American Masters

I love to paint - anything else I'm no good at all. in the 20s and 30s in Chinese American communities, what could you hope to achieve? You could become a laundry man, a houseboy, or work in a restaurant. To be an artist was not a remote possibility. He's primarily a fine artist who spent three decades of his life working as a motion picture illustrator. Hollywood and animation in particular was very much an old boys club. It's not a pretty picture but it's one that reflects the attitudes there. The very very first day, the head of the department, he said, "you're a Chink." Tyrus has this ability to always bounce back. I discovered they did that they were making Bambi. After Walt saw Tyrus Wong's sketches for Bambi, he gave the go ahead to hire him. Thank you Walt. It's only really happened a few other times where the entire studio will cleave to one artist's style. You could actually see brushstrokes on the screen. He is legendary and constantly on the minds of everyone here. This is some pretty good work, I think you have a future. I think sometimes we get blinders on and we think, "Oh I have to be a great painter or I have to be an amazing animator." You look at Tyrus Wong's work - there's tremendous diversity to it. You know, his ceramic artwork, his greeting cards, or his painting at Disney or his Warner Brothers work, or his kite building - I think all of those are hand in glove, and I think all of those relate to each other. It's almost a philosophy of how he wants to live his life. Tyrus's story is like an incredible flower growing amidst concrete and stone. it's so unlikely and that's what makes it so valuable. you