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Animator. Storyman. Troublemaker. At 80 years old, see how Disney Legend Floyd Norman, the first African-American animator at Disney, continues to impact animation and stir up “trouble” after the company forced him to retire at age 65.
Floyd Norman’s resume reads like a childhood dream. The first African-American to wield a pencil at Disney, he began his career in 1956, working on such cinema classics as “Sleeping Beauty,” “101 Dalmatians” and “The Jungle Book.” Later he contributed to Hanna Barbera’s empire, penning characters from “Josie and the Pussycats” to “Scooby-Doo” and “The Smurfs.” Not one to rest on his laurels, he moved on to Pixar and designed for “Toy Story 2” and “Monsters, Inc.” A storied career, indeed — but while Norman spent years bringing fairy tales to the big screen, his life story builds to a far-from-conventional happy ending.
Much of the film’s tension derives from the fact that on his 65th birthday, Norman was “asked” to retire from Disney. After decades of devoted work, we can tell this betrayal still stings. Peppered with colorful anecdotes about the inner workings of Disney’s animation department, Floyd keeps up a lively pace, interviewing friends, colleagues and family who smilingly comment on Norman’s lifelong obsession with cartooning. We also get to follow Norman as he “floyders” around the Disney campus, which he stalks like a dapper would-be suitor even though his access pass was revoked long ago.
We also get a glimpse into the personal toll an artist’s obsessive tendencies can exact: amidst fond reminiscences and jokes, we discover that Norman’s sweet, candy-colored work life is tempered by the bitter aftertaste of a failed first marriage. Although the filmmakers treat interviews with Norman’s wives and five children with delicacy and tact, one can’t help but wonder if we’re only getting part of the story, and the partly-sunny ending feels happy-ish, like we’re being fed a “Disney-fied” version of the truth.
Part memoir, part time capsule, “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life” provides an inside look at the Golden Age of animation through the eyes of a legendary inker. While it may not endure as a biographical account, it should stand the test of time as a record of an era that is sadly long gone.
In theaters, VOD & Digital HD Friday, August 26th
