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Disney animator Art Stevens dies at 92

STUDIO CITY, Calif., July 2 (UPI) -- Art Stevens, a Disney animator who launched his career as an artist on the 1940 classic "Fantasia," has died in his California home at age 92.

Besides his animator duties, Stevens co-directed "The Rescuers" and "The Fox and the Hound," the studio's highest-grossing film when it was released in 1981, The Los Angeles Times reported.

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Stevens died May 22 at his home in Studio City after a heart attack.

Listed among Stevens' animator credits are "Peter Pan," "101 Dalmatians," "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," "Robin Hood," "Mary Poppins" and the "Bedknobs and Broomsticks'" underwater sequence.

Stevens began his career at Disney as an "in-betweener" -- an artist who makes the drawings between the animator's poses -- on "Fantasia," the Times reported. He also was an in-betweener on "Bambi" and several other films before becoming a full character animator on "Peter Pan."

During the 1950s, Stevens provided story concepts and animation for three television documentaries on space exploration produced for the "Disneyland" TV series: "Man in Space," "Man and the Moon" and "Mars and Beyond."

He also worked on short features and title sequences for several movies.

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Stevens retired from Disney in 1983.

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