Joe Grant

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Full Name:

Joe Grant

Occupation / Title:

,

Birthplace:

New York, New York

Biography


Born in New York, Grant worked for The Walt Disney Company as a character designer and story artist starting in 1933, leaving in 1949 to start his own ceramics and greeting card company. In 1989 he returned to Disney and contributed to the great Disney Renaissance from 1989-1999, still working at the company at the time of his death in 2005 at his drawing board. 

Career outline


Grant worked first in story with Bill Cottrell on the Mickey Mouse short “Mickey’s Gala Premiere”. Known for his creation of the Evil Queen  in Snow White, Grant later received larger responsibility as head of Character Model Department, producing with a team model sheets for the new characters in the film. Later on, Grant helmed with Dick Huemer the supervision for the early development work on features Fantasia and Dumbo, the latter which he also co-wrote. Leaving Disney in 1949 to helm his own ceramics and greeting card business, Grant was a multi-talented artist and writer. Returning 40 years later to Disney in 1989, Grant contributed to many famed worked produced in the 90’s such as Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan (1998). In 1999 Grant was the only original contributor to the Fantasia film to work on its sequal, Fantasia 2000. Grant even left his mark on Pixar’s Monster’s Inc., the Oscar-nominated short Lorenzo, as well as the Chicken Little short which was the last thing he worked on before his death, released in 2005, and dedicated to Grant. 

Influences


Reportedly on a DVD of Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, Joe Grant owned a Springer Spaniel named Lady which inspired the character in the film. 

Honors and awards


Grant was honored as a Disney Legend in 1992 and he was also awarded the Ruben Award from the National Cartoonist Society. More than 70 of his caricatures appear at the Smithsonian Institute. 

References:


 “INTERVIEWS.” MichaelBarrier.com. Michael Barrier, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

“Biography: Joe Grant – AnimationResources.org – Serving the Online Animation Community.”AnimationResourcesorg Serving the Online Animation Community. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.




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