Al Weiss - my 128th choice as a Disney Legend

Al Weiss is my 128th choice to be named a Disney Legend. He was president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the division of The Walt Disney Company that operates eleven theme parks and multiple resort hotels at seven sites around the world including Paris, France; Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Penny's Bay, Hong Kong; Tokyo, Japan; Hawaii, United States; Anaheim, CA, United States and Orlando, FL, United States.

Before being appointed to his most recent role in November 2005, Weiss served as president of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida since 1994. He was named executive vice president of the Florida resort in 1996. Meg Crofton succeeded Weiss as president of Walt Disney World Resort in 2006.

Weiss began his Disney career as an 18-year-old Walt Disney World cast member in 1972. His first job was a "z-runner", a financial analyst who zeroed out cash registers at the end of shifts. He evidently was a ping pong champion in a cast member's tournament on year as well! In total he worked for the Disney company for 39 years when he retired in 2011.

Mike Gabriel - my 127th pick as a Disney Legend

Mike Gabriel is an animator and my 127th pick to be named a Disney Legend.

Gabriel is an American animator and film director, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios and as co-director of the Disney films The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Pocahontas (1995). He was born in Long Beach, CA although he grew up in various small towns like Salina, Kansas while moving around due to his father's Air Force job.

Gabriel was very inspired with animation after watching Sleeping Beauty (1959) at the age of five. Soon after, he started drawing and practicing it for six hours every day to meet his goal as an Animation Director. It was in 1979 when he got his first chance to make his debut. Gabriel studied in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. He originally began his career helping animate on The Fox and the Hound (1981) and later went on to animate on the 1982 animated short Fun with Mr. Future. He was mentored under Eric Larson's training program, and went on to work on the The Black Cauldron (1985). He also served as an animator on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and Oliver and Company (1988). Hendel Butoy joined Gabriel to direct The Rescuers Down Under, a sequel to the successful 1977 Disney film The Rescuers, while Eric Goldberg and Gabriel collaborated on Pocahontas. Goldberg and Gabriel later reunited with each other in Wreck-It Ralph to work on animating Sour Bill.

In 2004, Gabriel directed an animated short for Disney entitled Lorenzo, a hybrid of traditional and computer animation about a lazy cat who has a spell cast on his tail that forces it to tango with him. Lorenzo was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2004. His Disney filmography includes: 

The Fox and the Hound

The Black Cauldron

The Great Mouse Detective             

Oliver and Company                 

The Rescuers Down Under   

Pocahontas    

Lorenzo          

Home on the Range                          

Bolt                            

The Princess and the Frog                

Winnie the Pooh                               

Brave                          

Frankenweenie                                  

Wreck-It Ralph

Thor Putnam - my 126th choice as a Disney Legend

Thor Putnam is my 126th pick to be named a Disney Legend.

Putnam was a layout artist for several Disney animated films released between 1937 and 1955, as well as at least six episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. He was also the art director for Pinocchio and the "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" segment of Fantasia.

  

1955 Lady and the Tramp 

 1954 The Lone Chipmunks 

 1953 Ben and Me 

 1953 Peter Pan 

 1952 The Little House 

 1951 Alice in Wonderland 

 1950 Cinderella 

 1949 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad 

 1949 The Wind in the Willows 

 1948 So Dear to My Heart 

 1948 Melody Time 

 1948 The Legend of Johnny Appleseed 

 1942 Pluto at the Zoo

 1942 Donald's Garden 

 1940 Fantasia

 1940 Pinocchio  

 1939 The Practical Pig 

 1938 Ferdinand the Bull 

 1937 Woodland Café 

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV Series) (layout artist - 6 episodes)

- Four Tales on a Mouse 

- An Adventure in the Magic Kingdom 

- Magic and Music 

- The Liberty Story 

- Our Friend the Atom 

- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 

Vincent McEveety - my 125th pick as a Disney Legend

Vincent McEveety is my 125th pick as a Disney Legend.

McEveety directed numerous films for Walt Disney Pictures, including The Million Dollar Duck, The

Biscuit Eater, Superdad, The Strongest Man in the World, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, and Herbie Goes Bananas. McEveety also directed portions of The Watcher in the Woods.

Other Disney works include Charley and the Angels, Gus, Moonpilots, The Castaway Cowboy, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, and Treasure of Matecumbe. He also directed several episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color such as Smoke and Menace on the Mountain.

