Gramatky, Hardie, 1907-1979

American children's author/illustrator, born in Dallas, Texas in 1907. From 1930-1936 he was head animator for the Walt Disney studio, and was probably best known for his classic "Little Toot" series.

From the description of Papers, 1939-1978. (University of Southern Mississippi, Regional Campus). WorldCat record id: 26837993

Hardie Gramatky (1907-1979) was an American author and illustrator of children's books who is best known for his character Little Toot.

From the description of Hardie Gramatky papers, 1945-1972. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 527796551

Hardie Gramatky was born 12 April 1907, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Bernhard August and Blanche (Gunner) Gramatky. He attended Stanford University (two years) and Chouinard Art School (two years). He was head animator at Walt Disney Productions ( Hollywood, CA, 1930-1936), pictorial reporter for Fortune (New York City, 1937-1940), supervisor of training films for the U.S. Army Air Forces (New York City and Hollywood, 1942-1944) and a free-lance writer and artist (1944-1979). Gramatky won forty top watercolor awards, including Chicago International Award (1942) and American Water Color Society High Winds Medal (1979). His work is represented in many private and permanent public collections, including those at the Chicago Art Institute, Brooklyn Museum, Frye Museum (Seattle), Toledo Museum of Art, Marietta College ( Ohio ), and many others. He was a member of the National Academy of Design, American Watercolor Society (secretary, 1946-1948), Society of Illustrators (member of board, 1941-1942), Westport Artists, and Salmagundi Club (New York). Gramatky died 29 April 1979, in Westport, CT .

From the guide to the Hardie Gramatky Papers, circa 1970, (Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries)

Hardie Gramatky began his art career in the Walt Disney Productions studios, working as head animator. He worked as a pictorial reporter for Fortune magazine, in the U.S. Army air Forces supervising training film production, and as a free-lance writer and artist, beginning in 1944. While trying to lower production costs for his own richly colored art, Gramatky developed a new technique to create color separations, which he used to produce "Little Toot." He received more than 50 water color awards, including the American Watercolor Society High Winds Medal (1979) and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1969).

From the description of Hardie Gramatky papers, 1939-1979. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63315035

Hardie Gramatky spent much of his early life, as he put it, “thrashing about for an anchor.” In keeping with this nautical figure of speech, he would go on to establish himself as an author and illustrator for children by writing about a determined little tug boat. Gramatky demonstrates in this and his other works his deep respect for children’s imagination and intelligence, as well for individual resilience in the face of adversity.

Gramatky was born in Dallas, Texas on April 12, 1907. After “thrashing” through a series of stints as a bank cashier, a logger, and a deck hand on a freighter, Gramatky attended Stanford University from 1926 to 1928. In 1930, following two more years of education at the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles, he moved on to Hollywood to work for Walt Disney Productions, where he was Head Animator until 1936. While working for Disney, Gramatky married Dorothea Cooke in 1932 and “actually settled down.”

After six years at Disney, however, Gramatky succumbed to “the ol’ urge” to see the world and accepted a free lance position with Fortune magazine and moved to New York. While painting for Fortune, he traveled to a number of locations, ranging from the freezing Hudson Bay to the Bahamas. Gramatky’s travels proved important to his development as a writer and illustrator for children. He believed that children are not only imaginative, but also genuinely curious about the world. He wanted to share his experiences and observations with them. “A child,” said Gramatky, “likes to know that what you write for him is essentially based on fact. Nonsense and an imaginative story are part of the fun of reading, but more important to him is that there does exist such a place as the Grand Canal in Venice or that there truly was a ‘chicken and duck man’ high in the Andes Mountains of South America. These are things I have seen myself and an impression I like to carry to my reader.” Such sharing of the world he had seen is a mark of Gramatky’s respect for his young audience, with whom he viewed himself as participating in “a creative venture.”

Yet it was during a break from his travels for Fortune that Gramatky came across the subject that would earn him success as a children’s writer. Looking out his window at passing boats on the East River, he noticed “one tiny boat” that “stood out among the rest.” That tiny boat became the tug Little Toot, the title character in his first book. Published in 1939, Little Toot was an immediate success. In that same year, Walt Disney made it into a movie, with a sound recording by Capitol Records. Little Toot also appeared on television, was heard on radio, and was a float in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Considered a classic in children’s literature, it has been translated into a number of languages, including Thai, Finnish, and Danish.

From 1942 to 1944, Gramatky served in the United States Air Force as a supervisor of training films. After 1944, he went on to free lance work, writing and illustrating many more children’s stories. These include sequels to Little Toot, as well as works on other subjects and characters, such as Sparky (1952), Bolivar (1961), and Nikos and the Sea God (1963). He also lectured widely on children’s literature in schools and colleges. Over his career he won twenty top watercolor awards, including the Chicago International Award in 1942. His work has been displayed at a number of museums, including Brooklyn Museum, the Frye Museum in Seattle, the Chicago Institute of Art, and the Toledo Museum of Art.

As noted above, recurring in Gramatky’s works and lectures is a profound respect for the young imagination. “Children have great creative ability,” said Gramatky,” and their imaginations are tremendous.” Believing that “each child has his own small personality,” Gramatky also revealed in his stories a trust in that individual personality’s ability to succeed despite adversity, as is evident in Jean Mercier’s remarks on Little Toot:

Most critics and readers agree that the doughty tugboat grabs and keeps its large audience, generation after generation, because of Toot’s innate qualities. Always faced with overwhelming odds, sneered at because of his lack of size and strength, Little Toot is nevertheless the soul of pluck, comparable to the fellow who loses battles but wins the war. Boys and girls who are small exult in his victories.

Gramatky expresses the same sentiment in a comment on the reception of his books: “Someone has said, ‘Little Toot is of the stuff of heroes.’ This may well be true, for when it comes to facing the realities of the world, Little Toot is all of us.” Again, it seems fitting that the man who began his creative life “thrashing about for an anchor” would find one by writing a story about a tugboat whose tenacity in the face of difficulty would make him a symbol of perseverance for generations of children beginning their lives. Gramatky died in Westport, Connecticut on April 29, 1979.

From the guide to the Hardie Gramatky papers, 1945-1972, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)

Hardie Gramatky was born April 12, 1907, in Dallas, Texas, and died April 29, 1979 in Westport, Connecticut. He was an author and illustrator who was head animator for the Walt Disney Studio from 1930-1936. Following WW !! he became a free-lance writer and illustrator. All of his books for children are self-illustrated. Perhaps his best know book is Little Toot, a story about a tugboat that was made into a cartoon by Disney. A number of his books have been made into films or filmstrips.

Biographical Sources: Something About the Author vols. 1, 23. 30; Children's Literature Review vol. 22

From the guide to the Hardie Gramatky Papers, 1939-1975, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])