by Chris Lucas
Guest Column
DisneyBizJournal.com
June 22, 2023
Happy 88th Birthday to Disney Legend Floyd Norman, who was hired as an artist by the Walt Disney company at age 22 to assist on the classic film Sleeping Beauty, and is still producing great work in many fields.
He became the first full-time African American animator at Disney, a groundbreaking moment in film and U.S. civil rights history.
After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, Mr. Norman branched out on his own, with his business partner, animator/director Leo Sullivan, to found Vignette Films.
Together, they produced six award winning animated films, one of the first companies to produce cartoons on the subject of black history.
Mr. Norman also had a hand in the look and storylines of early Sesame Street animation segments, Fat Albert & The Gang, Josie & The Pussycats, Jabberjaw, The Smurfs, SuperFriends, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Pac Man, and many other Saturday morning favorites.
He’s been involved in Disney and Pixar projects for decades and has been honored by many film and African American organizations as a true pioneer in his field.
He’s also one of the last active artists who worked directly with Walt Disney.
I feel blessed that I got to spend some time chatting with Mr. Norman when he was at two of my book signings at Walt Disney’s personal backyard Train Barn (which Walt built himself) in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
If you’d like to learn more about Mr. Norman and his legendary career, there’s a great documentary called “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life,” available for purchase online.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Norman!
__________
Chris Lucas is the author of Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.
No comments:
Post a Comment