Dick Lundy - my 124th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Dick Lundy is my 124th pick to be named a Disney Legend.

In the summer of 1929 Lundy started working for Walt Disney Productions, first assigned in the ink and paint department. In September he transferred to the animation department as an inbetweener. In March the next year Lundy was promoted to animator and later worked on Three Little Pigs (1933) and Orphan's Benefit (1934). After working on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Lundy became a director at Disney.

Lundy was not the first to draw or even animate Donald Duck. This was done by Art Babbitt and Dick Huemer in the short film The Wise Little Hen, a film in which Lundy also worked. This was Donald's first appearance, although the story offered little opportunity for character development. This would come in Donald's second appearance, Orphan's Benefit, in which Lundy was the sole animator of Donald. According to common animation practice, the audio and voices of the film were recorded first and were then played for the animators to reference. In listening to voice actor Clarence Nash portray the Duck in Orphan's Benefit, Lundy said " decided that [Donald] was an ego-show-off. If anything crossed him, he got mad and blew his top.

This is an excerpt form 50 Most Influential Disney Animators blog: In the Illusion of Life Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston pointed out that Fred Moore was greatly inspired by Dick’s draftsmanship abilities and skills in understanding a character’s personality. At the time Lundy started doing his own thing the only animator ahead of him in that regard was Norman Ferguson, who was the first animator to stress thought process and performance in his animation. This is also completely leaving out Dick Lundy’s achievement of creating Donald Duck. Pay close attention in the shorts of the 30s and you’ll see that Lundy’s scenes were revolutionary and crucial in the development of personality animation.

Nancy Olson - my 123rd choice for a Disney Legends honor

Nancy Olson is my 123rd pick to be named a Disney Legend. She was is several live-action Disney films, many of them enduring classics to this day.

Her Disney roles included Nancy Furman in Pollyanna, Betsy Carlisle in The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber, Sue Baxter in Snowball Express and a brief cameo appearance as a Ford Secretary in Flubber.

Jeff Kurtti once interviewed Olson for the Walt Disney Family Museum. Below is a portion of the article: "After a long hiatus from the screen, Nancy received a call from her agent stating that Walt Disney had asked if she would consider being in a new type of film he was producing that would boast top notch Hollywood acting talent. She had planned to go to California anyway and agreed to test for the part of Nancy Furman, the housemaid in Pollyanna. She was offered the part and accepted. She noticed immediately how different the Walt Disney Studios were from the other Hollywood studios. It was clean and there was a sense of family. It was an outgoing and friendly atmosphere, she remembered. She and Walt Disney understood each other. They both had a Midwestern upbringing and therefore understood one another from the beginning."

Jack King - my 122nd pick as a Disney Legend

Jack King was an animator and director for Walt Disney Studios in the early years of its inception. He is my 122nd pick to be named a Disney Legend.

According to Jeff Lenburg's assessment of him, King was an early pioneer of animation. His films were nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He started his career in the silent film era. He spent most of his career working at Walt Disney Productions (later known as the Walt Disney Animation Studios). He directed many well-regarded films.

His film credits as an animator include several Silly Symphony animated shorts; which Lenburg describes as "cartoon fables". Among King's film credits was the film The Three Little Pigs (1933), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 

Serving as one of Disney's key animation directors, he directed many classic Donald Duck cartoons (such as Donald's Dilemma) until his retirement in 1948. King directed more than 40 films featuring Donald Duck. Among them were the Academy-Award nominated Good Scouts (1938), Truant Officer Donald (1941), and Donald's Crime (1945). One of his films was a propaganda film, The Spirit of '43 (1943). It was created in association with the United States Department of the Treasury. King's last film was The Trial of Donald Duck (1948). Occasionally, he would also work as a sequence director for features, such as Pinocchio, The Three Caballeros, and The Adventures of Mr. Toad.

Emile Kuri - my 121st pick as a Disney Legend

Emile Kuri, an Oscar-winning set decorator who also contributed designs to Disneyland and Walt Disney World is my 12^1st choice to be named a Disney Legend. He won his second Oscar for Disney's '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' in 1954. He was hired by Walt Disney in 1952 as chief decorator for Disney Studios, Mr. Kuri designed Captain Nemo's submarine headquarters for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

He received Oscar nominations for several other Disney films, including Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Absent-Minded Professor and Mary Poppins. Working with Carroll Clark and the art department, Emile and his staff built a great primitive idol for Lt. Robin Crusoe, a huge steam sailor for Bullwhip Griffin (the later housed in the big tank on Stage 3 where much of 20,000 Leagues was shot), an entire town called "Hickory" was built for Follow Me Boys, a healthy slice of Redwood forests for The Gnomobile and a sizable realistic olive farm for Monkeys Go Home.

