Illustrator/writer & Disney Legend Joe Grant was born in New York City on May 15, 1908. He first became interested in drawing while watching his father (an art director for William Randolph Hearsts newspapers) illustrate. In 1933, Walt Disney discovered Grant through his celebrity caricatures in the Los Angeles Record and invited him to design the movie star caricatures for the cartoon Mickeys Gala Premiere. Grant went on to work on such early classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo and Fantasia as a conceptual artist and story man. He was also a key player in the creation of the the Disney Studio Model Shop and its maquettes. Although temporarily leaving Disney in 1949 to pursue other artistic ventures, he later returned in the late 1980s to contribute concepts, character designs, story ideas and gags for Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Fantasia 2000, and Chicken Little. He also worked on Pixars Monsters Inc. Sadly on May 6, 2005, while working at his studio on the animated short Lorenzo, Grant died of a heart attack at the age of 96, just nine days short of his 97th Birthday. Chicken Little, released about a year after his death, was dedicated to him. A book about both Joe Grant and the late Joe Ranft, who died in a car accident on Aug. 16, 2005 -- just 3 months after Joe Grants passing --entitled Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers by Animation historian John Canemaker was published Aug. 3, 2010.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 07:39:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015