Frank Reilly (1906-77) was trained as an artist in New York and worked for AP Newsfeatures as comics and cartoon editor. He joined Disney as head of its comic strip department in January 1946. He wrote at least one comic strip, Scorchy Smith, when he was with AP Newsfeatures.

Jesse Marsh (1907-66), a native of Alabama, started work for Disney even earlier, in 1940, making preliminary sketches for proposed feature cartoons. He was laid off after the famous 1941 strike, served in the army (only briefly), and returned to Disney in 1943. He left again in 1946 to embark on a free-lance career illustrating comic books.