[1] After graduating from high school in 1937, Stanchfield worked as an animator at the Charles Mintz Studio.
In the 1970s, Stanchfield and Eric Larson created a training program for new animators at Disney studios.
Stanchfield's students included numerous prominent animators, such as Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Don Bluth, Joe Ranft, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, and Mark Henn.
Those animators would go on to craft important films of the Disney Renaissance: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Toy Story.
In 2009, Stanchfield's lecture notes were compiled into the two-volume set Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes.