---
name: "Bill Roberts"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/bill-roberts"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "2 August 1899"
died: "18 March 1974"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 85
updated: "2026-09-17T05:55:29.533869+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Bill Roberts

Director. Born 2 August 1899 in Kentucky, USA. Died 18 March 1974.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 2 August 1899, Kentucky, USA
- **Died:** 18 March 1974
- **Active:** 1938–1942
- **Also known as:** William Opal Roberts, William Roberts
- **Works often with:** [Ben Sharpsteen](https://film.one/person/ben-sharpsteen.md), [Norm Ferguson](https://film.one/person/norman-ferguson.md), [Walt Disney](https://film.one/person/walt-disney.md), [Wilfred Jackson](https://film.one/person/wilfred-jackson.md), [Frank Churchill](https://film.one/person/frank-churchill.md), [Hamilton Luske](https://film.one/person/hamilton-luske.md), [Jack Kinney](https://film.one/person/jack-kinney.md), [Samuel Armstrong](https://film.one/person/samuel-armstrong.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 85 (1), 1940s 85 (4)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2903332, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730860/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11427

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Pinocchio*](https://film.one/film/pinocchio.md) (88), [*Dumbo*](https://film.one/film/dumbo.md) (87), [*Fantasia*](https://film.one/film/fantasia.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Bill Roberts (2 August 1899 – 18 March 1974) was an American animator and film director. Born in Kentucky, he worked as a magazine illustrator in New York before joining Walt Disney Productions in 1932.

He directed sequences for several Disney animated features, including *Pinocchio* (1940), the "Rite of Spring" segment of *Fantasia* (1940), *Dumbo* (1941) and *Bambi* (1942). He also directed the short *Reason and Emotion* (1943) and contributed to *The Three Caballeros* (1944) and *Fun and Fancy Free* (1947).

Roberts remained at the studio into the 1940s and later directed segments for the television series *Disneyland*.

*Sources: imdb.com, disney.fandom.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Bambi* (1942), Fi1m 86, Co-Director — [page](https://film.one/film/bambi.md)
- *Dumbo* (1941), Fi1m 87, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/dumbo.md)
- *Fantasia* (1940), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/fantasia.md)
- *Pinocchio* (1940), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/pinocchio.md)
- *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1938), Fi1m 85, Animation — [page](https://film.one/film/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs.md)

## Gallery

- ![Pinocchio (1940)](https://film.one/media/title/1692/still-d4a00ca55d6c.jpg) *Pinocchio* (1940)
- ![Dumbo (1941)](https://film.one/media/title/12283/still-62554117546b.jpg) *Dumbo* (1941)
- ![Fantasia (1940)](https://film.one/media/title/12281/still-23022b72de9c.jpg) *Fantasia* (1940)

## Also known for

- *The Three Caballeros* (1944), Director
- *Fun and Fancy Free* (1947), Director
- *Saludos Amigos* (1942), Director
- *Mickey and the Beanstalk* (1947), Director
- *Clock Cleaners* (1937), Animation
- *Brave Little Tailor* (1938), Director
- *The Big Bad Wolf* (1934), Animation
- *The Grasshopper and the Ants* (1934), Animation

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/bill-roberts