Kenneth B. "Ken" Anderson (March 17, 1909 – December 13, 1993) was an American
animator
An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...
,
art director
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
, and
storyboard artist
A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.
Work
A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mar ...
for
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. He had been named by
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
as his "
jack of all trades".
Born in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Anderson studied architecture at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. He later studied at the
École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
and the
American Academy in Rome. When he returned to the United States, Anderson worked for six weeks at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
(MGM) before joining the Disney studios in 1934. He worked as an
inbetweener and was later promoted to an animator. His first major assignment was the ''
Silly Symphonies'' short film ''
Three Orphan Kittens'' (1935). He later moved to the layout department. For ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937), Anderson designed layouts, experimented with the
multiplane camera, and built a model of the dwarfs' cottage.
Anderson served again as an art director on ''
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
'' (1940) and ''
Fantasia'' (1940) for ''The Pastoral Symphony'' segment. Anderson worked closely with
Mary Blair in adapting her visual style for ''
The Three Caballeros'' (1944) and ''
Song of the South'' (1946). He also worked on the story development for ''
Melody Time'' (1948), ''
So Dear to My Heart'' (1948), and ''
Cinderella'' (1950).
During the 1950s, Anderson joined
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...
(WDI), then known as WED Enterprises, in which he designed several
Fantasyland "dark rides" for the
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
theme park. He subsequently worked as a production designer on ''
Sleeping Beauty
"Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...
'' (1959) and introduced the
xerography technique for ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961). He later contributed background and character designs for ''
The Jungle Book'' (1967), ''
The Aristocats'' (1970), ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
'' (1973), ''
The Rescuers'' (1977), and ''
Pete's Dragon'' (1977). He retired in 1978, but he rejoined WED Enterprises a year later to help renovate Fantasyland. On December 13, 1993, Anderson died from a stroke.
Early life and education
Anderson was born in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
on March 17, 1909. He was the son of Luther Anderson Sr., a lumber merchant, and Ethel Way. He had two sisters, Ruth and Roberta. When Anderson was three years old, his family moved to the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
(then a
territory of the United States). While sailing back to the United States in 1919, his father died from
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
, leaving the family destitute. Anderson's sister, Ruth, also died during this time. Anderson's mother sent him to live with his uncle who abused him, which forced him to
run away and lived in the woods. "I figured life was too damn hard," he recalled, "so I found a log cabin and caught 127
trout for my dinner and lived there for a month before they found me." Meanwhile, Anderson's mother Ethel finished her training as a schoolteacher and was hired for a teaching position in Seattle. His mother reclaimed him, and at age twelve, he began working several minor jobs to put himself through school.
Anderson studied architecture at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. He then won a scholarship where he studied at the
École des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleu in
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, to which he claimed no one west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
had obtained before. He later studied at the
American Academy in Rome for two and a half years. Anderson returned to the United States in 1933 during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
.
Career
1933–1942: the ''Silly Symphonies'', ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''Fantasia''
Due to a scarcity in architectural jobs, Anderson worked at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
(MGM) on ''
The Painted Veil'' (1934) and ''
What Every Woman Knows'' (1934) for six weeks as a set designer. He recalled his time at MGM was "a most unhappy experience" and his wife was "fed up with our living on credit." One day, when Anderson and his wife Polly were driving around the
Disney studios near Hyperion Avenue, she said, "Why don't you go in there and get a job?" He refused at first, to which she fought back: "You need a job. We've got to have a job. We're living off these canned beans down at the beach and we can't keep doing that."
Anderson returned to the studio and showed
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
his watercolor architectural paintings, which impressed Disney. The next day, he was given a two weeks' apprenticeship in the
inbetween department. Polly herself worked as a painter in the Ink and Paint department for three years until she became pregnant with her first daughter. On September 3, 1934, Anderson began working as an inbetweener doing fill-in scenes with other junior animators, including
Milt Kahl,
Ollie Johnston,
Frank Thomas,
Jack Hannah, and
James Algar. His first projects were the ''
Silly Symphonies'' short films, including ''
The Goddess of Spring'' (1934) and ''
Three Little Wolves'' (1936), and ''
Mickey's Polo Team'' (1936).
Disney admired Anderson's skill in
perspective drawing and selected him to animate on the ''Silly Symphonies'' short ''
Three Orphan Kittens'' (1935). Anderson recalled, "
alt Disneygave me several scenes in ''Three Orphan Kittens'', in which I animated the kittens and the backgrounds. The camera traveled along with the kittens at their eye level to show the surroundings as they saw it." The short won the 1935
Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).
