Carole Shelley - my 197th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Voice actress Carole Shelley is my 197th pick to be given this Disney Legend honor.

For Disney, she voiced Amelia Gabble the Goose in the 1970 animated film The Aristocats, Lady Kluck in the 1973 animated film Robin Hood, and Lachesis the Fate in the 1997 animated film Hercules. She also played Fiona in Jungle 2 Jungle.

She and Monica Evans, her co-star as her sister Cecily Pigeon, were the only two performers to be in all three of The Odd Couple versions: stage, then movie, then first TV adaptation—and in the same roles. Evans (as Cecily Pigeon), also played her "goose" sister in The Aristocats, Abigail Gabble, and Maid Marian in Robin Hood clearly as a take-off and a nod to their Pigeon Sisters roles.

Roger Allers - my 196th pick to be named a Disney Legend

My 196th pick to be named a Disney Legend is animator and director Roger Allers.

He is well known for directing the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King (along with Rob Minkoff). He also wrote the Broadway adaptation for the film. Additionally, he worked on other films, such as Tron, The Prince and the Pauper, The Brave Little Toaster, The Little Mermaid, Oliver and Company, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lilo and Stitch, The Little Match Girl, Return to Neverland, the Lion King 1 1/2 and the Emperor's New Groove.

Allers became a fan of animation, at the age of five, after seeing Disney's Peter Pan. Deciding that he wanted to pursue a career at Disney and even work alongside Walt Disney himself, a few years later, he was sent off to Disneyland for a do-it-yourself animation kit. However, Allers, by then a high school student, grew discouraged about achieving his dream when he heard of Walt Disney's death in 1966.

He was featured in the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty.

Bruce Reitherman - my 195th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Bruce Reitherman is the son of famous Disney animator Wolfgang Reitherman. As a child, he was the voice actor for two pretty big roles in Walt Disney feature films. He provided the voices of Mowgli in The Jungle Book and Christopher Robin in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. He was also the producer for New True Life Adventures: Alaska: Dances of the Caribou. His brother Robert was Arthur in the Sword in the Stone. He is my 195th pick to be named a Disney Legend.

Ted Crowell - my 194th choice to be named a Disney Legend

Ted Crowell, an engineer who became vice president of facilities at Walt Disney World during his 34-year career with the company, is my 194th pick to be named a Disney Legend. Crowell started as an engineer at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., in 1958.

When he was asked to design a way to get more people into less space, he came up with the compact "Q" lines that snake visitors into rides and attractions, his son said. Today, Q lines are an industry standard.
He also designed the E-ticket, which was used to admit visitors to the hottest rides during the early years when Disney World visitors used coupon books to access park attractions, his son said.
Hired in California by now-retired Disney executive Dick Nunis, Ted Crowell was a key player in what was called"the Florida Project."
"He was sent to Orlando before the park was built to check road access," his son said. "He sat in his car off I-4 at Lake Buena Vista, counting cars in both directions."
Ted Crowell began moving to Orlando in 1969 to oversee park construction and was named a vice president in the early 1970s. He was in charge of ride engineers and maintenance and janitorial staffs.
When he retired in 1992, he immersed himself in volunteer work, dividing his time among Meals on Wheels, Sand Lake Hospital, Give Kids the World and House of Hope.

Crowell was the only Disney person to hold a board position with the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). He has a window in his honor on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.

Ruth Clifford - my 193rd choice to be named a Disney Legend

Ruth Clifford was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from silent days into the television era. From 1942–1952 she voiced Minnie Mouse and shared the role of Daisy Duck in tandem with Gloria Blondell.She is my 193rd pick to be named a Disney Legend.

Hicks Lokey - my 192nd pick to be named a Disney Legend

Hicks Lokey was an animator for several animation studios, including the Walt Disney Studios. He is the 92 person on my list to be named a Disney Legend. The two most famous things Lokey worked on at Disney where the Dance of the Hours segment in Fantasia and the frightening opening of Pink Elephants on Parade in Dumbo.He only worked for the Walt Disney Studios for tow years (1940-41), but it has been said that his animation style had a tremendous effect on other Disney animators. In 1990 Lokey received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifetime of work in the field of animation.

Roland Hill Sr. - my 191st pick to be named a Disney Legend

Roland was a pilot in World War One; crashed his plane, and spent the remainder of the War driving officers around France and doing American Government reparations. While on the road, he sketched many of the castles that he saw, both in France and Germany, including Neuschwanstein Castle, in Bavaria. In October, 1919, he met Walt Disney, also a driver in France, (American Red Cross), showed him the castle drawings, and formed a friendship. Disney particularly liked his drawings of Neuschwanstein, with its columns and turrets. Roland's family descendants still have his original castle drawing book from France. Roland stayed in France until 1924, and graduated from the Beaux Arts School. He collected art and paintings from several prominent artists in the Paris area in the early 1920s. In about 1925, Roland joined Walt Disney in the Los Angeles area to advise on castle design and medieval architecture, including stone masonry design and interior castle details. He contributed his castle knowledge to Disney's animation department for the original full length feature film Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937. Roland stayed close to Walt Disney for many years, traveling with him on several occasions as part of a group. He became known as the premier castle expert in Hollywood, continuing to provide castle information to Walt Disney on Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty, in the 1940s and 1950s. Ultimately, Walt invited Roland to design the Disneyland Castle at Disneyland, in Anaheim, California, in 1953, and the park opened in 1955. The Disneyland Castle is probably the most photographed building in the world, and has been used a a basis of castle design for countless projects through the decades.


- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steven Edward Hill, grandson of Roland Hill

Mique Nelson - my 190th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Mique Nelson was a background artist and color specialist for several early Disney shorts and films.

