Eyvind Earle

Eyvind Earle (April 26, 1916 – July 20, 2000) was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney's animated films in the 1950s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rahr West Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona State University Art Museum have purchased Earle's works for their permanent collections. His works have also been shown in many one-man exhibitions throughout the world.

Early life Eyvind Earle was born in New York on April 26, 1916 to General Ferdinand Pinney (F.P.) Earle and Charlotte Kristine Herman, F.P.'s fourth wife. The family moved to Hollywood in 1918, where F.P. worked as a film director and Earle's mother was a piano teacher. The marriage was strained, and Earle's father was heavily abusive toward his mother. A year after the couple's marriage on October 7th 1915, F.P. was reported to have stabbed Charlotte with a pair of scissors while verbally and physically abusing her. It was during this trip that Earle held his first solo art show in Paris at the age of 14.

Career Earle's first New York exhibition was at the Charles Morgan Galleries in 1937. In a 1939 exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his works for its permanent collection.

In 1951 he joined Walt Disney Productions as an assistant background painter and received credit for the experimental background painting in the Goofy short, For Whom the Bulls Toil. In 1953 he created the look of Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, a short animated film which won an Academy Award

Earle returned to full-time painting in 1966,

Legacy

Earle was critically acclaimed by such publications as Time, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The New York World-Telegram, The Art News and The New York Sun.

Earle's work and distinct graphic styling has continued to inspire new generations of artists and animators, serving to influence the look of other animated films. These have included the Disney features Pocahontas and Frozen, as well as the graphic style of Sony Pictures Animation's debut film, Open Season.

The Banner Saga, a video game by developers Stoic, draws heavily from Earle's style and contains a character named after him. He is credited for 'Artistic Inspiration'.

In May 2017 The Walt Disney Family Museum hosted an 8-month original retrospective exhibit: Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle. An accompanying hard cover exhibition catalog was published under the same name .

Selected filmography

Awards

In 1998, Earle was honored at the 26th Annie Awards with the Winsor McCay Award for a lifetime achievement in the art of animation.

In 2015, in a presentation at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, Earle was inducted as a Disney Legend. His daughter, Kristin Thompson, accepted on her father's behalf.