Jaime Reyes Diaz was an Argentinian animator/cartoonist, known for his work for Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, and for the many Disney comics his Jaime Diaz Studio produced. Coming from Saenz Pena in the state of Chaco, Argentina, Diaz grew up in a small farming community. He moved to the United States in 1963, where he began his career in the animation industry.
He started out as storyboard artist and character designer for companies like Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. Throughout his career, he has worked for companies like Ed Graham, Pantomime, Format, Ralph Bakshi, Baer Animation, Tom T Animation, Nickelodeon, Film Roman, Frederator, Fox, Magic Lantern Productions and Animotion Works.
Goofy story S76143 by the Jaime Daiz Studio
Diaz started his Jaime Diaz Studio in the mid-1970s, and continued it after returning to Argentina and settling in Buenos Aires in 1983. It became one of the main providers of stories for the comic book productions of The Walt Disney Company. This initially included thousands of pages for stories with the standard characters 'Mickey Mouse', 'Goofy', 'Donald Duck', 'Chip 'n' Dale', 'Grandma Duck', 'Bambi', and many others, meant for European Disney magazines during the 1970s and 1980s.
By the 1990s, Diaz and his team also worked on stories based on Disney TV shows like 'DuckTales', 'Darkwing Duck', 'Rescue Rangers' and 'Goof Troop', and on movies like 'Aladdin' and 'The Little Mermaid', for US publications like the Disney Afternoon. During the 1980s and 1990s, the studio also produced several long 'Uncle Scrooge' pocketbook stories for the Danish publisher Egmont. The studios additionally produced comic stories with Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera characters.
Bambi story by the Jaime Diaz Studio
Among the many talented artists working for The Jaime Diaz Studio were Raul Barbéro, Robert Bat, Walter Carzon, Hector Adolfo De Urtiága, Wanda Gattino, Andres Klacik, José Massaroli, Carlos Paura, Cosme Quartieri, Horacio Saavedra, Oscar Saavedra, Alex Salas, Jorge Sanchez, Rubén Torreiro, Anibal Uzál and Carlos Valenti. Considering their large production, one can state that the studio defined the look of US-produced Disney comics from the 1970s through the early 1990s.
The Jaime Diaz Studio in 1984. Top row: Horacio Saavedra, Dacol, Jaime Díaz, Barbero, Mordillo, Cedrés, Caro, Quartieri, Álex Salas, and Constantini. Sitting: Cativa, Luque and Sánchez
Jaime Diaz himself moved back to the United States in 1995. He continued to work for animation companies like Larry Huber's Animotion Works on series like 'Danger Rangers'. He also served as director of animation for Everett Peck's 'Duckman' series (1994-1997) and the Nickelodeon shows 'ChalkZone' (Nickelodeon, 2002-2005) and 'Fairly Odd Parents' (2001-2012), that were produced by Frederator Studios. One of the final projects he worked on was the completion of his short 'Gaucho Pampa' together with Larry Huber. It was included in the Taiwan International Film Festival in 2007.
Self-portrait