Remembering Walt Disney Studios’ Dumbo and Fantasia Animator Milton Quon

The longtime Torrance resident died at age 105 in June.

One of the last surviving artists of Disney’s Golden Age of Animation passed away from natural causes at his Torrance home last month. The son of Chinese immigrants, Milton Quon received a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute, now the California Institute of the Arts, before working at Disney.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Quon joined Walt Disney Studios in 1939 soon after graduation as the third Chinese-American to be hired there, and he worked on the “Waltz of the Flowers” and the “Arabian Dance” scenes in Fantasia (1940) and as first assistant animator on Dumbo (1941).

“During World War II, Quon headed a team of 17 artists at Douglas Aircraft who illustrated repair manuals for its bombers and transports. He then returned to Disney and ran its publicity/promotions department, doing promo artwork for films including the 1946 releases Make Mine Music and Song of the South.”

Following his time at Disney, Quon joined advertising agency BBD&O as the first Chinese-American art director at a national advertising agency, then served as senior design artist at Sealright Co., a large packaging firm, from 1964 until his retirement in 1980.

You can read more about his career and legacy here.