Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herbert Dickens Ryman, an artist who went on to become one of the best-known Imagineers in the Disney pantheon. As we mentioned earlier this month, we’re going to take this opportunity to look back at his life and career, so for the next week we’re going to feature new stories each day that will cover different phases of his artistic life. We’ll also feature some of Ryman’s artwork – his pictures worth many thousands of my words, after all – and excitingly we’ll be showing some of his pieces that are previously unpublished.
This evening we’ll kick things off with a look back at Ryman’s early life and his career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; as the week progresses, we’ll look at his work for Disney on a series of projects stretching from Disneyland to Euro Disneyland and all points in between.
Perhaps we’ll also be fortunate enough to hear from some of those who knew Ryman – for those who were lucky he was a friend, collaborator or mentor. For the rest of us, he was one of those great artists who fired our imaginations with his evocative conceptual work.
It all started 100 years ago today, in Vernon, Illinois. Happy birthday, Herb!
I’m really looking forward to this series of posts! I’ve been a Disney fan for a very long time, but sad to say, I know little about the individual imagineers who have made the magic happen. Now, thanks to you, all that’s about to change. Thanks very much. I’m so happy I found this blog.
Oh, you’re very welcome! I’m glad you’re excited. For a long, long time I’ve planned a series of posts about my favorite Imagineers, but I keep putting it off. This anniversary provided me the perfect jumping off point to start with one of my favorite Disney artists!
I’m also curious about your own background, since your knowledge is so extensive and you have so much source material.