Kuri also designed settings for Disney's first theme park, Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and served as a consultant at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

He won an Emmy for his designs for the television show Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

He has a window with his name on Main Street in Disneyland and WDW. Kuri's window on Main Street at Walt Disney World is on the second floor of the Emporium and he is listed as managing "Exterior Decorators." His window at Disneyland's Main Street is above the Market House where he is listed as an "Interior Decorator." 

Jonathan Taylor Thomas - my 120th pick as a Disney Legend

From 1991 to 1999, Thomas starred along side comedian and current Disney Legend Tim Allen on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement. He played Tim Taylor's second son, Randy, but later left the show to focus on academics.

He voiced young Simba in the The Lion King. Archival recordings of his work were used in later Lion King media when young Simba's voice was needed.

He also was the first of three (at their respective times) boys to voice Spot the Dog in the American dub of the British children's series of the same name.

His other Disney related roles included the role of Ben Archer in the 1995 film Man of the House, Tom Sawyer in the 1995 film Tom and Huck, and Jake Wilkinson in the 1998 film I'll Be Home for Christmas. He appeared in the 1994 TV special featuring the opening of the Indiana Jones ride.

In early 2004, Thomas had a guest role on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, another ABC sitcom. On March 22, 2013, Thomas guest starred on the second season finale of his third ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, and again in the fourth episode of the third season on October 11, 2013, reuniting with Tim Allen, his TV father from Home Improvement. On January 10, 2015, Thomas again guest starred on twelfth episode of the fourth season of Last Man Standing, this time as Randy, reuniting with his TV parents from Home Improvement, Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson

Kathy Zielinski – my 119th choice as a Disney Legend

Kathy Zielinski is my 119th pick to be named a Disney Legend. She joined the studio in 1981, starting The Black Cauldron. Zielinski is the second woman to have ever earned the credit of supervising animator on a Disney film as the supervising animator on Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She actually was supposed to be the first when she was originally assigned to supervise Lefou in Beauty and the Beast but she left the studio during the film’s production and by the time she actually got a credit Ellen Woodbury had beaten her to it. Besides her work for Disney she has been an animator with our studios working on films such as The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

her career as an animator on

Below is her her Disney filmography:

1983    Mickey's Christmas Carol      

1985    The Black Cauldron   

1986    The Great Mouse Detective 

1988    Who Framed Roger Rabbit   

1988    Oliver and Company     

1989    The Little Mermaid   

1990    The Rescuers Down Under   

1992    Aladdin          

1995    Pocahontas    

1996    The Hunchback of Notre Dame        

2013    Frozen

2016    Zootopia



Kathy Zielinski - 2D Animation Reel from Kathy Zielinski on Vimeo.

Ray Lockrem - my 118th choice as a Disney Legend

Ray Lockrem is my 118th choice to be named a Disney Legend. He was an artist and background stylist for classic films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Dumbo.  In addition, he was background artist on the Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria segments and on The Reluctant Dragon.

Fantasia (1942) as Background paintings "The Pastoral Symphony," "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria"

Disney animators set pictures to classical music as Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. "The Sorceror's Apprentice" features Mickey Mouse as an aspiring magician who oversteps his limits. "The Rite of Spring" tells the story of evolution, from single-celled animals to the death of the dinosaurs. "Dance of the Hours" is a comic ballet performed by ostriches, hippos, elephants and alligators. "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" set the forces of darkness and light against each other as a devilish revel is interrupted by the coming of a new day.

2. Dumbo (1941) as Backgrounds

The stork delivers a baby elephant to Mrs Jumbo, veteran of the circus, but the newborn is ridiculed because of his truly enormous ears and dubbed "Dumbo". Dumbo is relegated to the circus' clown acts; it is up to his only friend, a mouse, to assist Dumbo to achieve his full potential.

3. The Reluctant Dragon (1941) as Backgrounds

Robert Benchley learns about the animation process at Walt Disney Studios while trying to pitch an idea for a cartoon.

