Joe Hale, a veteran animator, layout artist, and producer who worked at Disney for 35 years and earned an Oscar nomination for his visual effects in the 1979 movie “The Black Hole,” has passed away at the age of 99.
Hal passed away on January 29th due to natural reasons at his residence in Atascadero, California. This information was shared by his long-time spouse, Beverly Hale, with The Hollywood Reporter.
To begin with, Hale was an assistant animator on the 1951 film “Alice in Wonderland” and went on to contribute to numerous timeless productions like “Peter Pan” (1953), “Lady and the Tramp” (1955), “Sleeping Beauty” (1959), “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (1961), “Mary Poppins” (1964), “The Jungle Book” (1967), “The Fox and the Hound” (1981), “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” (1971) and “Pete’s Dragon” (1977).
In the year 1980, Hale was appointed as the first-time producer for the movie “The Black Cauldron,” a project that Disney had been working on for approximately seven years beforehand. Under his supervision, a team of 300 artists, including a budding talent like Tim Burton, worked diligently, while a substantial budget of $44 million was allocated for the production.
During a trial viewing, some young viewers found the dark fantasy scenes troubling. In response, the newly appointed Disney Studios chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, demanded that the movie be revised contrary to Hale’s preferences, and its initial release date from Christmas 1984 was pushed back until July of the following year.
The Black Cauldron” earned less than $22 million at the cinema, leading to Hale’s dismissal from Disney in 1986.
As one of nine siblings, Joseph Hale was born on the 4th of June, 1925, in Newland Village, Indiana. He chose to serve in the United States Marine Corps and participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 during World War II.
He was close by as his comrades put up an American flag on Mount Suribachi. A friend of his called out, “Look, they’re hoisting the flag up there!” He replied casually, “Oh, alright, fantastic” and continued to dig. However, when he looked up, he realized the significance of what was happening. (This version aims to convey a more conversational tone while maintaining the original meaning.)
After serving for nearly four years, he enrolled at the Michigan Academy of Arts and later graduated from the Lukits Academy of Fine Arts in Los Angeles. In April 1951, he was employed by Disney. Following his work on ‘Alice in Wonderland’, he worked as an assistant animator under Ollie Johnston, one of Disney’s renowned Nine Old Men.
In 1955, Hale moved to the layout department, where he gained expertise in blending real-life scenes with animated characters while working on shows like ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’ and ‘Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color’.
Hale joined the layout department in 1955. During this time, he honed his skills by integrating live action and animated characters on television programs such as ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’ and ‘Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color’.
Or:
Hale started working in the layout department in 1955. There, he developed his talent for merging real-life footage with animated characters on popular TV shows such as ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’ and ‘Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color’.
Instead of saying: “He moved into animated special effects, working on films like ‘Return From Witch Mountain’ (1978), ‘The Cat From Outer Space’ (1978), ‘The Watcher in the Woods’ (1980) and ‘The Black Hole’, where he served as animation special effects supervisor. He also got an Oscar nomination that was shared with Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee and Harrison Ellenshaw (Peter’s son).”
“Transitioning to the realm of animated special effects, he contributed to movies such as ‘Return From Witch Mountain’ (1978), ‘The Cat From Outer Space’ (1978), ‘The Watcher in the Woods’ (1980) and ‘The Black Hole’. In this capacity, he served as the supervisor for animation special effects. Alongside Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, and Harrison Ellenshaw (Peter’s son), he received an Oscar nomination.
For “The Black Cauldron,” which is adapted from five mythological books called the “Chronicles of Prydain” by Lloyd Alexander, Hale was assigned with the job of trying to tie everything together. Essentially, that’s what I did, as he explained in a 2010 interview.
Following the release of that movie, Hale and his colleagues started creating a film version of T.H. White’s “Mistress Masham’s Repose”, a sequel to “Gulliver’s Travels”. However, Katzenberg wasn’t fond of it, which led to Hale and his team being let go not long after.
In 2008, he was given an honorary Disney Legend Award by the National Fantasy Fan Club.
After leaving Hollywood following Disney, Hale devoted a significant portion of his time to sculpting, according to his wife. Besides him, survivors include his son, Steven, as well as his grandchildren, Camille and Travis.
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2025-02-06 04:55