Directing

Pete Burness

Born 1904-06-16 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Wilson D. "Pete" Burness (June 16, 1904 – July 21, 1969) was an American animator and animation director. He was perhaps best known for his work on the Mr. Magoo series. He also contributed to the Tom and Jerry series, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, and Rocky and His Friends.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Destination Magoo poster
8.5

The title of this short is a play on the title of the feature film Destination Moon (which itself has an animated sequence made by Walter Lantz and starring Woody Woodpecker) and once again Magoo and his myopia take an adventure, hand in hand, off to the "Moon". The life that man leads!

Destination Magoo

1954

Grizzly Golfer poster
6.5

Magoo goes golfing in an unbearable way. When Magoo and Waldo go to play golf, they wind up in the middle of a bear hunt. Magoo mistakes a grizzly bear for Waldo and proceeds to make the bear caddy for him. The bear continually gets clobbered by clubs, balls, you name it. Meanwhile, Waldo is nowhere to be found, and the hunters are closing in. Just as Magoo is playing the last hole, the hunters open fire (seeing the bear), and everyone runs away: Magoo, the bear and Waldo.

Grizzly Golfer

1951

Spellbound Hound poster
9.0

Mr. Magoo invites a friend to his lakeside cabin, unaware that a bloodhound has pursued an escaped convict to that isolated location.

Spellbound Hound

1950

Matador Magoo poster
8.0

The near-sighted Mr. Magoo, further lost than usual, mistakes a bullring in Mexico for a highway in the United States, and his myopic wanderings through the arena cause much havoc, and draws very few cheers, especially from the bull.

Matador Magoo

1957

The Explosive Mr. Magoo poster
8.0

Mr. Magoo has a windup toy mistaken for a bomb.

The Explosive Mr. Magoo

1958

The Explosive Mr. Magoo poster
8.0

Mr. Magoo has a windup toy mistaken for a bomb.

The Explosive Mr. Magoo

1958

Kangaroo Courting poster
4.7

It's springtime and love is in the air particularly for Mr. Magoo. Magoo is disappointed to learn his nephew, Waldo, had a fight with his girlfriend, Juliette. Magoo plans to have Waldo and Juliette reunited but instead of going to Juliette's apartment, he goes instead to a boxing ring where a boxing female kangaroo is sparring. Magoo mistakes the kangaroo for Juliette and invites her home to meet Waldo. Unfortunately, the kangaroo is trained to throw punches every time she hears a bell and Waldo is usually at the receiving end of the blows.

Kangaroo Courting

1954

Bungled Bungalow poster
9.0

Mr. Magoo's house is towed-away by thieves.

Bungled Bungalow

1951

Trouble Indemnity poster
6.2

An insurance salesman enters Magoo's house hoping to make a sale. Magoo refuses but the salesman is eventually able to sell Magoo some by posing as one of Magoo's old college chums. Magoo is now worth a hefty sum and is ready to collect after being bitten by a dog (actually a tiger rug) but, instead of going to the insurance building, enters a building under construction next door to it. The salesman and his boss notice Magoo walking around the steel skeleton of the building and realizing, "If he falls, the company falls", they rush over making several attempts to save Magoo's life and keep him from endangering himself.

Trouble Indemnity

1950

Pink and Blue Blues poster
5.9

Mr. Magoo is hired by his neighbors to babysit their little son, Homer. Magoo is delighted to accept but, unfortunately, a notorious cat burglar is intent on entering and robbing the house Magoo is babysitting it. To make matters worse, Magoo is constantly confusing Homer with the family dog and vice versa. When the thief finally breaks in, all chaos breaks loose but everything turns out all right in the end when the thief is apprehended thanks to the dog who is more alert than Magoo was.

Pink and Blue Blues

1952

Captains Outrageous poster
8.0

The near-sighted, and obviously rich, Mr. MaGoo and his nephew, Waldo, set sail on their well-rigged boat to catch Mighty Moe, the elusive giant marlin. Walso falls overboard and Magoo rescues a seal by mistake. Thinking he is giving brandy to Waldo, Magoo serves the seal with cod-liver oil, making the seal very happy. MaGoon ties the cod-liver oil to the anchor, sinks it and promptly catches Mighty Moe. He then sails for port with his prize catch, leaving Waldo, at sea, hanging onto a buoy.