After ''Three Orphan Kittens'', Disney offered Anderson a position in the layout department, headed by Charles Phillippi and Hugh Hennesy. One evening, in 1934, Anderson was first notified of Disney's plans for ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) when Disney acted out the entire story to his animation staff on a soundstage. Feeling motivated by Disney's performance, Disney assigned Anderson, alongside special effects animator Cy Young, lighting expert Hal Halvenston and engineer Bill Garity, to design moving backgrounds for an animation test of a peddler woman in the forest, meant to display actual depth and perspective. Using an experimental
multiplane camera, Anderson drew three planes of animated trees, which were placed on large glass plates, and had the team experiment with distances. Disney was pleased with the results and ordered further animation tests of the dwarfs' cottage and
Snow White.
For the sequence, Anderson built a full-size miniature of the dwarfs' cottage and its interior to assist the background and layout artists.
Live-action reference footage was then filmed of dancer
Marge Champion (performing as Snow White) wearing a "black heavy dress" against a white screen background. Disney was pleased with the footage, wanting the camera movement and staging translated directly onto
animation cels. Anderson further contributed by creating layouts and conceptual sketches for the "
Someday My Prince Will Come" dream sequence; however, it was ultimately cut during the storyboarding phase. He was also the inspiration behind the dwarf
Dopey's wiggling ears.
In the finished film, Anderson was credited as one of the art directors.
Anderson next worked on the short ''
Ferdinand the Bull'' (1938). He had creative differences with background artist Mique Nelson over the art direction, in which Nelson favored traditional tinted watercolors against Anderson's preferred use of saturated opaque colors. Nelson left the production and complained to Disney about Anderson. For ''
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
'' (1940), Anderson handled layout for several sequences, including the scene in which the Blue Fairy gives life to Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket finding Pinocchio inside a cage, and Pinocchio becoming a real boy. ''
Fantasia'' (1940) soon followed, in which Anderson was one of several art directors for ''The Pastoral Symphony'' sequence. For visual reference on the backgrounds, Anderson recalled, "I was inspired by
Böcklin's ''
Isle of the Dead'' and also by The
Isola Bella in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Walt said, 'Read up on
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
and get some style.' So I read up on the ribald and classical." Anderson subsequently served as an art director for the animated segment on ''
The Reluctant Dragon'' (1941).
1943–1949: Package films, ''Song of the South''
By 1941, an
animators' strike had lasted four months. While a federal mediator from the
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
negotiated with the two sides, Disney accepted an offer from
Nelson Rockefeller, head of the
Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs to make a goodwill trip to
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. Anderson was not invited as part of the trip, but he was asked to handle layouts for the "Pedro" segment for ''
Saludos Amigos'' (1943). A year later, from October 9 to 23, 1942, Anderson was invited on a follow-up trip to
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
for research on ''
The Three Caballeros'' (1944). He worked closely with color stylist
Mary Blair, in which he retained Blair's visual style while compositing the live-action footage and animation.
Anderson worked with animation director
Wilfred Jackson
Wilfred Emmons Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, musical arranger and film director, director best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Productions.
Jackson joined Walt Dis ...
on ''
Song of the South'' (1946), in which they adapted Blair's styling sketches for more illusive backgrounds with a notable
depth of field. During production, a new
rear projection system was developed, in which the animation was done first and then the live-action sequences were composited.
Before any live action was shot, Anderson had previsualized the segments through thumbnail sketches, which he gave the animators for their agreement. Filming began in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
in December 1944. Jackson remembered, "Ken helped set the camera angles and work out the staging of the thing, and Ken worked so hard with me on working out the details of how to fit the combination sequences, where the live action and cartoon work, together." However, much to Jackson's surprise, Disney was not satisfied because they did not replicate enough of Blair's style. Anderson later worked on the story development for ''
Melody Time'' (1948) and ''
So Dear to My Heart'' (1948).
1950–1959: ''Cinderella'', Disneyland, ''Sleeping Beauty''
In 1947, Walt Disney decided to return to feature-length animated films, with ''
Cinderella'' (1950) selected as the inaugural project. For the film, Anderson worked on the story adaptation, collaborating with
Bill Peet. Anderson had stated Peet focused on the characters, while he concentrated on the production design. Anderson next did the color styling for ''
Alice in Wonderland'' (1951).
On ''
Sleeping Beauty
"Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...
'' (1959), Anderson served as the film's production designer.
