OFFICIAL WEBSITE LAUNCH 15 June 2025
A life in the world of animation, cartoons—and beyond.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE LAUNCH 15 June 2025
A life in the world of animation, cartoons—and beyond.
Willie Katsutoshi Ito Jr. is a Japanese-American Animator.
As a young child, Willie Ito learned to draw on the pages of Sears catalogs while he and his family were incarcerated at the Japanese internment camp in Topaz, Utah, during World War II.
He then studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles before joining Walt Disney Studios in 1954, where he became Iwao Takamoto’s assistant as an in-betweener on the “Lady” unit of the feature film Lady and the Tramp, illustrating the famous
spaghetti-eating scene.
Willie then worked alongside legendary animators Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng at Warner Bros., on classics such as One Froggy Evening and What’s Opera Doc, to name a few. Famed producer and artist Bob Clampet called on Willie to assist in developing Beanie and Cecil from a puppet show to an animated series. He eventually joined Hanna-Barbera, where he worked on The Jetsons, The Flinstones, and many other cartoons. He created the title characters for Hong Kong Phooey and Goober And The Ghost Chasers.
He returned to Disney in the Creative division of Consumer Products Worldwide as Director of Character Art International, which involved going overseas to several Disney offices to mentor new artists and oversee the work.
Willie continues to draw today and has illustrated several children's books. He travels and speaks to audiences about his career and the new projects he is involved in.