Michael Webster; Set Up Disney TV Animation Unit

Michael Webster, 60, the executive who established the Walt Disney Television Animation Division in 1984 and oversaw the production of programs ranging from the Emmy-winning “New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” to a cartoon series based on the Disney features “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin.” A Los Angeles native, Webster was the son of Marriott Coates Webster, whose credits included films for such Republic Pictures stars as Roy Rogers. He gained an interest in animation after visiting the Disney studios when he was 10. He began his industry career at 18 with animator Art Babbitt at Quartet Films. He worked on a variety of short films and commercials for Quartet before moving on to Hanna-Barbera, where he animated such programs as “The Flintstones.” Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 1980s, Webster died of pneumonia at his home in Port Townsend, Wash., on Jan. 15.