Kay Nielsen was the film's initial art director, in which he created "soft pastel" styling sketches. Anderson was impressed with Neilsen's artwork, though he felt that Nielsen's paintings would be difficult to translate into animation. Disney tasked
John Hench to help interpret Nielsen's artwork with opaque cel paint, but Nielsen left the studio by 1953. Disney later hired
Eyvind Earle as the new art director. Earle's conceptual paintings impressed the layout artists and animators, though they complained his style was too rigid and modernist. Anderson complained, "I had to fight myself to make myself draw that way."
In 1952, Disney founded the
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
company
Walt Disney Inc. (WDI), known today as
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...
. To design and build the
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
theme park, Disney selected several animation staff members, including Anderson, Hench,
Bob Gurr, and
Roger Broggie as his initial "Imagineers". Anderson collaborated with
Claude Coats on the
Fantasyland "
dark rides", including
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride,
Peter Pan's Flight, and
Snow White and Her Adventures. The process began with Anderson and Coats designing the sets and interiors, in which they eschewed the title character and placed the audience in their perspective, while Bill Martin designed the track layout.
By 1956, Anderson returned to work on ''Sleeping Beauty'' when the film's production resumed. He storyboarded the battle sequence between Prince Philip and
Maleficent. To match with the action, he listened to
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet ''
The Sleeping Beauty''.
1960–1966: ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'', ''The Jungle Book'', death of Walt Disney
The commercial failure of ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959) initially discouraged Disney from producing more feature-length animated films, wherein the closure of the animation department was considered. Despite this, Disney assigned Anderson to work on ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961). While designing the film's visual style, Anderson learned about a television production studio—Hurrell Productions—was using
xerography to produce television ads featuring Disney characters. Inspired by the technique, Anderson experimented with a Xerox photocopier to directly transfer the animators' drawings onto
transparent cels, thereby eliminating the inking process. Anderson screened an animation test to Disney and the animators; although Disney expressed concern at the graphic style, he gave his approval stating: "Ah, yeah, yeah, you can fool around all you want to." Furthermore, Anderson applied xerography with the background artwork to match the character animation, giving the film a unified visual style.
As early as 1956, Anderson had begun developing story sketches based on the ''
Reynard the Fox'' legend. In 1960, Anderson and animator
Marc Davis decided to adapt the medieval fable ''
Chanticleer and the Fox'' into an animated film. Both men spent months developing elaborate storyboards and preliminary character artwork. They had presented their pitch before Disney and several studio executives, in which one voice said: "You can't make a personality out of a chicken." Further development was halted when during a meeting, on August 24, Disney remarked that the problem with making a rooster a protagonist was "
oudon't feel like picking a rooster up and petting it."
Released in 1961, ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' became a critical and commercial success, earning nearly $10 million during its initial domestic release. The animators had been pleased with the film's linear animation quality, but Walt Disney felt it lacked the delicacy and care of his earlier animated films. In a subsequent meeting with the animation staff concerning future films, Disney harshly criticized the ''Dalmatians'' art direction and further stated, "Ken's never going to be an art director again." Anderson was hurt by the criticism and further stated Disney did not speak to him for a year.
In 1962, Anderson suffered two strokes in one week, which partially paralyzed the right side of his body for nearly three years. He recovered with help from his wife Polly. As part of his recuperation, Anderson exercised and visited the
Descanso Gardens, near his home at
La Cañada Flintridge, California, for solace and comfort.
Anderson resumed work as an art director on ''
The Sword in the Stone'' (1963). However, Anderson was dissatisfied with the film's art direction, stating it "was a toothsome thing; it was an original backdrop painting, soft and foggy and a spotlight effect with characters on top of it, but at the same time it couldn't help but be affected by the looks of ''Dalmatians'' in most cases."
A year later, ''
The Jungle Book'' (1967) went into production, in which Anderson provided additional concept art and backgrounds, along with character design ideas. During one story meeting, Disney assigned Anderson to design the villain
Shere Khan
Shere Khan () is a fictional Bengal tiger featured in the Mowgli stories of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book, Jungle Book''. He is often portrayed as the main antagonist in the book's media adaptations, itself an exaggeration of his role in ...
. Anderson based his character designs on
Basil Rathbone, envisioning Khan as "a very menacing, underplayed villain." The next day, Anderson showed his sketches to Disney, which reminded him of
George Sanders (and cast him in the role). Animator
Milt Kahl refined Anderson's conceptual sketches and watched ''
Jungle Cat'' (1960) and ''
A Tiger Walks'' (1964) for reference. Meanwhile, Anderson contributed visual development on the featurette ''
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
''Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree'' is a 1966 American animation, animated musical film, musical fantasy film, fantasy short film based on the first two chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh (book), Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. The film was produ ...