4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) as Backgrounds

From the old fairy tale, a jealous queen attempts to get rid of her beautiful step-daughter, Snow White, who takes refuge with seven dwarfs in their forest home. The queen changes into a witch and tempts Snow White with a poisoned apple which puts her into an everlasting sleep, until a prince finds her in a glass coffin and awakens her with Love's First Kiss.

5. Pinocchio (1940) He was an animator for this film.

Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann - my 116th choice as Disney Legends

My 116th pick for the Disney Legend honor is a tie- between Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann. Together they played brother and sister, Tia and Tony in Walt Disney Productions' film Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and its sequel, Return from Witch Mountain (1978). The 2009 Witch Mountain remake, Race to Witch Mountain, features both actors in cameo roles.

Eisenmann also played a bit role in the 1995 film Disney film Tom and Huck. He had several roles in Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color television series, playing Billy in Shadow of Fear, Randy Benton in Kit Carson and the Mountain Men and Three in the Sky's the Limit. He provided a voice for the DVD The Hunchback of Notre Dame II.

Richards played many roles in The Wonderful World of Color, including, a girl outside the mayor's office Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove, Daphne "Daffy" Fernald in The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton and The Whiz Kid and the Carvial Caper, Sara Melborne in Hog Wild and Leroy McClare. She also starred as Tracy Osburn in the 1976 Disney comedy film No Deposit, No Return. She is also the sister of actress Kyle Richards, who has appeared in a few Disney films, and is the aunt of Paris Hilton, who has not.

Louis Schmitt -my 115th choice as a Disney Legend

Louis Schmitt is my 115th pick to be named a Disney Legend, He was an animator on several early Disney Studios shorts and films. In 1937, the cartoonist for the Silly Symphonies comic strip Al Taliaferro named Donald Duck's nephews after Governor Thomas Dewey, Louisiana Democratic Governor Huey Pierce Long and "Louie" in reference to animator , Louie Schmitt. The names were devised by Disney gag man Dana Coty.

 1942  Bambi (animator - as Louis Schmitt)

 1938 The Whalers (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1938 Mickey's Trailer (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1938 Moth and the Flame (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1938 Boat Builders (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (animator - uncredited)

 1937 Little Hiawatha (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1935 Music Land (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1935 Water Babies (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1935 The Band Concert (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1935 The Tortoise and the Hare (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1934 Two-Gun Mickey (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1934 The Goddess of Spring (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1934 Servants' Entrance (animator - uncredited)

 1934 Peculiar Penguins (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1934 The Wise Little Hen (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1934 Hollywood Party (animator - uncredited)

 1934 The Hot Choc-late Soldiers (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1933 The Night Before Christmas (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1933 Lullaby Land (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1933 Old King Cole (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1933 Mickey's Mechanical Man (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1933 Father Noah's Ark (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1932 Santa's Workshop (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1932 Babes in the Woods (Short) (animator - uncredited)

 1932 The Klondike Kid (Short) (animator - uncredited)

Pat Burke - my 114th pick as a Disney Legend

John Patrick Burke began his career at Walt Disney Imagineering in 1972. Pat Burke worked on the four Big Thunder Mountains at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland  and Disneyland Paris and he also worked on Indiana Jones Adventure, the different versions of Splash Mountain, on Tokyo Disney Sea Cape Cod and American Waterfront. He also worked on Hong Kong Disneyland and his last work for WDI was on Raging Spirits at Tokyo Disney Sea. He worked on three version of the Jungle Cruise. He also worked on the now defunct River Country attraction at WDW.

He worked on many projects through the years at the Disney theme parks. In the case of many of his projects, including Frontierland at Disneyland Paris, he would track down rare antique items across the United States, from oil cans to stamp mills, from ore carts to steam tractors. He then excelled at finding unique and interesting ways to arrange those artifacts in ways that would add authentic texture to an area at first glance and tell entire stories on a closer look.

There is a wooden name plate on the Big Thunder Railroad attraction that honors him - it reads Buckeroo Burke. He passed away in December of 2014.

Robby Benson - my 113th choice as a Disney Legend

My 113th choice to be picked as a Disney Legend is Robby Benson. The only reason I picked him is a big reason - he is the voice of the iconic Beast in the animated feature Beauty and the Beast. He reprised his role as Beast in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Belle's Magical World.

