Tyrus Wong was born in Guangdong, China in 1910. When he was nine years old, he and his father emigrated to the U.S. to escape crushing poverty. Due to the recently passed Chinese Exclusion Act, his new country did not welcome him. He was sent to Angel Island Immigration Station where he was separated from his father.
He lived on his own while being questioned by the authorities. Finally, he and his father were released and together they settled in the Los Angeles area.
While at junior high, Wong demonstrated a talent for drawing, and he received a summer scholarship at Otis Art Institute. This led to a full-time opportunity to study for his degree while also working as the in-house janitor to earn income for his father.
Upon graduation, Wong became a professional animator and illustrator, and worked in the film industry for several decades. He also worked as a Hallmark card designer and as an independent professional painter, muralist, ceramicist and lithographer.
After he retired in 1968, he developed a hobby making colorful kites and gained late-life notoriety for the colorful creations he flew every Saturday at the Santa Monica pier. He was also noted for his longevity: in 2009, at the age of 99, he was featured in the documentary How to Live Forever.
But all of this is back-story to Wong’s greatest achievement. In 1937, Walt Disney acquired the rights to the novel Bambi, A Life in the Woods, the story of a motherless white-tailed deer growing up in the forest. Disney wanted to adapt the story to be his second full-length animated feature, but he had trouble deciding on a suitable treatment.
That’s when one of his junior artists, young Tyrus Wong, showed him some paintings he had created of a deer in a forest. They were rendered using lush pastels, but in a restrained and elegant Asian style that was a complete departure from traditional American illustration. Disney loved the treatment, and adopted it as the style for his new movie. Wong was assigned as Art Director of the film, overseeing an army of illustrators.
Upon its release in 1942, Bambi was not an immediate success. It was criticized by hunters in the U.S. for its negative portrayal of humans, and it had no release in Europe due to World War 2. But as it was re-released to new generations of children its reputation grew and grew. Today it is considered a timeless classic. It has been called a triumph of animation and is often cited as the best of Disney’s films. In 2008, it was chosen as the third-best animated feature of all time.
Tyrus Wong never achieved wide-scale fame, but he lived long enough for his contribution to animation to be given the recognition it deserved.
Last week, on December 30, 2016, his long, productive life finally came to an end. He died at age 106, leaving behind three daughters and two grandsons.
Tyrus Wong also left behind a masterpiece: Bambi, the motherless white-tailed deer, who will live on forever.
Mike Keeler
