Cyrus "Cy" Young (; March 7, 1897 – January 16, 1964) was a Chinese-American

special effects animator Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual w ...

, best known for his work for

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

. Young was brother of Chinese politician Yang Qianli (father of Hong Kong director Evan Yang), architect Yang Xiliu (S. J. Young), Entrepreneur Yang Xiren and Yang Renlan (mother of sociologist

Fei Xiaotong Fei Xiaotong or Fei Hsiao-tung (November 2, 1910 – April 24, 2005) was a Chinese anthropologist and sociologist. He was a pioneering researcher and professor of sociology and anthropology; he was also noted for his studies in the study o ...

). He had works in China called ''Pause'' and ''

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

''. Young's first work in United States was as lead animator on the 1931 short "Mendelssohn's Spring Song", a project completed while he was a student in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Disney was so impressed with his work that he hired him to be head of the new special effects animation department and he partnered with animator Ugo D'Orsi. Frank Thomas and

Ollie Johnston Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes. He was recognized by The Wal ...

wrote in their book '' Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life''; "Through the entire thirties, the entire Effects Department consisted of only two men: Ugo D'Orsi, a straightforward, stubborn, and dedicated Italian, and Cy Young...quiet and sensitive...who loved to play the bass fiddle as a hobby." Thomas and Johnston added, "Since 'Orsi and Youngdid most of the careful work themselves, they needed only a single assistant between them." The department's first major project was ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

''. He also worked on '' Fantasia'' and ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...

''. He was an uncredited animator on

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...

(1942). Young left the studio after the 1941

Disney animators' strike The Disney animators' strike in 1941 reflected anger at inequities of pay and privileges at the non-unionized Walt Disney Productions. Walt Disney responded to the five-week strike by firing many of his animators, but was eventually pressured i ...

and worked as a staff artist and clerk at the Air Force, where he worked on various projects. He committed suicide by

barbiturate overdose Barbiturate overdose is poisoning due to excessive doses of barbiturates. Symptoms typically include difficulty thinking, poor coordination, decreased level of consciousness, and a decreased effort to breathe (respiratory depression). Complicati ...

in January 1964.

References

External links

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Pictures from early Young shorts
1897 births 1964 deaths 1964 suicides American animators American artists of Chinese descent Drug-related suicides in California Chinese animators Chinese emigrants to the United States Artists from Suzhou Walt Disney Animation Studios people Artists who committed suicide {{animator-stub