John Hench

John Hench ( born June 29, 1908 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; † 5 February 2004 in Burbank, California ) was an American illustrator, story boarders and Production Designer. He was one of the first signatories of the Walt Disney Company, worked on numerous cartoon classics such as Dumbo, Peter Pan or Cinderella and was after the death of Walt Disney's 1966 instrumental in the development of the Disneyland theme park. John Hench was the "official " painter of Mickey Mouse and produced the respective portrait of the world-famous comic character to its 25th, 50th, 60th and 75th birthday.

Life and work

John Hench visited in his youth, numerous art schools, so among other things, the Art Students League in New York, the Otis Art Institute and the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Art Institute. 1939 Hench began as a " Storyboard Artist" in the animation department (Animation Department) of Walt Disney Studios, where he was responsible in particular for the layout and special effects in connection with the production of Fantasia. 1945/46, he made ​​acquaintance with Salvador Dalí, with whom he designed the script and storyboard for the surrealist short film Destino, which should however not be realized until 2003. 1954 Hench worked on scene image ( unkreditiert ) and the animation sequences of the Jules Verne film adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with. For the fight scenes in the sea, he developed a gigantic hydraulic giant squid. The film was awarded the following year with the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. With the completion of the shooting Hench joined as chief designer at WED Enterprises ( later Walt Disney Imagineering ) to develop attractions for a novel form of amusement parks: Disneyland. For the Magic Kingdom the first Disneyland in Anaheim, he designed among other things, the significant Cinderella Castle or the Space Mountains. After the death of Walt Disney in 1966 Hench spearheaded the design of other theme parks: so he worked example in the development of visionary Epcot Center ( opened in 1982 ) or at Tokyo Disneyland (1983 ) as the first Disney park outside the USA.

1990 Hench was honored by the Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the Disney Legend Award, the highest award of the Group. In 1998 he received the THEA Award from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA ) for his life's work. Hench was active until shortly before his death at the headquarters of Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, California. His name is closely connected with the history of the Disney empire. John Hench died on 5 February 2004 in a hospital in Burbank from heart failure.

Others

Due to a certain resemblance to Walt Disney and his presence in the Disney parks Hench was often held and asked to sign autographs or pose for photos of visitors for Disney himself.

One of the best known works of John Hench is his version of the Olympic Torch, Olympic Torch, which he for the VIII Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley in 1960 and designed in the many subsequent designs are based.

Filmography (selection)

Publications

  • Walt Disney's Magnificent Mr. Toad with Walt Disney ( Author), Grosset and Dunlap 1949
  • Walt Disney's Peter Pan with Al Dempster, Simon & Schuster, 1952
  • Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show: The Art of Color, Character, and show with Peggy Van Pelt (Author ); Disney Editions, 2001, ISBN 0-7868-5406-5
Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Cinderella (1950 film) Disneyland (disambiguation) Art Students League of New York Fantasia (film) Screenplay 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film) Anaheim, California Chief Executive Officer 1960 Winter Olympics Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
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