimson left comic book work permanently. In the early 1990's, he continued to draw mixed media illustrations and designed various lines of products, such as clothing and lithograph cels, each with the Warner Bros' characters. He was also a polo enthusiast, playing on the same team as Walter Lantz  Studios animator Ray Abrams. Tom McKimson died on February 14, 1998 in West Los Angeles at the age of 90.