American lyricist and author chiefly noted for co-writing (with the composer and songwriter Frank Churchill) the musical numbers for Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), including "Heigh-Ho", "I'm Wishing" and "Whistle While You Work". He also worked on the picture as a sequence director. His second claim to fame was adapting Felix Salten's 1923 book, "Bambi, a Life in the Woods", for the screen (as well as co-writing the score with Churchill). Assisted by Perce Pearce, he is further credited with devising the characters of Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk, primarily to lighten the mood of the picture. One of the musical numbers from Bambi (1942), "Love is a Song", was nominated for an Oscar, as was "Lavender Blue" (sung by Burl Ives) for So Dear to My Heart (1948). This piece was adapted from a popular folk song. More...read more