Rick Reinert

Rick Reinert (September 14, 1925 - November 5, 2018) was born Frederick George Reinert, Jr. in Parma, Ohio, one of three sons of Fred and Anita Reinert. Reinert's father was a long-time member of the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial art department and himself a master of caricature. Reinert attended Parma Schaaf High School. He began his art career working in the cartoon department at MGM in 1945. In 1947 he was drafted and served at The Army Photo Center Animation Department in New York. In the 1950s, he was art director for WJW-TV in Cleveland, doing sales films and titling. He opened his own Cleveland-based animation studio, Rick Reinert Productions, in 1960. The company produced animation for hundreds of TV commercials and films for General Pictures Corp., and other sponsored film studios. In Cleveland, Reinert produced the animated special, "The Dipsy Doodle Show (1974)" and the opening credits for ABC's "After School Special" and "Weekend Special." In 1979 he moved his company to Burbank, California, where it grew to 75 employees. Reinert animated a long list of famous cartoon characters from Tom & Jerry, and Charlie Brown, to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Winnie the Pooh. Still, his true calling was character creation, background painting, and "putting it all together" as producer/director. He produced and directed animated shorts for Disney, including "Food Is Fun: A Nutrition Adventure (1980)," "Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981)," and "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983)." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) credits him with background animation work on "Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)." He worked with the Library of Congress' "Read More About It" program, creating short ads to promote reading, and he made five animated films for the program, including "Capt'n O.G. Readmore's Jack in the Beanstalk (1985)." Reinert produced other specials such as "The Bollo Caper (1985)" and "The Kingdom Chums: Original Top 10 (1990)." In the early 1990s, he produced specials based on Precious Moments figurines, like "Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas (1991)." In 1997 he served as an animation supervisor on a half-hour Peanuts special, "It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown."