Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973), commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo.[2][3] He began his animation career in 1936 (the year I was born!) at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. In 1941, at the age of 28, Kelly transferred to work at Dell Comics, where he created Pogo, which eventually became his platform for political and philosophical commentary. - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly
What HOOKED me was his humor and artistic talent. Facial Expressions and the ability to portray emotions!