Al Eugster

Alfred Julius Eugster (1909-1997) was an American animator, writer, and film director. He worked for a number of American animation studios, including Fleischer Studios, the Iwerks Studio, Walt Disney Productions, Famous Studios and Aldo Boomer Productions.

Personal
Al Eugster was born on February 11, 1909, in New York City. His parents were musician Julius Eugster and Hedwig Fiegel, both were from German descent. Between 1915 and 1919, his dad died when he was just a child. At the age of 16, he got paid $10 dollars a week for doing jobs and the American Radiator Company. Al Eugster was married to his wife Hazel, also known as Chick, for 61 years. The two had no children, and Hazel died in 1995.

Career
Eugster began his career in animation in April 1925 where he worked at the Pat Sullivan studio. He would blacken in the drawing of Felix the Cat. During his time working for the Pat Sullivan studio, he worked under Otto Messmer. Eugster attended Cooper Union at nighttime to study art while also working. Al Eugster then left Sullivan's Studio in April 1929 and moved to Fleisher Studios. Eugster would return to Fleischer in 1939. In 1932, Eugster went to work for Mintz. He worked with Preston Blair on many films, most notably, Krazy Kat cartoons. Just a year later, he went on to work for Ub lwerks where he co-animated several ComiColor shorts with Shamus Culhane.