Disney illustrator dies at 96

Mark R. Madler

Joe Grant loved his craft so much that he was still working on

several projects for Disney at age 96.

The writer and designer for such classics as “Fantasia,” “Dumbo”

and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” suffered a fatal heart attack

Friday in his Glendale home.

Roy. E Disney, Walt Disney’s nephew, described Grant as the

consummate creator.

“I don’t think his brain ever stopped,” Disney said.

Grant was a humble yet disciplined man who never talked about

himself but was respected by Walt Disney and animators around the

world, his eldest daughter Carol Grubb said.

In March 1995, while accompanying her father to Hong Kong when

“Dumbo” was re-released, a group of animators from Singapore came to

meet him, Grubb said.

“One man said he’d rather meet my father than Jesus Christ,” Grubb

added.

Grant was among the last remaining links to an era of animation

started by Walt Disney, who hired Grant in 1933 to provide

caricatures of famous people for the animated short, “Mickey’s Gala

Premiere.”

At the time Grant was first approached by Disney he was working at

the now-defunct Los Angeles Record newspaper as an illustrator, Grubb

said.

“He didn’t think of himself as anything special,” Grubb said. “He

never had any formal training.”

Four years later, Grant became a full-time designer and story

creator for the studio, where he stayed until 1949, when he left to

pursue other artistic ventures, including a greeting-card company and

ceramics studio. He returned to Disney in 1989 and worked on “Beauty

and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”

As one of the team members who worked on “Fantasia” in the late

1930s, Grant was chosen by Roy E. Disney to work on its sequel,

“Fantasia 2000.”

“When I started work on the second one, Joe was one of the first

people I went to,” Disney said. “Joe had all these copious notes that

he had saved from the early years on what music to use.

“He had such good ideas, some of which were adapted in the film,

such as the flamingos with the yo-yos.”

Along with his work on film, Grant also headed the Character Model

Department at Disney, where he oversaw character design and early

story development.

“[The animation world and the Disney company] lost a treasure,”

said Mary Alice O’Connor, a longtime friend whose husband also worked

for Disney.

He was known for mentoring younger artists and directors, O’Connor

said.

“He wanted to help the young people, and they worshipped him,” she

said. “They had very high regard for him.”

Grant received a Ruben Award from the National Cartoonists Society

and an Annie Award from the International Animated Film Assn. More

than 70 of his caricatures are included in the permanent collection

at the Smithsonian Institute.

Funeral services are scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Church

of the Recessional at Forest Lawn, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale.

Grant is survived by his two daughters, Carol Eve Grubb and

Jennifer Jean Grant Castrup; a grandson, Michael Joseph Grubb; a

granddaughter, Diane Castrup; and a great-grandson, Tristan Snyder.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Jennie.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the

Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA, 361 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA

91105.