Smith eventually was hired on as an animator at the Fleischer Studios in the late 1930s. He worked on several feature films with that studio, including Gulliver's Travels (1939) and various short films including Popeye cartoons and Betty Boop. He then joined UPA studios, working alongside Robert Cannon, John Hubley and others. His films at UPA included the Oscar-winning Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951).
