Groundbreaking female animator, and one of my spiritual anchors: Tissa David (1921-2012)

Last updated on: May 2, 2013 at 10:19 pm by Phil Fox Rose

Groundbreaking female animator, and one of my spiritual anchors: Tissa David (1921-2012) 2013-05-02T22:19:31-04:00 Phil Fox Rose

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

(Click here to return to the main post.)

Tissa David’s work spans 60 years, much of it not archived on the web. Here are just a few examples to give you a sense of her style and artistry, limited by what I know and by what’s available on Youtube:

Her animation of the character Raggedy Ann in the 1977 feature film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure is her best known work (this link leads to part one; the rest of the film is also on Youtube in parts):

She did work for Nickelodeon’s show Ka-Blam! including this collaboration with the cartoonist Kaz on the music video for They Might Be Giants’s song, “Dr. Worm”:

Here’s a strange Sesame Street segment from the early 70s which Tissa animated called, “Never Invite an M to Dinner”:

Older readers may remember a series of animated commercials for Piel’s beer she did. Here’s one of them:

As an early female animator, Tissa David was not only known for animating female characters in motion, but for animating female characters that weren’t fragile little princesses. The best known is her Raggedy Ann, but this Electric Company segment called “Glad Gladys” is another great example:

And here is part of a Dutch animated film of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” from 1983, with another great female character:

An exception to her untraditional vibrant female characters is this hilarious Bain de Soleil commercial I just discovered, in which Tissa drew bikini-clad high-heel-wearing skinny women, but I feel like maybe she was making fun of them just a little.

You can find more bits of video of Tissa’s work by searching her name on Youtube.

(Click here to return to the main post.)

Previous Post

September 13, 2012

Jillian Jensen brings bullying center stage on The X Factor

Next Post

September 18, 2012 Class Warfare

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction & Recovery Culture Faith & Spirituality Health Music Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2019 October 2015 September 2015 April 2015 March 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 November 2009 August 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

We made a deceptive treaty with Israel by pretending to come from a distant land with moldy bread and worn-out wineskins. Who are we?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Hivites The Amorites The Gibeonites The Canaanites