In 1993 he was the on-street interviewer for the Disney Parks Christmas Parade and he served as host of the 1992 Walt Disney World Easter Parade. He has been a reader at the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT.

He was featured on Be Our Guest: The Making of Disney's Beauty and the Beast on The Disney Channel in 1991. He was the host, in Pinocchio: The Making of a Masterpiece on The Disney Channel in 1993  and the host, American Express Presents Backstage Pass … Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" Goes to Broadway on The Disney Channel in 1994.

He has been the voice of the Beast is several other venues including the House of Mouse TV program, Disney Sing-alongs and video games such as Kingdom Hearts.

Michael McGreevey - my 112th choice as a Disney Legend

Child actor Michael McGreevey is my 112th choice to be named a Disney Legend.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, McGreevey appeared in numerous episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and in the Disney theatrical film trilogy: The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). Set at fictional Medfield College, these three films featured Kurt Russell as college student Dexter Riley and McGreevey as his friend Richard Schulyer. McGreevey also appeared as a different character in the Disney films and television specials such as Toby Tyler (1960), Texas John Slaughter: Frank Clell's in Town (1961), Sammy, the Way Out Seal (1962),  For Love of Willadean (1963)  Snowball Express (1972) The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City (1972), Michael O'Hara the Fourth (1972) and The Shaggy D.A. (1976).

Marvin Woodward - my 111th choice as a Disney Legend

Former animator Marvin Woodward is my 111th pick to be named as a Disney Legend. He was involved on the team of many different Disney animated shorts and some classics as well.

Original rough drawing of White Rabbit by Marvin Woodward.

1931 The Busy Beavers The Cat's Out The Fox Hunt The Spider and the Fly The Beach Party 1932 The Bird Store The Bears and the Bees Just Dogs The Klondike Kid Santa's Workshop 1933 Birds in the Spring Mickey's Mellerdrammer Father Noah's Ark Mickey's Mechanical Man Lullaby Land The Pied Piper 1934 The Flying Mouse Mickey Plays Papa The Dognapper 1935 The Robber Kitten Broken Toys 1936 Moving Day Toby Tortoise Returns The Country Cousin Mother Pluto 1937 Mickey's Amateurs Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Lonesome Ghosts 1938 The Whalers 1939 Society Dog Show 1940 Pinocchio Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip Fantasia 1941 The Little Whirlwind The Nifty Ninites 1942 Mickey's Birthday Party Symphony Hour 1943 Victory Through Air Power 1944 Springtime for Pluto The Three Cabelleros Donald Duck and the Gorilla How to Play Football First Aiders 1945 Dog Watch Canine Patrol 1946 In Dutch Bath Day 1947 Pluto's House Warming Mickey’s Delayed Date Fun and Fancy Free Figaro and Frankie 1948 Mickey Down Under Melody Time Pecos Bill Brumble Boogie So Dear to My Heart 1949 The Adventures Of Ichabad and Mr. Toad 1950 Camp Dog Cinderella 1951 R'coon Dawg Cold Turkey Alice in Wonderland Plutopia 1952 Let's Stick Together Pluto's Party 1953 The Simple Things Peter Pan Melody Ben and Me 1955 Lady and the Tramp 1956 Pluto’s Day Where do the Stories Come From?

Lee Cockerell - my 110th choice as a Disney Legend

Lee Cockerell is my 110th choice to be named a Disney Legend.

Lee Cockerell is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort. "As the Senior Operating Executive for ten years Lee led a team of 40,000 Cast Members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping and entertainment village and the ESPN sports and recreation complex in addition to the ancillary operations which supported the number one vacation destination in the world."

Lee joined the Disney organization in July 1990 as Director of Food and Beverage and Quality Assurance for the Disneyland Paris hotels.

One of Lee's major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies which was used to train and develop the 7000 leaders at Walt Disney World. Lee has held various executive positions in the hospitality and entertainment business with Hilton Hotels for 8 years and the Marriott Corporation for 17 years before joining Disney in 1990 to open the Disneyland Paris project.

