Claude Coats

Claude Dixon Coats was an American Imagineer and background artist, best known for his conceptual work on the Disneyland attraction The Haunted Mansion.
Coats was raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Polytechnic High School. On an athletic scholarship, he attended the University of Southern California as an architecture student, but later received his bachelor's degree in drawing in 1934.
He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1991.
He died on January 9, 1992, 8 days before his 79th birthday.
==Filmography==
Claude Coats did extensive work for the Walt Disney Studios as a background artist, through an apprenticeship, for many animated features and shorts, before joining WED Enterprises in 1955. Coats worked on the following films:
*Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
*Pinocchio (1940)
*Fantasia (1940)
*Dumbo (1941)
*Bambi (1942)
*Saludos Amigos (1942)
*Victory Through Air Power (1943)
*The Three Caballeros (1944)
*Californy 'er Bust (1945)
*Dog Watch (1945)
*Tiger Trouble (1945)
*Make Mine Music (1946)
:*Peter and the Wolf (1946)
*Song of the South (1946)
*Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
*Melody Time (1948)
:*Little Toot
:*Pecos Bill
:*The Legend of Johnny Appleseed
*Cat Nap Pluto (1948)
*The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
:*The Wind in the Willows
*Cinderella (1950)
*Motor Mania (1950)
*Alice in Wonderland (1951)
*The Little House (1952)
*Uncle Donald's Ants (1952)
*Peter Pan (1953)
*How to Dance (1953)
*How to Sleep (1953)
*Lady and the Tramp (1955)
*Up a Tree (1955)
*Hooked Bear (1956)
*Disneyland (1956–1963)
==Imagineering==
In 1955, Walt Disney selected Coats to become an Imagineer for WED Enterprises (which became Walt Disney Imagineering in 1984) to help with the design of Disneyland. Coats would remain with Imagineering until his retirement in 1989. Coats worked on many Disney theme park attractions at several parks.
===Disneyland===
*Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1955–present)
*Snow White's Scary Adventures (1955–present)
*Submarine Voyage (1959–1998)
*Grand Canyon and Primeval World Dioramas (1958–present)
*Pirates of the Caribbean (1967–present)
*The Haunted Mansion (1969–present)
===1964-1965 New York World's Fair===
*Carousel of Progress
*Ford Magic Skyway
*It's a Small World
===Magic Kingdom===
*Mickey Mouse Revue (1971–1980 at the Magic Kingdom, 1983–2009 at Tokyo Disneyland)
===EPCOT Center===
*World of Motion (1982–1996)
*Horizons (1983–1999)
===Tokyo Disneyland===
*Meet the World (1983–2002)
*Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour (1986–2006)
==Gallery==
John hench with claude coats, walt disney and mary blair.jpg|Coats sitting while John Hench, Mary Blair, and Walt Disney stand behind him.
WEDCrew.0.jpg|A 1965 group photograph of Disney artists in the WED parking lot in Glendale, California, from left to right: Herbert Ryman, Ken O'Brien, Collin Campbell, Marc Davis, Al Bertino, Wathel Rogers, Mary Blair, T. Hee, Blaine Gibson, X. Atencio, Coats, and Yale Gracey.
==References==
*Claude Coats at Disney Legends
*
Category:Males
Category:1990s deaths
Category:1910s births
Category:Deceased
Category:People from California
Category:American people
Category:Imagineers
Category:Animators
Category:Background artists
Category:Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Category:Pinocchio
Category:Fantasia
Category:Dumbo
Category:Bambi
Category:Saludos Amigos
Category:The Three Caballeros
Category:Make Mine Music
Category:Song of the South
Category:Fun and Fancy Free
Category:Melody Time
Category:The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Category:Cinderella
Category:Alice in Wonderland
Category:Peter Pan
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Category:Lady and the Tramp
Category:Goofy
Category:Pluto
Category:Donald Duck
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Category:Disney Legends
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Category:The Haunted Mansion
Category:Carousel of Progress
Category:Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color