Adrian (Ade) Woolery; Pioneer in TV Commercial Animation

Adrian (Ade) Woolery, 82, an Emmy-winning graphic artist and a pioneer in the use of animation for TV commercials. A veteran of the Walt Disney Studios, where he was one of the first to use the multiplane camera, Woolery was a cameraman on much of the final footage for Disney’s first full-length feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” After the Disney strike of 1941, Woolery went to work for Screen Gems, where he helped produce animation-oriented films for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reelection campaign. He next became a founder of United Productions of America, where some of the first animated TV commercials were produced. Among them were the Dr. Seuss campaign for Ford automobiles. In 1952, he sold his interest in United Productions and formed Playhouse Pictures, which specializes in animated commercials. He won his Emmy for graphic design in 1983-84 for “The Duck Factory” series. Playhouse also does titles for films and TV shows. In Santa Monica on March 8 of cancer.