'' (1966).
With ''The Jungle Book'' scheduled for 1967, Disney assigned Anderson to determine whether ''
The Aristocats'' (1970) would be suitable for an animated feature. Following several months, Disney glanced at Anderson's conceptual sketches and approved the project as the studio's next animated film.
Before Disney's death in December 1966, Anderson remembered his last meeting:
1967–1978: ''The Aristocats'', ''Robin Hood'', ''Pete's Dragon''
Following Disney's death, Anderson continued as art director on ''The Aristocats''. He simplified the plot to focus more on the cats, including paring down the number of characters. By April 1967, the studio had arrived at a working story outline.
As production continued, in October 1968, Anderson accompanied then-Disney president
Card Walker on a fishing trip who suggested a classic tale should be the subject for the next animated film. Anderson proposed the
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
legend, to which Walker responded positively. Anderson mentioned the idea during an ''Aristocats'' story meeting, and was quickly assigned to create character designs. As done previously on ''The Jungle Book'' (1967), Milt Kahl refined Anderson's concepts for the character animation. However, Anderson became upset when the final results of his character concepts became animal stereotypes.
At the same time, in 1973, Anderson began developing a film adaptation of the ''Catfish Bend'' book series by
Ben Lucien Burman. He also developed an adaptation of the children's book ''Scruffy'' by
Paul Gallico. The story centered around the titular
Barbary ape, who is the honorable leader of a family of apes. Set during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, off the coast of
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, Scruffy falls in love with Amelia, a pampered pet ape, and together they evade capture from the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
. By 1976, the project had been shelved.
During production of ''
The Rescuers'' (1977), Anderson again drew character concepts, including repurposing
Cruella de Vil from ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961) as the main villain. However, the idea was discarded and Cruella was replaced by a similar villain, Madame Medusa. In 1976, Anderson was ready for retirement until he was approached by
Ron Miller to work on ''
Pete's Dragon'' (1977).
[ ] Anderson agreed, and was tasked to create character designs for Elliott, an animated dragon character that interacted with the human characters. For Elliott, Anderson took visual inspiration from the
Chinese dragon
The Chinese dragon or loong is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture generally. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms, such as Bixi (mythology), turtles and Chiwen, fish, but are most commonly ...
and actor
Wallace Beery.
His drawings impressed Miller and co-producer
Jerome Courtland. Miller convinced Anderson to remain on the project to help the younger animators on the character.
On March 31, 1978, Anderson retired from Walt Disney Productions.
1979–1993: Walt Disney Imagineering, later works
In 1979, Anderson was hired by Walt Disney Imagineering to help renovate
Fantasyland, with the project being dubbed "New Fantasyland". As part of the expansion project, the park added a new "dark ride" attraction called
Pinocchio's Daring Journey. On May 25, 1983, the new Fantasyland was opened to the public. A year later, his career was profiled for the ''
Disney Family Album'' television program, which aired on November 5, 1984. In 1985, Anderson's contract with WED Enterprises was renewed, in which he later consulted on the proposed Equatorial Africa Pavilion for the
EPCOT Center.
During the 1980s, Anderson returned to animation, in which he submitted conceptual artwork for several animated series including ''
Dumbo's Circus'', ''
Adventures of the Gummi Bears'', and ''
The Wuzzles''. He also traveled to
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
to draw storyboards for ''
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' (1989). He had been awarded a
Winsor McCay Award in 1982.
In 1991, Anderson was inducted as a
Disney Legend.
A year before his death, he published a children's book, ''Nessie and the Little Blind Boy of Loch Ness''.
Personal life and death
Anderson met Polly at the University of Washington, and they were married during the summer of 1934. They had three daughters named Sue, Judy and Wendy.
On December 13, 1993, Anderson died in
La Cañada Flintridge, California from complications of a
stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
, at the age of 84.
Filmography
References
Bibliography
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External links
Ken Anderson – Disney Legends*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Ken
1909 births
1993 deaths
20th-century American screenwriters
20th-century American writers
American art directors
American children's writers
American conceptual artists
American storyboard artists
Animators from Washington (state)
Animation screenwriters
Artists from Seattle
Disney imagineers
Disney Legends
People from La Cañada Flintridge, California
Roller coaster designers
University of Washington College of Built Environments alumni
Walt Disney Animation Studios people