Monday, February 21, 2011

In the News-Bill Justice

Disney Animator Bill Justice Dies

Disney animator Bill Justice died on February 11, 2011, in Santa Monica, California. He had just turned 97 years old. Born in Dayton, Ohio, on February 9, 1914, Justice grew up in Indianapolis. He graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in 1931 and and studied at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. Justice was among a crop of Hoosiers to sign on with the Walt Disney studio during the 1930s. The others included Bill Peet and his brother, George Peed, along with Harry Reeves, Cornett Wood, and Earl Freeman. Justice worked on Fantasia, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Peter Pan, and many other features and shorts as an animator and director. As one of Disney's Imagineers, he helped program audio-animatronic attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. He retired in 1979 and wrote a memoir, Justice for Disney, published in 1992. You will find one of many accounts of his life and passing on the website of the Los Angeles Times, here.


Copyright 2011 Terence E. Hanley

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