Joe Grant

Joe Grant shaped Disney animation across two separate careers spanning nearly seven decades. In the 1930s and 40s he designed the Evil Queen for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, co-wrote the story for Dumbo, and pioneered the use of three-dimensional character maquettes on Pinocchio to help animators draw from every angle. He left Disney in 1949 to run his own ceramics and greeting-card companies, then returned in 1989 at age 83 to design Mrs. Potts for Beauty and the Beast, Rafiki for The Lion King, and other characters well into his nineties.