Mel Shaw

Mel Shaw was an American animator, design artist, writer, and artist. Shaw was involved in the animation, story design, and visual development of numerous animated films for Walt Disney Productions and Walt Disney Feature Animation, beginning with Bambi, which was released in 1942. His other animated film credits, usually involving animation design or the story, included The Rescuers in 1977, The Fox and the Hound in 1981, The Black Cauldron in 1985, The Great Mouse Detective in 1986, Beauty and the Beast in 1991, and The Lion King in 1994. He was named a Disney Legend in 2004 for his contributions.
==Early life==
Shaw was born Melvin Schwartzman on December 19, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York. His mother was an opera singer and his father was a lawyer. He was the second oldest of four brothers born to his parents.
==Career==
Shaw began his career in the entertainment industry as a silent film title card creator at Pacific Title and Art, a company owned by film producer, Leon Schlesinger. He next worked for Orson Welles in the early 1930s, where Shaw helped to create a storyboard The Little Prince, though the proposed Welles film was never created.
Shaw was personally recruited by Walt Disney to work on the 1942 animated classic, Bambi. He left Disney Studios to enlist in the Army Signal Corps, where he served as a combat photographer during World War II.
Shaw returned to Disney's animation department in 1974 at the invitation of Walt Disney Productions. He returned to work on Disney animated films and mentored a new generation of animators. His last film at Disney was The Lion King while working at Walt Disney Feature Animation.
Shaw partnered with former MGM Studios animator Bob Allen to establish a design firm. Under Shaw and Allen, their company resigned Howdy Doody for NBC during the late 1940s.
==Death==
Shaw died from congestive heart failure on November 22, 2012, at the Woodland Care Center in Reseda, California, at the age of 97. His first wife, Louise, died in 1984. Shaw's second wife, Florence Lounsbery, who died in 2004, was the widow of Disney animator, John Lounsbery. They had resided in Acampo, California, for more than twenty years.
==Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position
1938	Merbabies 	Animator - uncredited
1942	Bambi 	Story Development
1977	The Rescuers 	Titles
1981	The Fox and the Hound 	Creative Assistant To The Producer
1985	The Black Cauldron 	Story
1986	The Great Mouse Detective	Story Adapted By
1991	Beauty and the Beast 	Production Consultant: Visual Development
1994	The Lion King 	Character Designer/Visual Development Artist
1999	Tarzan 	Assistant Animator
1999	Fantasia 2000 	Writer
2002	Treasure Planet 	Key Animator
2003	Brother Bear 	Character Designer
==External links==
*Mel Shaw at the Internet Movie Database
Category:1910s births
Category:2010s deaths
Category:Males
Category:Deceased
Category:Animators
Category:Disney people
Category:Bambi
Category:The Rescuers
Category:The Fox and the Hound
Category:The Black Cauldron
Category:The Great Mouse Detective
Category:Beauty and the Beast
Category:The Lion King
Category:Annie Award Winner
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios
Category:Disney Renaissance
Category:People from New York
Category:American people
Category:Artists
Category:Writers
Category:Brother Bear
Category:Treasure Planet
Category:Tarzan
Category:Silly Symphonies
Category:Fantasia
Category:Character Designers