Cotton Warburton - my 109th pick as a Disney Legend

Cotton Warburton, my 109th pick to be named a Disney Legend, was an American college football quarterback (1933) who became a film and television editor with sixty feature film credits. By 1956 Warburton was an editor for the Walt Disney Studios, where he remained for the rest of his career. His first Disney film credit was Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956). About 1960, he began a fruitful collaboration on feature films with Disney director and legend Robert Stevenson. Their first film was The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). Warburton won an Academy Award and the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for the "spectacularly successful" Mary Poppins (1964), which also earned Stevenson an Oscar nomination as best director. Critic Drew Casper particularly notes Warburton's editing of the film's "chimney pot" musical sequence. In total, Stevenson and Warburton collaborated on nine films in the 1960s and 1970s; their last film together was Herbie Rides Again (1974). Warburton retired from editing after The Cat from Outer Space (1978), a Disney film directed by Norman Tokar.

Other films Warburton edited are:  Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Freaky Friday, No Deposit, No Return, The Strongest Man in the World, The Castaway Cowboy, The World's Greatest Athlete, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Now You See Him, Now You Don't, The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes, Scandalous John, The Love Bug, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The Happiest Millionaire, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., That Darn Cat!, The Monkey's Uncle, Emil and the Detectives, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, Son of Flubber, Ten Who Dared, Miracle of the White Stallions, Moon Pilot, Bon Voyage!, Zorro the Avenger and numerous Zorro television shows.
In addition he was the editor for 22 episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Jack Campbell - my 108th choice as a Disney legend

Jack Campbell was an animator on classic on Disney films and is my 108th choice as a Disney Legend.  This information is mostly from the blog 50 Most Influential Disney Animators. One of the first masters of the human figure at Disney and a key animator on Snow White as well as the Blue Fairy. Some believe he did use a little too much rotoscope sometimes but at least he drew the anatomy properly and made the animation believable. Some of his later accomplishments include Mr. Blue Bird in Song of the South and Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp.

Snow White(1937)- Animator on Snow White

Brave Little Tailor(1938)- Animator

Ferdinand and the Bull(1938)- Animator

Mother Goose Goes to Hollywood(1939)- Animator

Pinocchio(1940)-Animator on Blue Fairy

Fantasia(1940)- Animator on Pastoral Role

The Riveter (1940) - Animator

Reluctant Dragon(1941)- Animator

Dumbo(1941)- Animator

Symphony Hour(1942)- Animator

Make Mine Music(1946)- Animator

Song of the South(1946)- Animator on Mr. Blue Bird

Fun and Fancy Free (1947) - Animator

Peter Pan (1953) - Animator

Lady and the Tramp(1955)- Animator on Aunt Sarah

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1955-57) - Animator on four episodes

Margaret Kerry - my 107th choice as a Disney Legend

My 107th pick for the Disney Legend honor is Margaret Kerry. Kerry, formerly known as Peggy Lynch, is an American actress, motivational speaker and radio host best known for her 1953 work as the model for Tinker Bell in the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, Peter Pan.

Kerry answered an audition call during the planning stages of the film. The audition, supervised by Disney animator Marc Davis, required her to pantomime the motions that would eventually be animated as Tinker Bell, such as preening in a mirror at her feet. She won the audition and spent the next six months at the Disney Studios on a mostly empty sound-stage pantomiming the role on film. The studios provided props as well, notably a giant keyhole mounted on a stand as well as a pair of giant scissors, later used in the scene in which Tinker Bell became trapped in a jewelry box.

Kerry also provided the basis of the red-haired mermaid in the Neverland lagoon scenes. She is the author of the book Tinker Bell Talks, Tales of a Pixie Dusted Life.

Since Disney released the film at about the time Marilyn Monroe had begun to make an impact, an urban legend immediately sprung up attributing the role to her.

Louis Debney - my 106th choice as a Disney Legend

Louis Debney, began a long affiliation with Walt Disney when he sold the famed animator newspapers as a boy and then went on to produce 100 episodes of the "Mickey Mouse Club" and 80 episodes of "Zorro" for television. He is my 106th choice as a Disney Legend.

Debney was 12 and selling newspapers outside the old Disney Studios near Vermont and Kingswell avenues in the Silver Lake district. Three years later he had gone to work for Walt Disney as a cutter and soon was put in charge of the assembly operation for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in 1937.

He also had been an assistant director on "Two Gun Mickey," the studio's last black-and-white Mickey Mouse cartoon released in 1934, and later was production manager for "Perri," a 1957 nature fantasy. His credits include assistant director on a number of animated shorts, like How to Play Baseball and Goofy’s Glider.

