---
name: "Donald W. Ernst"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/donald-w-ernst"
fi1m_id: "donald-w-ernst"
imdb_id: "nm0259689"
tmdb_id: 16390
wikidata_id: "Q5295252"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "25 January 1934"
died: "9 April 2023"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-02T22:10:32.626229+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."
---

# Donald W. Ernst

## Identity

Donald W. Ernst

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/donald-w-ernst
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** donald-w-ernst
- **IMDb ID:** nm0259689
- **TMDB ID:** 16390
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5295252
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_W._Ernst, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5295252, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259689/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/16390

Producer. Born 25 January 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Died 9 April 2023.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 25 January 1934, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Died:** 9 April 2023
- **Active:** 1987–1992
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 producing, 1 crew
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 77 (1), 1990s 82 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_W._Ernst, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5295252, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259689/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/16390

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Brave Little Toaster*](https://film.one/film/the-brave-little-toaster.md) (77)

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

## Biography

Donald W. Ernst was an American film, music and sound editor and producer who worked in both live-action television and animation. Born in Los Angeles, he began his career in the 1950s editing television series including *Gilligan's Island*, *Cimarron Strip* and *Gunsmoke*.

He later edited animated features for Ralph Bakshi, including *Coonskin* (1975), *Wizards* (1977), *The Lord of the Rings* (1978) and *Hey Good Lookin'* (1982). At Disney he edited *The Brave Little Toaster* (1987) and shorts such as *Tummy Trouble* (1989), and produced *Aladdin* (1992) and *Fantasia 2000* (1999). He also produced the English-language version of *Spirited Away* (2001) and served as story supervisor on *Destino* (2003). Ernst died in Stevenson Ranch, California, in 2023.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, animationmagazine.net.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Produced (1) — the average rests on these

- *Aladdin* (1992), Fi1m 82, Co-Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/aladdin.md)

### Crew (1)

- *The Brave Little Toaster* (1987), Fi1m 77, Editor, Sound Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-brave-little-toaster.md)

## Complete filmography (27)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Destino* (2003), Writer
- *Fantasia 2000* (2000), Producer
- *How to Haunt a House* (1999), Producer
- *Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey* (1993), Executive Producer
- *Aladdin* (1992), Co-Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/aladdin.md)
- *Roller Coaster Rabbit* (1990), Producer
- *Tummy Trouble* (1989), Editor
- *Back to Neverland* (1989), Editor
- *Die Reis Na Blinkliggiestad* (1988), Editor
- *The Brave Little Toaster* (1987), Editor, Sound Editor — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/the-brave-little-toaster.md)
- *The Chipmunk Adventure* (1987), Supervising Sound Editor
- *Stand Alone* (1985), Music Editor
- *Hey Good Lookin'* (1982), Editor
- *Silent Rage* (1982), Music Editor
- *A Time to Die* (1982), Music Editor
- *The Women's Room* (1980), Sound Editor
- *The Comeback Kid* (1980), Music Editor
- *Attica* (1980), Music Editor
- *The Lord of the Rings* (1978), Editor
- *Wizards* (1977), Editor
- *Coonskin* (1975), Editor
- *A Summer Without Boys* (1973), Music Editor
- *Heavy Traffic* (1973), Editor
- *Rolling Man* (1972), Editor
- *Le Mans* (1971), Editor
- *Didn’t You Hear?* (1970), Editor
- *Hey, Jeannie!* (1956), series, Editor

---
© 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/donald-w-ernst