Below is is a partial list of Disney projects he worked on:

1931
	Egyptian Melodies        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
	The Clock Store        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
	The Fox Hunt        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
	The Spider and the Fly        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
	The Ugly Duckling        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
1932
	The Bird Store        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
1935
	Cock o' the Walk        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
1936
	Three Little Wolves        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
1937
	Don Donald        (Disney - Donald Duck Cartoon - Backgrounds )
	The Old Mill        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
1938
	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs        (Disney - Disney Theatrical Feature - Backgrounds )
	Wynken, Blynken and Nod        (Disney - Silly Symphony - Backgrounds )
1940
	Pinocchio        (Disney - Disney Theatrical Feature - Backgrounds )

Dick Van Patten - my 189th pick to be named a Disney Legend

My 189th pick for the Disney LEgend honor is actor Dick Van Patten.

Richard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten was an American actor, businessman, and animal welfare advocate. He appeared in many Disney films: Snowball Express, Superdad, The Strongest Man in the World, Gus, The Treasure of Matecumbe, Freaky Friday, and The Shaggy D.A.

Jeremy Irons - my 188th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Actor Jeremy Irons is my 188th pick to be named a Disney Legend.

He is most famous with Disney as the voice of Scar in The Lion King. Unlike many Disney movies, where a singer steps in to replace the voice actor or actress during a song, Irons sang the lines as Scar for "Be Prepared."
Actually, Irons sang most of his lines for "Be Prepared," but his vocal cords strained when he did the line: "You won't get a sniff without me!," causing Jim Cummings (who also did Ed's vocal effects in the same film) to fill in as the rest of Scar's singing voice.

Starting back in 1992, Irons had a supporting role in the Magic Kingdom attraction “The Timekeeper” as H.G. Wells and appeared when the Timekeeper (voiced by Robin Williams), sent his assistant Nine-Eye back in time and eventually ends up in the year 1900 in Paris, France for the Exposition Universelle (a world’s fair). Nine-Eye observes a conversation between H.G. Wells and Jules Verne concerning the future and what it would be like, and we don’t see Irons’ character again until a later scene that takes place in 2189, and appears along side Verne in a 1900’s looking time machine. While not a major role, it was a role that did establish him with Disney, and in a beloved classic attraction that lasted until 2006!

Irons also provided the narration for the third incarnation of Spaceship Earth at Epcot. He also provided narration for Disc 2 of The Lion King Platinum Edition. He also played Pucci in the 2005 Touchstone Pictures film Casanova.

Charles Corson - my 187th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Charles Corson worked in the Casting Department for Walt Disney Studios and became Director of Entertainment for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
He helped cast for such acts as the Dapper Dans, the live Mermaids, the high-wire Tinker Bells, and other Disneyland atmosphere entertainment and Meet Me at Disneyland TV show. He was responsible for bringing the Osmonds to Disneyland for one of their first public performances. He helped cast the Mickey Mouse Club show and helped with the first firework shows at Disneyland. His background in production and first love of live entertainment led him to Disneyland where he served the creative genius of his mentor, Walt Disney, and rose to become Director of Entertainment for the world's two largest theme parks, Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Instrumental in the opening of Walt Disney World, many of his creative contributions are still in place today and he is honored with a window bearing his name on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.

Clair Weeks - my 186th choice to be named a Disney Legend.

Animator Clair Weeks is my 186th pick to be honored as a Disney Legend.


Brought up in India as the son of a missionary, Weeks joined Disney in 1936 and contributed to such classics as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Bambi," "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty." After time out to serve in the military during World War II, Weeks went on to work on most of the major animated films the studio made in the late 1940s and early '50s. In 1956, he went to Bombay as a U.S. representative helping India establish an animation studio. In India, Weeks worked primarily on animated segments of documentaries used to educate and instruct the public. He continued as an ambassador of animation and for 16 years traveled throughout Asia, helping several countries develop animation industries.

Ben Wright - my 185th choice to be named a Disney Legend

Voice actor Ben Wright is my 185th pick to be chosen as a Disney Legend.

He voiced Roger Radcliffe in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Rama in The Jungle Book, and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid.

During the production of The Little Mermaid, nobody knew that Ben had provided the voice of Roger in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he had to tell them that he played the character. The role of Grimsby was the last role that he ever played before his death on July 2, 1989 from heart failure after having heart surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California at the age of 74.

Iwao Takamoto - my 184th pick to be named a Disney Legend

Iwao Takamoto was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director who did work for both Disney and Hanna-Barbera along with Charles A. Nichols.  He is my my 184th choice to be named a Disney Legend.

Takamoto first entered the cartoon world after the end of the war. He was hired as an assistant animator by Walt Disney Studios in 1945. Takamoto eventually became an assistant for the legendary Milt Kahl. He worked as an animator on such titles as Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and 101 Dalmatians. He was put in charge of the design of the pedigreed Lady in "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), according to Barker Animation Art Gallery, a Connecticut firm that represents his work.

Iwao Takamoto was one of the most talented animators ever to pass through the Disney Studio in the 1940’s and 50’s. But he remains a more unsung hero, who never received the full opportunity to show what he could do on a Disney feature. As Takamoto himself would recall:
A new feature film would start to ramp up and it would look like I would get an opportunity to animate, and suddenly I would be approached by a small committee usually consisting of Milt Kahl, Marc Davis, and Frank Thomas, who would say something like, “For the good of the picture, would you take on the responsibility of quality control in the lead characters?” That would be the end of my animation chance.Such was the case on Sleeping Beauty (1959), where Takamoto would serve as quality control supervisor on the title character.


He left Disney in 1961 for Hanna-Barbera along with Charles A. Nichols. He later returned for one time to help animate The Fox and the Hound with Joseph Barbera.