Donald Ragnvald Christensen (July 6, 1916 – October 18, 2006) was an American animator, cartoonist, illustrator, writer and inventor. He was sometimes credited as "Don Arr".

Biography

Christensen was a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis. After finishing school he worked for the Walt Disney Studio from 1937 to 1941. He left the studio after the 1941 Disney animators' strike, during which he met his wife-to-be, Ivy-Carol Van Horn, a special effects detail artist. Christensen then worked briefly at Warner Bros. Cartoons, primarily as a storyboard artist for Bob Clampett's animation unit. After leaving Warner Bros. he worked independently for nearly four decades as a storyboard writer and artist, primarily for Western Publishing, Dell and Gold Key comic books, as well as Hanna Barbera, Walter Lantz Productions, Filmation, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, and other cartoon studios. He wrote and provided illustrations for such comic book titles as Magnus, Robot Fighter, Donald Duck, and Uncle Scrooge. He was involved with the Southern California Comic Artist Professionals Society for many years, and was a past President of the Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS).

Don R. Christensen

Christensen died in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 18, 2006, at the age of 90 of natural causes. He beat the odds that he would not survive past 40, having been a Type I diabetic since the age of 13.

Don R. Christensen

References

Death notice at Toon Zone

Obituary at Mark Evanier's POV

1916 births

2006 deaths

Animators from Minnesota

American cartoonists

Walt Disney Animation Studios people

Hanna-Barbera people

Filmation people

American television writers

American male screenwriters

American male television writers

American storyboard artists

American comics writers

American comics artists

20th-century American male writers

20th-century American writers

People with type 1 diabetes

20th-century American screenwriters

Warner Bros. Cartoons people

Don R. Christensen