Dick Kelsey (born Richmond Kelsey,

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

; May 3, 1905 – May 3, 1987), was an important early animation

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

, pioneer

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

designer, and illustrator of children's books. His career spanned several

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

films of the 1940s and 1950s, after which he assisted in the design of

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

in 1955. Translating the screen arts to real buildings, Kelsey was hired by the Marco Engineering firm of

Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood Jr. (December 17, 1920 – March 14, 1992) was an American developer of theme parks and planned communities. He was the chief developer of Disneyland and then, through his own company, Marco Engineering, he developed oth ...

to be a lead art director to design Magic Mountain theme park at

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in 1957. Later Kelsey became mentor to another prominent Disney artisan,

Ron Dias Ronald Lionel Dias (February 15, 1937 – July 30, 2013) was an American animator and painter who began his career in 1956 after winning a stamp animation contest organized jointly by the U.S. Post Office, the U.S. Office of Education and Counsel ...

, whose films include ''Sleeping Beauty''. In time, Kelsey returned to Disney work, including ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks'' and illustrating children's books of Disney films. He died on his 82nd birthday.

Filmography

Art department

* ''So Dear To My Heart'' (1948)

Art director

* ''Bambi'' (1942) * ''Dumbo'' (1941) * ''Fantasia'' ("Rite of Spring" segment) (1940) * ''Pinocchio'' (1940)

Miscellaneous crew

* ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks'' (1971) * ''Melody Time'' (1948)

Writer

* ''Alice in Wonderland'' (1951) * ''Make Mine Music'' (1946)

Architecture

Art director

* ''Magic Mountain'' (1957)

Assistant designer

* ''Disneyland'' (1955)

External links

*
Virtual Museum of Magic Mountain

Ron Dias website
1905 births 1987 deaths American animators Artists from California Walt Disney Animation Studios people {{US-animator-stub