Helen Margaret Ogger was an American ink painter and cartoonist, who worked for Disney during the early years of the studio's development.
Ogger was born in 1909 to Frederick K. Ogger and Anna Elizabeth Strohauer, both children of German immigrants. When she was 14, the family moved to Glendale, CA where she attended Glendale Union High School and graduated in 1927, before studying at USC for two years. After that she attended Frank Wiggins Trade School. During this time, she worked as a cartoonist for a newspaper. After completing her education in June 1931, Ogger started working for Walt Disney Animation Studios in their Ink and Paint Department.
Within her first year, Ogger worked on Mickey Mouse cartoons and the Silly Symphonies short films under the leadership of Hazel Sewell. Later, her talents used for Walt Disney's most ambitious project at the time, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a full-length animated feature. The department used rouge to color Snow White's cheek during the cel-painting process initially but the effect failed. Eventually they tried a red dye, applying it with a cotton-wrapped pencil akin to a cotton swab. Ogger was the only inker who could apply the dye properly, likely due to her unique combination of skills, and she used this process for the entire film. This effect would be used again in Pinocchio and Fantasia.
Eventually, her abilities were recognized by the studio, as she rose to become the head of Inking and Special effects and even taught classes on animation at the studio. Ogger left the studio in 1941, supposedly as part of the Disney animators' strike. Afterwards, she worked for Lockheed Aircraft.
Ogger died in February 1983 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) alongside her parents.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Ink and Paint (uncredited) |
| 1940 | Pinocchio | Ink and Paint (uncredited) |
| Fantasia | Ink and Paint (uncredited) |