Captains Outrageous

1952

Magoo's Canine Mutiny poster
7.7

The nearsighted Mr. McGoo goes shopping for a dog as a pet, and enters the pet store just as it is being robbed by a crook wearing a fur coat. McGoo puts a leash on him and heads for home as the crook thinks this will afford him a safe escape. But a policeman puts the collar on the thief and takes him to jail. McGoo, still wanting a dog, goes shopping for a replacement but ends up in a record store. He exits dragging a s statue of a dog, the 'His Master's Voice' trademark of a record company

Magoo's Canine Mutiny

1956

Magoo Breaks Par poster
7.0

The nearsighted Mr. Magoo sets out for a round of golf but catches the prison paddy wagon instead of the city bus and winds up in prison breaking rocks. He complains to the warden, who he mistakes for the grounds keeper, about the conditions of the golf course, and the warden boots him out.

Magoo Breaks Par

1957

Magoo Breaks Par poster
7.0

The nearsighted Mr. Magoo sets out for a round of golf but catches the prison paddy wagon instead of the city bus and winds up in prison breaking rocks. He complains to the warden, who he mistakes for the grounds keeper, about the conditions of the golf course, and the warden boots him out.

Magoo Breaks Par

1957

Sloppy Jalopy poster
7.0

Mr. Magoo heads to a used car lot hoping to buy Waldo a new car for his birthday promising Waldo, "I'll be back with a little surprise for you". The crooked car salesman notices how myopic Magoo is and takes advantage of it by over-pricing the car Magoo chooses. Magoo accepts but the car salesman gets his just desserts when he unwittingly goes for a harrowing test drive with Magoo taking him to an amusement park where Magoo leads the car to the top of roller coasters and ferris wheels among other things with a police officer in hot pursuit.

Sloppy Jalopy

1952

Meet Mother Magoo poster
10.0

Mr. Magoo brings in his mail opening up a flyer for a store's "83rd Anniversary Sale". Magoo thinks that the flyer is a letter from his mother about her "83rd birthday" and begins to worry that maybe he hasn't spent enough time with his mother lately. He goes to pay his mother a visit to make up for lost time but upon arriving, Mother Magoo doesn't quite appreciate Magoo's attempts at being helpful such as baking a feather duster thinking it to be a turkey dinner. So she uses psychology to eventually persuade him to go back home (at least until next year).

Meet Mother Magoo

1956

Rock Hound Magoo poster
7.0

The near-sighted Mr. Magoo somehow or another is a nugget-happy prospector out west. In addition to mistaking a gold rock for a rain cloud, he meets an old prospector and accuses him of claim-jumping. Together, they actually discover gold.

Rock Hound Magoo

1957

Rock Hound Magoo poster
7.0

The near-sighted Mr. Magoo somehow or another is a nugget-happy prospector out west. In addition to mistaking a gold rock for a rain cloud, he meets an old prospector and accuses him of claim-jumping. Together, they actually discover gold.

Rock Hound Magoo

1957

Safety Spin poster
8.0

The near-sighted Mr. Magoo (voice of Jim Backus) decides it is time for him to renew his drivers' license. Trust to form, he heads for the motor vehicle bureau but winds up at a maternity hospital.

Safety Spin

1953

Magoo's Puddle Jumper poster
5.7

At a used car lot, Mr. Magoo is intent on buying a car for his nephew Waldo. He is slick talked into buying an old clunker thanks to a shifty salesman but he drives it off anyway. Unfortunately, the myopic Magoo drives off a pier and under the ocean where he mistakes the various aquatic surroundings such as fish, sunken boats, and seals for other cars, dilapidated mansions, and a horn happy driver respectively.

Magoo's Puddle Jumper

1956

Magoo’s Three-Point Landing poster
8.0

Magoo’s car breaks down on an airport runway.

Magoo’s Three-Point Landing

1958

Magoo’s Three-Point Landing poster
8.0

Magoo’s car breaks down on an airport runway.

Magoo’s Three-Point Landing

1958

Magoo Goes Overboard poster
8.3

Mr. Magoo and Waldo are on a cruise aboard an ocean liner when the near-sighted MaGoo accidentally falls into the ship's swimming pool and thinks he has fallen overboard. When he tries to rescue one of the swimmers, the ship's captain jumps in and rescues Magoo. The grateful---and talkative---MaGoo informs the ship's captain that he will inform the ship's captain of his good deed and, when last seen, MaGoo is heading in the direction of the swimming pool.

Magoo Goes Overboard

1957

Magoo Saves the Bank poster
7.0

The near-sighted Mr. Magoo, on his way to make a bank deposit, boards a race-track bound bus instead. Mistaking the betting windows for tellerwindows, he keeps making and winning bets on long shots. The track finally tosses him out with his bag of winnings, which Magoo thinks was the result of compound interest growth.

Magoo Saves the Bank

1957