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Burny Mattinson

Burny Mattinson

Writer, director and producer, also actor · Died February 27, 2023, aged 87 · San Francisco, California, USA

Oscar nominee

Burnett "Burny" Mattinson was an American animator, director, producer, and story artist for Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he had been employed since 1953. Mattinson was honored as an inductee of the Disney Legends program in 2008. Mattinson was the longest serving employee of The Walt Disney Company, with a career that spanned almost 70 years.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
May 13, 1935
Died
February 27, 2023 (aged 87)
From
San Francisco, California, USA
Works as
Writer, director and producer, also actor
Titles
24 on Motif · 25 credits in all
TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Down 14% in 30 days

What are Burny Mattinson's films like?

Across their 16 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Society.

What they feel like to watch

their average across 16 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category

Light 10 · Serious 4 · Dark 2

A split, not a type: Grounded 2 · Stylized 6 · Heightened 8

Gentle 6 · Charged 9 · Intense 1

Steady 3 · Shifting 12 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 10 · Funny 4

A split, not a type: Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 1

Casual 14 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0

Resolved 16 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful
7
Tense
6
Hopeful
7
Romantic
4
Warm
4
Other
17

How their films end · 1 with a twist

  • Happy11
  • Bittersweet5

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Burny Mattinson's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 21 of their 24 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (21).

Subscription and free streaming for Burny Mattinson's titles on Motif; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Motif score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

25 credits, 24 with a Motif page; 5 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

Career shape

A full career of 22 titles from 1955 to 2023.

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting1 of 22: 0 only acting, 1 with another roleDirecting3 of 22: 0 only directing, 3 with another roleWriting17 of 22: 12 only writing, 5 with another role · typical Motif score88thProducing3 of 22: 0 only producing, 3 with another roleOther crew7 of 22: 4 only other crew, 3 with another role · typical Motif score90th

22 titles, 6 with more than one role — writing and other crew overlap on 2 of them.

By decade

1950s1 · crew1970s3 · crew1980s3 · crew1990s7 · crew2000s2 · crew2010s3 · crew2020s3 · 1 acting · 3 crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Motif score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on Motif, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

Nominated for an Oscar in 1984, Best Short Film, Animated.

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Burny Mattinson's films land?

Their typical Motif film has a Motif score in the 90th percentile, the median of all 24; across their 16 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 87th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

87thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 16

Approval · how many liked their films

85thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 16

Reach · how many have seen their films

96thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 16

Motif score across 24 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up19
  • 50th to 74th3
  • 25th to 49th1
  • Below 25th1

Reviewers score the dialogue 66/100 and the plot and story 53/100 in their films, across 15 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on Motif; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Motif score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their Motif titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is Burny Mattinson's work okay for kids?

Across up to 11 Motif titles with content scores, sex & nudity and profanity run lighter than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore11 titles32–54 · median 41 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity11 titles10–25 · median 18 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 31
Profanity11 titles6–19 · median 8 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 35
Alcohol & Drugs11 titles5–31 · median 28 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense11 titles38–66 · median 45 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does Burny Mattinson work with?

People who share at least 2 of Burny Mattinson's Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ed Gombert shares the most, 6.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Composers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles