During
World War II, he served in the U.S. Army's
First Motion Picture Unit (reporting to Lt.
Ronald Reagan), where he worked with such animators as
Frank Thomas. After the war, he became what was then known as a "story man" at
Warner Bros. Cartoons, working under director
Arthur Davis. After a job as a writer on
Bob Clampett's
Time For Beany television puppet show, he later worked at
United Productions of America where he was one of the writers who adapted
Dr. Seuss's original story for the 1950
Academy Award-winning short
Gerald McBoing-Boing, which later became a television show, as well as adapting the 1953 Academy Award-nominated short film of
Edgar Allan Poe's
The Tell-Tale Heart. He was later let go by UPA. Scott believed this was because UPA was under political pressure during the Red Scare of the 1950s. He believed UPA that consequently dismissed his co-writer for participating in left-wing activities, and threw out Scott as well in the process. Scott then went on to work on animated cartoons for John Sutherland Productions. This work was mainly on behalf of business organizations, such as the
United States Chamber of Commerce. While this work reflected more conservative values than his own, he stayed there for four years because the company paid its writers well. He grew weary of the messages his employer wanted in his work, and tried to leave, but said "I kept trying to tell them I quit, but they kept stuffing my mouth with money." He finally left and went back to work for UPA for a time. Scott worked as a voice actor as well when he joined
Jay Ward as head writer and co-producer, and voice acted in such television series as
The Bullwinkle Show (most notably as
Bullwinkle and
Mister Peabody, as well as
Dudley Do-Right). In a 1982 interview, Scott said, "I got a call from Jay [Ward] asking if I'd be interested in writing another series, an adventure script with a moose and a squirrel. I said, 'Sure.' I didn't know if I could write an adventure with a moose and a squirrel, but I never turned down a job." Scott never received an on-screen credit for his voice acting on any of the Ward series. He also wrote many commercials for
General Mills because General Mills had financed much of
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and the
Quaker Oats Company, most notably those for
Cap'n Crunch cereal. The voices of Rocky, Nell Fenwick and many of the feminine roles were performed by
June Foray, although Scott's wife, Dorothy, voiced several female parts as well. Scott was a voice director on
The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show and a dialogue director on the 1959 animated comedy feature film
1001 Arabian Nights. He starred in the
George of the Jungle series as George,
Super Chicken, and Tom Slick, as well as
Fractured Flickers and
Hoppity Hooper. Scott also did live-action acting on the television show
The Duck Factory, which starred
Jim Carrey, as well as featuring noted voice actors
Don Messick and
Frank Welker. In the episode "The Annie Awards", Scott plays the
emcee at an
award ceremony for
cartoonists. Scott was a member of the
Screen Cartoonist's Guild of which he was President in 1952. He was also a member of the
Screen Actors Guild and was elected to the Board of Governors of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ==Later career==