Morton Schindel
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Morton Schindel (b. 1918) is an American educator and producer, the founder in 1953 of Weston Woods Studios, which specializes in adapting children's books into animated films. He named the company after the wooded area outside his home in Weston, Connecticut. [1]
Since 1953, Weston Woods has produced more than 500 films and film strips, beginning with Andy and the Lion (1954), adapted from the 1939 Caldecott Honor book by James Daugherty. Weston Woods films were shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1956, and that same year the films had their CBS television premiere on Captain Kangaroo. In 1963, the studio released its first animated film, The Snowy Day, adapted from the 1962 Caldecott Medal book by Ezra Jack Keats, and the following year, it produced a documentary. The Lively Art of Picture Books, for the American Library Association. The Doughnuts (1963) was a 28-minute live-action comedy based on a chapter from Robert McCloskey's Homer Price (1943). Beginning in 1968, Gene Deitch became the leading animation director for Weston Woods, working from his studio in Czechoslovakia with his wife, Zdenka Deitchova.[2]
Known for remaining faithful to the books he adapted, Schindel was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Short Film, Animated category for his film, Doctor DeSoto (1984), which he produced with Michael Sporn. He also has made documentaries about artists, such as the 18-minute Robert McCloskey (1964), a documentary which is sometimes screened in art schools. The film shows McCloskey sitting in the Boston Public Garden and intercuts pages from his sketchbook drawings for Make Way for Ducklings. The illustrator discusses experiences that have influenced his work and the relationship of craftsmanship to inspiration. [3]
Schindel was awarded the Regina Medal in 1979. He holds a BH from the University of Pennsylvania. The Weston Woods Studios business address was 143 Main Street in Norwalk, Connecticut. [1] His wife, Cari Best, is a prolific childrens' book author (Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen) with Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
The company was acquired by Scholastic, Inc. in 1996.
