United Productions of America (UPA)

United Productions of America (UPA) was an animation studio based in Hollywood, California from 1943–2000 that produced its most famous and influential works from 1943–60. In 1941, a labor strike at Walt Disney Animation Studios left a group of trained artists seeking other employment—of these Disney-trained animators, Stephen Bosustow, David Hilberman, and Zachary Schwartz soon founded UPA. The United States’ entry into World War II created a need for war-related propaganda and training films, and UPA quickly began producing animated industrial shorts that experimented with contemporary graphics. The studio’s left-leaning politics made them particularly suitable to FDR’s democratic... more.