Betsy Baytos Bio
Producer/Director/Creative
Click here for a 2023 interview on working with Muppets, Disney & PETA!
Meet Betsy Baytos
Betsy’s eclectic career was tailor-made for her unique talents. An award-winning film and feature animator at Disney Studios, her career launched at age 18, where she began work on THE RESCUERS, PETE’S DRAGON, MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE FOX & THE HOUND, THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. While at Disney, she discovered Eccentric Dance and was thrilled to learn how this loose-limbed, comic style of dance inspired animation, providing a golden opportunity to continue the tradition of choreographing Eccentric Dance in all the films she animated.
Betsy saw another opportunity with THE MUPPET SHOW in London, performing the Betsy Bird, which Jim Henson created to feature her eccentric style of dance. While in the UK, she traced the history of Eccentric Dance throughout Europe, via ancient pantomime, the Commedia dell’Arte, and Music Hall. An Eccentric Dance historian, she tracked down the surviving masters to learn the technique, which led to a lifetime of research.
As a spokesperson for Disney Animation, she toured the country promoting the animated films, which provided a rare opportunity to introduce Chaplin and the eccentrics that inspired their characters to a younger generation.
With grants and support from Jerome Robbins, Betsy flew to New York to research theatrical masters of Eccentric Dance. This led to renowned Broadway Director/choreographer Henry Le Tang, who cast Betsy as the principal Eccentric Dancer in STARDUST on Broadway.
Betsy then made the decision in 1994 to document the Eccentric Dance Masters and preserve their stories on film. While working on the project, Betsy brought Eccentric Dance to FARIETALE THEATER, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL in Montreal, providing story, film, and visual content. She conducted seminars across the globe, including the Fred Astaire Conference at Oxford University, UCLA, CalArts Animation, Disney Artist’s Development, and Universal Studios Osaka.
Then in 2019, THE MOTION PICTURE ACADEMY of ARTS & SCIENCES sponsored Betsy’s ‘work-in-progress’ of FUNNY FEET & RUBBER LEGS: THE ART OF ECCENTRIC DANCE to a sold-out audience at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, California. Hosted by SHIRLEY MACLAINE and renowned British actor SIMON CALLOW, it mixed live performance with rare archival clips and a slice of the 67 interviews spanning five continents, she had filmed. A documentary feature film is now in production. When the film is completed, Betsy hopes to create a website and database of her entire archive and interviews, to be available for researchers, dancers, artists, and anyone who loves dance history.
An Award-winning artist, Betsy will design and license dance for the film. She has brought life into character licensing campaigns such as the Coca-Cola Polar Bears, Warner Bros., Disney, Aquarium of the Pacific, and over 40 YEARS, CREATING THE JIMMY BUFFETT ‘MARGARITAVILLE’ brand and licensing.
Passionate about our planet, Betsy has collaborated with JANE GOODALL & MY OCTOPUS TEACHER’s Craig Foster on an illustrated book series in development, entitled THE WATERING HOLE, to benefit African wildlife and educate about climate change.