In the late 1950s Debney produced the "Mickey Mouse Club" and "Zorro" episodes. In the 1960s and '70s he worked on several other TV shows, including "The Mouse Factory" and several feature and educational division films. He then became coordinator of the long-running series, "The Wonderful World of Disney."

He is the father of Disney composer John Debney who will appear on this list shortly!

Randy Cartwright - my 105th pick as a Disney Legend

Randy Cartwright is an animator who has worked at Disney since 1975 and is my 105th pick to be named a Disney Legend.

Disney Filmography

1977      The Rescuers     

1977      Pete's Dragon    

1978      The Small One   

1981      The Fox and the Hound  

1983      Mickey's Christmas Carol              

1985      The Black Cauldron         

1987      The Brave Little Toaster

1990      The Rescuers Down Under  

1991      Beauty and the Beast     

1992      Aladdin  Supervising

1994      The Lion King  

1995      Pochantas     

1997      Hercules

2003      Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl

2009      The Princess and the Frog
2009      Waking Sleeping Beauty
2013-14  Sofia the First

Suzanne Pleshette - my 104th choice to be named a Disney Legend

Actress Suzanne Pleshette, who is famous for her role as the wife of Bob Newhart in The Bob Newhart Show, had several roles with the Disney Studios as well. She is my 104th choice to be named a Disney Legend.

She played in The Ugly Dachshund as Fran Garrison, The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin as Arabella Flagg, Blackbeard's Ghost as Professor Jo Anne Baker, and The Shaggy D.A. as Betty Daniels. She and Dean Jones were frequently paired in Disney's gimmick comedies. She provided both the speaking and singing voices for Zira in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and Yubaba and Zeniba in the 2001 Disney/Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away.

Hal Adelquist - my 103rd choice as a Disney Legend

My 103rd pick for the Disney Legend is Hal Adelquist, producer of the the famous, original Mickey Mouse Club. This bio and more can be found on his page on the website The Original Mickey Mouse Club.

A long-time Disney employee, Hal had worked in Production, Personnel, and the Story Department before being assigned to the Mickey Mouse Club. He and producer Bill Walsh were charged by Walt Disney with designing and developing the show. Despite the show's overwhelming success, Hal subsequently fell out of favor with Walt Disney, and was demoted to talent scout, before leaving the studio in 1956.

Harold Williams Adelquist was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 11, 1914. His father, an accountant, was from a family of Swedish immigrants living in Iowa, while his mother, Francis Williams, was from Utah. The family came to California before 1920, settling first in Oakland, then a few years later, Los Angeles.

Harold Adelquist attended Los Angeles High School, where his skills as a cartoonist were evident in the yearbook. He served in student government and on the Publicity Committee, a body that organised and sponsored student events, a foreshadow of his role at Disney. He also sang first tenor in the Boy's Glee Club. He graduated in early 1932 and went to work for the Disney Studio within a year. Whether he attended Chouinard Art Institute at studio expense like so many other Disney animators is unknown. His early career at the studio seems to have been built around the production side of animation.     Harold Adelquist's 11th grade photo from high school

Hal worked as an assistant director on Snow White (1937), though he didn't receive screen credit for it. He was also tasked with leading training sessions for new and experienced animators alike, where they would work on character development and train animators in the technical skills necessary to film demos of their work. In 1938 he was moved to the Personnel Department. Among his lighter duties was organizing the employee picnics. By 1941, during the acrimonious strike against Disney by the junior animators and in-betweeners, he was in charge of all studio personnel.

From Personnel, Hal was moved to head-up the Story Department. One of his more important, though lesser-known, roles during this tenure was to serve as a liaison between Walt Disney and his famous "Nine Old Men" of animation. Ward Kimball, in a 1980's interview with Michael Barrier, revealed the animators had chosen Hal as their spokesman, even though by position he was studio management.

Contribution

When Walt Disney first agreed to do the Mickey Mouse Club for ABC, he made two vital personnel decisions. He assigned Bill Walsh to produce it, and Hal Adelquist to act as general coordinator. In essence, Bill made the decisions (with Walt's approval for hiring and firing) and Hal carried them out. But Hal was much more than Bill's hands and feet. He sat in on every planning meeting for the show, developed ideas for Bill and Walt to greenlight, communicated and coordinated decisions throughout all the studio departments, and oversaw the talent scouts and casting directors in recruiting the Mouseketeers, guest stars, circus acts, and the Talent Round-Up Winners. He worked with costumer Chuck Keehne to develop the "mouse ear" caps from Roy Williams initial sketches. He also served on the editorial committee that planned and controlled the launch of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club magazine, and selected and organized the technical crew that would actually produce the show.

