Floyd Norman: Animator, Walt Disney Legend
Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by Leshell Hatley in Scholarly Celebrations
Floyd E. Norman (born c. 1936) is an African-American animator. In the 1960s, Norman attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, majoring in illustration. After graduating, Norman was hired at the Walt Disney Studio where he served as an apprentice for ten years. He worked on the Walt Disney animated features Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book along with various animated short projects at Disney in the late 50′s and early 60′s.
Being a cartoonist and a person of color has given me a unique perspective. I’ve always enjoyed mocking human behavior in my gags. Adding racial and ethnic prejudice to this potent mix really helps stir things up. Yet, humor has always served an important function when it comes to revealing truth. It’s something I often use as a tool. Although I confess I’ve sometimes used it as a weapon. -Floyd Norman
After Walt Disney’s death in 1966 Floyd Norman left Disney Studios to co-found the AfroKids animation studio with business partner animator/director Leo Sullivan. Norman and Sullivan worked together on various projects such as the original Hey! Hey! Hey! It’s Fat Albert television special which aired in 1969 on NBC. (not to be confused with the later Fat Albert series made by Filmation Associates.)
Floyd Norman returned to Disney at one point in the early 1970s to work on the Disney animated feature Robin Hood. More recently he has worked on motion pictures for the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, having contributed creatively as a story artist on films such as Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. for Pixar and Mulan, Dinosaur and The Hunchback of Notre Dame for Walt Disney Animation among others. He continues to work for the Walt Disney Co. as a freelance consultant on various projects.
Floyd Norman - Disney Legend
Norman had his start as an assistant to comic book artist Bill Woggon, who lived in the Santa Barbara area that Norman grew up in. In the 1980s he for a time worked as a writer in the comic strip department at Disney and was the last scripter for the Mickey Mouse comic strip before it was discontinued.
Floyd Norman has also published several books of cartoons inspired by his lifetime of experiences in the animation industry : Faster! Cheaper!, Son of Faster, Cheaper!, and How The Grinch Stole Disney.
He currently is a columnist for the websites JimHillMedia.com and AfroKids.com and was named a Disney Legend in 2007. In 2008, he appeared as Guest of Honor at Anthrocon 2008 and at Comic-Con International. He was awarded an Inkpot Award at the latter event.
More information can be found here:
http://web.me.com/floydnorman/Site/Welcome.html
http://legends.disney.go.com/legends/detail?key=Floyd+Norman
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- Samuel A. Floyd: Black Music Scholar and Founder/Editor of The Black Music Research Journal
- Augusta Baker: Storyteller, Librarian, Authority on Children’s Literature, and Legend
johonna
28. Oct, 2009
thanks for this feature. i really enjoyed learning about floyd norman and loved the video! you are doing excellent work on this site. i love the multi-media bios. what a great career awareness tool for young people too!!
thanks so much for the work you do.