Artist, pioneer, kitemaker: Tyrus Wong, 1910-2016
January 2, 2017 5:37 PM Subscribe
Artist, animator, and kitemaker Tyrus Wong, called film’s “most significant stylist” and best known for inspiring the unique and heralded visual style of Walt Disney's Bambi, died on December 29 at age 106.
Born Wong Gaing Yoo, Tyrus left his mother and a life of poverty in Guangdong province (then known as Canton) with his father to face an uncertain future in the United States. After high school he attended Otis Art Institute on scholarship and graduated at the top of his class, then worked during the Depression for Federal Arts Project within the WPA.
Of his work on Bambi, it was said,
Born Wong Gaing Yoo, Tyrus left his mother and a life of poverty in Guangdong province (then known as Canton) with his father to face an uncertain future in the United States. After high school he attended Otis Art Institute on scholarship and graduated at the top of his class, then worked during the Depression for Federal Arts Project within the WPA.
Of his work on Bambi, it was said,
"He set the color schemes along with the appearance of the forest in painting after painting, hundreds of them, depicting Bambi’s world in an unforgettable way,” Johnston and Thomas wrote. “Here at last was the beauty of Salten’s writing, created not in script or with character development, but in paintings that captured the poetic feeling that had eluded us for so long."His tenure at Disney was brief, but he went on to work for Warner Brothers before retiring from film to a second career in kite-making. A feature-length documentary was released just this year on his life and career.
.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:38 PM on January 2, 2017
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:38 PM on January 2, 2017
.
posted by oheso at 7:51 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by oheso at 7:51 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Thank you for posting this. I never knew about him and it makes me glad to think an Asian artist had such a strong influence on a pop culture classic.
.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:12 PM on January 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:12 PM on January 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
NYT obit here as well:
Tyrus Wong, ‘Bambi’ Artist Thwarted by Racial Bias, Dies at 106
When Walt Disney’s “Bambi” opened in 1942, critics praised its spare, haunting visual style, vastly different from anything Disney had done before.
But what they did not know was that the film’s striking appearance had been created by a Chinese immigrant artist, who took as his inspiration the landscape paintings of the Song dynasty. The extent of his contribution to “Bambi,” which remains a high-water mark for film animation, would not be widely known for decades.
Like the film’s title character, the artist, Tyrus Wong, weathered irrevocable separation from his mother — and, in the hope of making a life in America, incarceration, isolation and rigorous interrogation — all when he was still a child.
In the years that followed, he endured poverty, discrimination and chronic lack of recognition, not only for his work at Disney but also for his fine art, before finding acclaim in his 90s.
.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:20 PM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Tyrus Wong, ‘Bambi’ Artist Thwarted by Racial Bias, Dies at 106
When Walt Disney’s “Bambi” opened in 1942, critics praised its spare, haunting visual style, vastly different from anything Disney had done before.
But what they did not know was that the film’s striking appearance had been created by a Chinese immigrant artist, who took as his inspiration the landscape paintings of the Song dynasty. The extent of his contribution to “Bambi,” which remains a high-water mark for film animation, would not be widely known for decades.
Like the film’s title character, the artist, Tyrus Wong, weathered irrevocable separation from his mother — and, in the hope of making a life in America, incarceration, isolation and rigorous interrogation — all when he was still a child.
In the years that followed, he endured poverty, discrimination and chronic lack of recognition, not only for his work at Disney but also for his fine art, before finding acclaim in his 90s.
.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:20 PM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
.
posted by thedarksideofprocyon at 8:34 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by thedarksideofprocyon at 8:34 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Thanks for posting this. I hadn't heard of him until I read the NYT obituary yesterday and was blown away by his art and his accomplishments. I hope the documentary does well.
posted by creepygirl at 8:55 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by creepygirl at 8:55 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
🦌•
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:26 PM on January 2, 2017
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:26 PM on January 2, 2017
What an amazing artist and story. Here's to you, Mr. Wong.
posted by longdaysjourney at 10:38 PM on January 2, 2017
posted by longdaysjourney at 10:38 PM on January 2, 2017
.
posted by praemunire at 8:48 AM on January 3, 2017
posted by praemunire at 8:48 AM on January 3, 2017
.
posted by protondonor at 8:55 AM on January 3, 2017
posted by protondonor at 8:55 AM on January 3, 2017
I feel I should say something about him but I don't really have much to say, other than of all the deaths of 2016 this one hit me the hardest. I learned about it a day or two before I saw this post. I never met Tyrus but my dad knew him. He lived a very long life and left a legacy that anyone should be proud of. But it still feels like he left us too soon.
posted by protondonor at 8:36 AM on January 4, 2017
posted by protondonor at 8:36 AM on January 4, 2017
« Older “Hello, my friend. Stay awhile and listen...” | Power Shower Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:34 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]