list_text=          The extraordinary draftsmanship of Milt Kahl was recognized early in his Disney career. Fellow animator and Disney Legend Ollie Johnston recalled during the making of "Pinocchio" how a senior animator at the time responded to Milt's drawings. Ollie said, "One morning Freddie Moore burst into my room saying, 'Hey, you ought to see the drawings [of Pinocchio] this guy Milt Kahl is doing.'" Walt Disney recognized Milt's talent, as well, and named him supervising animator over the artists, who brought Pinocchio to life.
          Years later, when "The Sword in the Stone" director Woolie Reitherman saw Milt's first rough drawings of Merlin the magician and Madame Medusa, he reportedly turned to Milt and said, "These things look so beautiful, they could hang in a museum" to which, Milt responded with a characteristic "Aw...You're full of it!"
          Because Milt was so good at his craft, he was often assigned the toughest of Disney tasks: animating human characters, such as Peter Pan, Alice of "Alice in Wonderland" and the Prince in "Sleeping Beauty. He was just as adept at animating animal characters, as well, including Bambi, the snooty Llama in "Saludos Amigos," and Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear in "Song of the South."
          Milt was born in San Francisco in 1909, where he attended school in the city.  He cut his high school education short, however, to pursue his dream of becoming a magazine illustrator or cartoonist. While studying art with local artists and schools, he worked retouching photos and pasting up layouts at the now defunct "Oakland Post-Enquirer," followed by the "San Francisco Bulletin." Milt then started his own commercial art business, which limped along after the Great Depression hit. During this time, he saw the Disney short "Three Little Pigs" at a local theater and became mesmerized by the possibilities of this exciting young art form called "animation."
          In June 1934, Milt applied to The Walt Disney Studios and was hired to work as an assistant animator on such shorts as "Mickey's Circus," "Lonesome Ghosts" and "The Ugly Duckling," which won an Oscar for Best Animated Short. Over the years, Milt contributed to such Disney features as "Melody Time," "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad," "Cinderella," "Lady and the Tramp," "101 Dalmatians," "The Jungle Book" and "The Rescuers," among others.
          After nearly 40 years with Disney, Milt retired from the Studio, in 1976, and returned to his native California Bay Area to pursue other interests, including sculpting delicate wire into human figures, such as dancing ballerinas.
          Milt Kahl died on April 19, 1987.&