Floyd Norman

Floyd Ernest Norman (born June 22, 1935) is an American animator, writer, artist and cartoonist. Over the course of his career, he has worked for various animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar. Norman will receive an Academy Honorary Award at the 2026 Governor Awards for his cinematic contributions.

Life and career Norman's love for animated pictures started in his childhood when he watched the Disney feature films Dumbo and Bambi. Norman grew up in Santa Barbara, California and attended Santa Barbara High School before attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he majored in illustration. He had his start as an assistant to Katy Keene comic book artist Bill Woggon, who lived in the Santa Barbara, California, area. In 1957, Norman was employed as an inbetweener on Sleeping Beauty (released in 1959) at The Walt Disney Company, becoming the first African-American artist to remain at the studio on a long-term basis. Following his work on Sleeping Beauty, Norman was drafted, and returned to the studio after his service in 1960 to work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and The Sword in the Stone (1963).

After Walt Disney died in 1966, Floyd Norman left the Disney studio to co-found Vignette Films, Inc., with business partner animator/director Leo Sullivan. Vignette Films, Inc. produced six animated films and was one of the first companies to produce films on the subject of black history. Norman and Sullivan worked together on various projects, including segments for Sesame Street and the original Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert television special conceived by Bill Cosby, which aired in 1969 on NBC. In 1972, a different Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Saturday morning cartoon series was produced for CBS by Filmation Associates.

Norman returned to Disney at one point in the early 1970s to work on the Disney animated feature Robin Hood, and worked on several animated television programs at Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears. In the 1980s he 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.

He has worked on motion pictures for Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, having contributed creatively as a story artist on films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan and Dinosaur for Walt Disney Animation Studios and Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. for Pixar among others, including Reel FX's Free Birds.

Norman has also published several books of cartoons inspired by his lifetime of experiences in the animation industry, Faster! Cheaper!: The Flip Side to the Art of Animation ; Son of Faster, Cheaper!: A Sharp Look Inside the Animation Business ; How the Grinch Stole Disney ; Disk Drive: Animated Humor in the Digital Age; and Suspended Animation: The Art Form That Refuses To Die.

Norman has also authored a semi-biographical animation primer, titled: Animated Life: A Lifetime of Tips, tricks, techniques and Stories from an Animation Legend (Animation Masters) , that was published by Focal Press in 2013. He is the subject of the 2016 documentary Floyd Norman: An Animated Life.

He is a columnist for the websites JimHillMedia.com and AfroKids.com.

In 2016 Norman was appointed to the education and outreach committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Debuting at the 2017 D23 Expo, Disney Editions published the picture book A Kiss Goodnight written by Richard M. Sherman and illustrated by Norman.

Norman was also part of a Members Only Preview for the behind-the-scenes exhibition titled Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece during a special talk alongside Andreas Deja, Darleen Carr and Bruce Reitherman which took place on June 22, 2022. The exhibition took place at The Walt Disney Family Museum from June 23, 2022, to January 8, 2023.

Awards and honors Norman was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1979. Norman was a recipient of the Winsor McCay Award for "recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation" at the 2002 Annie Awards. Norman was named a Disney Legend in 2007. In 2013 Norman was honored with the "Sergio Award" from The Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS). in 2014, Norman was the recipient of the DFC Disney Legend award given by the Disneyana Fan Club. In 2015 Norman received the Friz Freleng Award for Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in Animation from the International Family Film Festival. In 2016, Norman was the recipient of the Special Achievement Award (Legendary Animator) from the African-American Film Critics Association. In June 2018, Norman received an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy degree from Cogswell Polytechnical College. In May 2019, Norman was honored with the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society. In 2021, Norman was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame In 2026, he was announced as the recipient of an Academy Honorary Award.

Filmography Film Year Title Notes 1959 Sleeping Beauty clean-up artist/in between artist (uncredited) 1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians animator of Kanine Krunchies commercial (uncredited) 1963 The Sword in the Stone assistant animator (uncredited) 1967 The Jungle Book story artist (uncredited) 1973 Robin Hood assistant animator (uncredited) 1979 Scooby Goes Hollywood layout artist 1994 Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights storyboard artist A Flintstones Christmas Carol 1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame story 1998 Mulan 1999 Toy Story 2 additional story artist 2000 The Tigger Movie Dinosaur story artist 2001 Monsters, Inc. additional story artist 2002 Cinderella II: Dreams Come True 2005 Kronk's New Groove 2013 Free Birds 2022 Mickey: The Story of a Mouse himself

Television Year Title Notes 1969 Skyhawks Animator 1969 Hot Wheels 1969 Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert Cell artist (uncredited) 1970 Josie and the Pussycats Layout Artist 1972 Sealab 2020 1973 Goober and the Ghost Chasers 1974 Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch 1976 Jabberjaw animator 1977 I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali Layout Artist 1977 Laff-A-Lympics 1978 Yogi's Space Race 1978–1979 Godzilla key layout artist 1981 The Kwicky Koala Show story director 1981–1989 The Smurfs layout artist/story director/storyboard artist 1981 Super Friends Key Layout Artist 1982 Pac-Man layout artist 1984 Alvin and the Chipmunks story director/layout artist 1984–1987 Snorks story director 1987 Beverly Hills Teens storyboard artist 1988–1994 Garfield and Friends 2002 Courage the Cowardly Dog 2008 Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns 2013The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange 2015 Robot Chicken 2020 Pawn Stars appeared as himself, episode: "I Don't Give a Dime"