Tyrus Wong facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tyrus Wong
Wong in 2014
Born	Wong Gen Yeo (1910-10-25)October 25, 1910 Taishan, Qing Dynasty
Died	December 30, 2016(2016-12-30) (aged 106) Sunland-Tujunga, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Tyrus Yu Wong, Look Tai Yow
Alma mater	Otis College of Art and Design
Occupation	Painter, animator, calligrapher, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, set designer, storyboard artist, kite maker
Years active	1930–2016
Employer	Walt Disney Animation Studios (1938–1941) Warner Bros. Cartoons (1941-1964) Walter Lantz Productions (1941-1968) MGM Cartoons (1941-1958) Warner Bros. Pictures (1942–1968) Hanna-Barbera (1957-1968) DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (1963-1968)
Works	Bambi (1942)
Spouse(s)	Ruth Kim (m. 1937–1995; her death)
Children	3
Awards	CAM Historymakers Award, 2001 Disney Legends Award, 2001 Winsor McCay Award, 2005
Signature

Tyrus Wong (October 25, 1910 – December 30, 2016) was a famous Chinese-American artist. He was a talented painter, animator, and calligrapher. He also created murals, pottery, and prints.

Wong was very important in the art world. He worked as a set designer and storyboard artist for movies. He helped create films for Disney and Warner Brothers. He also designed greeting cards for Hallmark Cards.

His most famous work was as the lead artist for Disney's 1942 film Bambi. He used ideas from old Chinese art to make the movie look beautiful. Tyrus Wong also worked on many other films. He helped with movies like Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

After leaving the film industry in the late 1960s, Wong kept making art. He spent a lot of time designing amazing kites. He also continued to paint and create pottery. He lived to be 106 years old. A movie called Tyrus was made about his life in 2015.

Early Life and Art Training

Tyrus Wong was born on October 25, 1910, in Toisan, China. His birth name was Wong Gen Yeo. When he was nine years old, in 1920, Tyrus and his father moved to the United States. They sailed to California.

When they arrived, Tyrus was held at Angel Island Immigration Station. This was because of a law called the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law made it very hard for Chinese people to come to the U.S. Tyrus and his father had to pretend to be "paper sons" to enter the country. This meant they used fake identities.

After a month, Tyrus was allowed to leave Angel Island. He and his father first lived in Sacramento. Later, they moved to Los Angeles. Tyrus's father encouraged his art. Even though they couldn't afford art lessons, his father made him practice calligraphy every night.

Tyrus's art skills were noticed by his teachers in junior high. He won a summer scholarship to the Otis Art Institute. He decided to leave junior high to study art full-time at Otis. He worked as a janitor there to help pay for his studies. He graduated from Otis in 1930.

Creative Career

The dragon mural in L.A. Chinatown painted by Tyrus Wong. It was restored in 1984.

Tyrus Wong had a very diverse career. He designed greeting cards for Hallmark. He also worked as an illustrator for Warner Bros. movies from 1942 to 1968. He drew set designs and storyboards for many films.

From 1938 to 1941, he worked for Disney. His beautiful pastel drawings were the main inspiration for the movie Bambi (1942). He was the lead artist for the backgrounds in the film. His paintings were inspired by classic Chinese art from the Song dynasty. For many years, people didn't fully know how much he contributed to Bambi.

Soon after Bambi was finished, Wong was let go from Disney. This happened during a strike by Disney animators. After leaving Disney, he worked at Warner Brothers Studios for 26 years. There, he continued to be a production illustrator.

Later, he designed popular greeting cards for Hallmark Cards. After he stopped working in films in 1968, Wong started making colorful kites. He often made kites shaped like animals, such as pandas and goldfish. He loved flying his kites at the beach near the Santa Monica Pier on Saturdays.

Tyrus Wong was featured in two documentary films. He appeared in How to Live Forever (2009) and Tyrus (2015). He once said he was a "lucky artist."

A display of Wong's kites and other artwork at the Walt Disney Family Museum in 2013.

Awards and Recognition

Tyrus Wong received many awards for his art. In 2001, he was given a Historymakers Award by the Chinese American Museum. He was also named a Disney Legend that same year.

In 2005, he won the Winsor McCay Award. This award is given at the Annie Awards for lifetime achievement in animation. In 2015, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Art Exhibitions

Tyrus Wong's artwork has been shown in many exhibitions. His first solo show was in 2004. It featured his paintings on dinnerware. This exhibition was held at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles.

The Tyrus Wong: A Retrospective exhibit showed his work at the Chinese American Museum in 2004. In 2007, he was part of an exhibit at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.

His work was also shown at the Hammer Museum in 2011. This exhibit explored art from African American artists and their friendships in Los Angeles. His art was also part of an exhibit at the East Los Angeles College Vincent Price Art Museum in 2012.

From 2013 to 2014, a big show of his work was held at The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It was called Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art Of Tyrus Wong. In 2015, this exhibit also came to the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City.

Personal Life

Tyrus Wong met Ruth Ng Kim in Los Angeles. She was a second-generation Chinese American. They got married on June 27, 1937. Ruth became a homemaker after their children were born.

They had three daughters: Kay, Tai-Ling, and Kim. They also had two grandsons. Tyrus's wife, Ruth, passed away in 1995. Tyrus Wong died on December 30, 2016, when he was 106 years old. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles, California.

Legacy and Impact

In 2015, filmmaker Pamela Tom made a documentary about Tyrus Wong's life. The film was called Tyrus. It won awards at several film festivals. It was later shown on PBS's American Masters in 2017.

On February 1, 2017, Congressman Adam Schiff honored Tyrus Wong. He spoke about Wong's life and work in the 115th United States Congress. On October 25, 2018, which would have been Wong's 108th birthday, Google Doodle honored him with a special drawing.

Major Works

Paintings

• Deer on Cliff, 1960s
• The Cove, 1960s
• Imaginary Landscape #1 and #2, 1955

Ceramics

• Winfield Pottery – Tyrus Wong Iris plate.
• Winfield Pottery – Tyrus Wong California Pink HP flower.

Filmography

• Bambi (1942) – Animation backgrounds.
• Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) – Assistant Art Director.
• How to Live Forever (2009) – Himself (documentary).
• When the World Breaks (2010) – Himself (documentary).
• Angel Island Profiles: Tyrus Wong (2011) – Himself (documentary).
• Tyrus (2015) – Himself (documentary).

Lithographs

(Drawn and published at Lynton R. Kistler's Lithography Studio)

• Large Horse
• Horse Looking Up
• Horse Looking Down
• Horse Looking Left
• Horse Looking Right
• New Fallen Snow/Deer in the Forest
• Blind Pencil Seller

See also

In Spanish: Tyrus Wong para niños