Gustaf Tenggren - my 102nd choice as a Disney Legend

My 102nd choice to be named a Disney Legend is background artist Gustaf Tenggren. The information here can be found on the website Gustaf Tenggren's World.

In early 1936, Disney set up a regular drafting office in New York in search of artists and animators, Gustaf Tenggren accepted the offer, and he and Mollie moved to Los Angeles. Gustaf was instantly thrown into the work of designing backgrounds for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White herself, The Evil Queen, the Witch, and the Dwarfs were already set up by Joe Grant and Albert Hurter, and Gustaf had to concentrate on the forest exteriors and the interiors of the dwarfs' cottage. Additionally, he painted movie posters, advertising material and book illustrations connected to the movie.

During his time at the Disney Studio his work was used for at least seven films, of which four received Academy Awards, among them, The Old Mill.

But his greatest contribution was the design of the backgrounds and the overall look of Pinocchio, where  he introduced prospectively complex backgrounds to enhance the illusion of depth. The sceneries fit his style perfectly; they were the very same he had used for many of the books he had illustrated already, for example Grimm's Fairy Tales.

The last movie he worked on was Bambi. Tenggren was painting forest exteriors for the film, but his detailed and intricate artwork fitted the movie badly and he chose to leave the studio in 1939. Later Tenggren claimed that his time at the Disney Studio was all work for no appreciation at all. Ironically, though, the just over two-and-a-half years he spent at Disney placed his name in the canon of Disney-associated artists, and as a result gave his career a tremendous push over the years to come.

Lisa Keene - my 101st choice as a Disney Legend

Lisa Keene, my 101st choice as a Disney Legend,  is a background artist, character designer and visual development artist who has worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios since 1982. She is renowned for her works as a visual development artist and background supervisor.

Her Disney filmography includes:

1983    The Black Cauldron   

1986    The Great Mouse Detective 

1988    Oliver and Company     

1989    The Little Mermaid   

1990    The Rescuers Down Under   

1991    Beauty and the Beast

1993    The Nightmare Before Christmas     

1994    The Lion King 

1996    The Hunchback of Notre Dame        

1997    Hercules         

2001    Atlantis: The Lost Empire     

2002    Treasure Planet         

2007    Enchanted     

2009    The Princess and the Frog    

2011    Winnie the Pooh       

2013    Frozen

George McGinnis - my 100th pick as a Disney Legend

George McGinnis, who was the last Imagineer personally hired by Walt Disney in 1966, is my 100th choice to be named a Disney Legend.

His senior project at the Art Center College of Design, a working model of a futuristic high-speed train,
attracted the attention of Walt Disney. Working alongside Disney luminaries like Marty Sklar, Bob Gurr, and John Hench, George brought his unique background as an industrial designer to the creation of the Mark V and Mark VI monorails, and much of Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Space Mountains. His concept art, often begun on the back of napkins, influenced the final look of many theme park attractions.

George's first assignment was to design miniature transportation models for the Progress City display, for the Carousel of Progress attraction that opened at Disneyland in July 1967. He was also responsible for concept design of both the Mighty Microscope for the Disneyland attraction Adventure Through Inner Space and the Saturn-style "winged rocket with boosters" for the Tomorrowland Rocket Jets for Disneyland (1967). From 1967 to 1971, George designed WEDway PeopleMover trains and parking lot shuttle vehicles for Walt Disney World. In 1971, he became a show designer, involved with such major projects as Space Mountain for both Walt Disney World (1975) and Disneyland (1977).

Between 1990 and 1995, George brought his skills as a show designer to several projects for Disney theme parks around the world: boat vehicles for Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, Indiana Jones Adventure ride vehicles for Disneyland, the Space Mountain ride vehicle concept for Disneyland Paris, river boats, safari vehicles, and a “steam” locomotive and cars for Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Since retiring from Imagineering in 1995, George has continued to work for Disney as a consultant on the Rocket Rod concept vehicle for Tomorrowland, river rafts for Animal Kingdom, and California Adventure.

This information can be found in article on Mouseplanet and DisneyandMore.