Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1531/

Disney Drawing Tests

They sat me at a desk, they gave me model sheets of five, six different Disney characters, ranging from Alice from Alice in Wonderland, to Donald Duck, to Goofy, you know. Different styles of characters. So I did all of this, took my lunch break. After lunch, I came back to my desk and John, I forgot. Anyway, he comes in and says, “Well, you’ve been hired. So we’re going to put you to work. You go down the D-wing to the very last room, and a fellow there will give you your first assignment.” So I go down the hall and knock on the door and come in, and open the door. There’s Iwo Takamoto sitting there. Wow.

And so he got me started. And my very first assignment was on the film Lady and the Tramp. And the particular scene happens to be the very iconic spaghetti kissing, where Lady and the Tramp eat spaghetti and they kiss. But it was a grueling, you might say, breaking in period. But then, I have to really say, because of that kind of a training, I think it was very beneficial to my future career in the industry. A lot of the other people, they would curse. Come back to the room and say, “That SOB, blah blah blah.” But in retrospect, it was the best training I could have had.


animation

Date: August 26, 2015

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Willie Ito was born July 17, 1934 in San Francisco, California to nisei parents. Seeing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the age of five inspired a lifelong love of animation. After his family's incarceration in Topaz, Utah during World War II, Willie returned to California to pursue an art career, attending the Walt Disney favorite Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (which later became CalArts). Under the mentorship of legendary animator Iwao Takamoto, Willie's passion blossomed into a long career in the animation world through golden ages at Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. His credits span from The Lady and the Tramp and What's Opera Doc? to The Flinstones and the Yogi Bear Show. 

Willie continues drawing to this day, including illustration work on multiple children's books about the Japanese American World War II experience. You can also find him signing sketches and greeting fans at San Diego Comic-con. (September 2016)

Murakami,Jimmy

Introduction to Film

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

Murakami,Jimmy

Getting Started in Animation

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

Murakami,Jimmy

First Short Film

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

Takamoto,Iwao

First Portfolio & Disney Interview

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

Takamoto,Iwao

Interactions with Walt Disney

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

Takamoto,Iwao

Moving to Hanna-Barbera after 15 Years at Disney

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

Takamoto,Iwao

Disney vs. Hanna-Barbera

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

Takamoto,Iwao

Development of Scooby Doo TV show

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)

Takamoto,Iwao

Designing Scooby Doo’s Character

Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)