Zamora was born in Mexico City, Mexico, but raised in the United States.[2] As a young adult, he read a help wanted ad in the local newspaper seeking a male animator at Pat Sullivan's studio. Despite Zamora having no prior experience in the field, he was intrigued and applied. His test entailed tracing a photo of Felix the Cat, and Zamora was hired after placing second among three men.[2] Zamora was still employed at Pat Sullivan's in 1928.[3]
He was hired as an inbetweener at Fleischer Studios in 1930,[4] and eventually became an animator there. Shamus Culhane described Zamora as "the star" among the new batch of animators at Fleischer.[5]
Following his stint at Fleischer, Zamora worked at Walt Disney Productions during the early 1930s, with Ed Benedict as his assistant.[6] While there, Zamora animated on Silly Symphony cartoons, including The China Plate (1931).[6] Zamora had a reputation for spending too much time playing practical jokes as opposed to working, and for this reason was fired by Walt Disney in 1932.[7]
^Falide, Augusto A.; Doyle, William S. (1996). Latino Success: Insights from 100 of America's Most Powerful Latino Business Professionals. Simon & Schuster. p. 78. ISBN9780684813127.