viii Walt Stanchfield
From the October 2000 Peg-Board
Once in a lifetime, a truly special teacher comes along who can change your life
forever. To me and to many, many of our colleagues in the industry, Walt
Stanchfield was that very special teacher.
Part artist, part poet, part musician, part tennis pro, part eccentric savant, part
wizened professor, Walt inspired a generation of young artists not only with his
vast understanding of the animator's craft, but with his enthusiasm and love of
life.Walt started in the animation industry at Mintz in 1937. He also worked for two
years at Lantz. In 1948 he went to work for Disney and with the exception of four
short retirements, had worked there ever since. Walt worked on every full-length
cartoon feature from The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr. Toad (1949) to
The Great Mouse Detective (1986).Throughout those years Walt developed an insatiable enthusiasm for teaching the
craft. He supported his numerous drawing classes with weekly hand-outs that
taught not only animation and drawing principles, but philosophy, attitude and life
lessons.Walt's personal work was full of vitality. He was a tireless sketcher, a painter of
landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and people. He was an avid writer, penning
hundreds of pages of notes about the art of animation as well as poetry and
stories. He also loved music and spent an inordinate amount of time at the piano -
that is, between caring for his vegetable garden and playing his most beloved
game: tennis.Walt has touched many lives, not only with his endless enthusiasm for animation
but with his love of life, art and people. His work will live on forever in the hands
and hearts of his students and we will all miss him.
-- Don Hahn