Floyd Norman, Disney’s first Black animator, set to receive an honorary Oscar
The 90-year-old Norman first joined Disney in 1956, and throughout his career, he’s been behind some of the company’s biggest animated movies, including “Toy Story 2,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Jungle Book,” and more.
One of the hidden figures behind Disney’s success is getting his due.
Floyd Norman, the first Black animator at the Walt Disney Company, is set to receive an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November.
The Honorary Oscar is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences in any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”
The 90-year-old Norman first joined the company in 1956 at 21, eventually landing uncredited roles as an assistant animator on classic films such as “Sleeping Beauty,” “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” “Robin Hood,” “The Sword in the Stone,” “Mary Poppins,” and “The Jungle Book.”
After leaving Disney to set out on his own, he would help create some of the more memorable animated TV shows of the 1970s and 1980s, including “The Smurfs,” “Heathcliff,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and “Godzilla.” He’d eventually return to Disney in various roles, scoring writing credits for the 1998 animated hit “Mulan,” serving as an additional storyboard artist on “Toy Story 2,” and earning an art department credit for another Pixar smash hit, “Monsters Inc.”
As a pioneer in animation, Norman has been honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2002 Annie Awards, inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2021, and named a Disney Legend in 2007, among other honors.
Joining Norman in receiving honorary Oscars are actresses Glenn Close, director Ridley Scott, and film producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. Close, who has earned eight nominations throughout her 44-year career, is widely considered one of the best actresses not to win a proper Academy Award. Now, she finally has one.
“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to five remarkable individuals whose groundbreaking work has forever shaped the art of filmmaking,” Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a statement. “Throughout her extraordinary body of work, Glenn Close’s unparalleled emotional range has brought to life some of the most complex characters in cinema. Floyd Norman is the legendary animator who has broken barriers and inspired generations of artists over his remarkable career. Sir Ridley Scott is a true visionary whose decades-long legacy has left an immeasurable impact on global cinema and culture. Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler play a central role in American independent cinema, championing bold, ambitious and distinctive storytelling.”
Previous recipients of the Honorary Oscar in recent years include Debbie Allen, Angela Bassett, Quincy Jones, Cicely Tyson, Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson.