Alan Zaslove had one of the longer, more succesful careers in American animation.

Starting, in 1943, as an office boy (and then in-betweener) for Leon Schlesinger’s studio (known, of course, as “Termite Terrace”), Alan wrapped up his career in the 21st century at the Universal Cartoon Studio high in the superstructure of the Black Tower.

Early on, Mr. Zaslove took a bit of time off for military service (who didn’t in the 1940s?) but afterwards found long-term employment with the United Producers of America (aka UPA), where he animated a long string of classic shorts (Gerald McBoing Boing, Mr. Magoo) and then directed sequences of the Magoo feature 1001 Arabian Nights.

Mr. Zaslove was among the first directors hired at Disney Television Animation. He arrived during the division’s second year of operation, and over the next decade and a half directed and produced an array of hit Disney TVA shows that included Duck Tales, Aladdin, The Return of Jafar, and The Adventures of the Gummi Bears.

Mr. Z. retired at the end of the 1990s, but was soon called back by Universal Cartoon Studios to oversee The New Woody Woodpecker Show. He retired for good in the first decade of the 21st century.