The king of Art Directors and Background Artists
...and who cares if he was a royal pain in the ass at times.
There was another creative visionary called 'Walt' at Disney. That was Walt Peregoy, the background artist and colour stylist on 101 Dalmatians. A spiky, cranky, sometimes belligerent man (he called Walt Disney a 'shit'), he was nonetheless a brilliant artist...maybe one of the best to ever work for Disney.
Peregoy described himself as 'American white trash'. At 17, he dropped out of school and worked as a runner for Disney, before leaving the studio because he thought it was too much like a factory. The young Peregoy then worked as a cowhand and a coast guard before going to Mexico to study painting and sculpture under the influence of Siqueros, Diego Rivera, and Orozco. In the 40s, he lived in Paris and continued his painting, studying the work of French Artists like Fernande Leger.
He returned to Disney in 1951 'starting at the bottom' as an in-between artist before the designer Eyvind Earle hired him as a background artist on 'Sleeping Beauty' in 1955.
However, Walt Peregoy will be most remembered for his work on 101 Dalmatians. Here, he could really apply his fine art training and modernist sensibility to a Disney film. It still looks fresh and modern now, and no other animated movie has so perfectly captured London's look, mood, and atmosphere. Pocahontas Art Director Michael Giaimo said Peregoy was a 'true modernist' who brought 'modernism to Disney'.
I love Peregoy's work and example. Goodness, he was probably a royal pain in the ass, but it was to everyone's benefit that a rough-round-edges working class kid with a rebellious attitude and an insatiable curiosity about modern art found a place within the studio system. Would there be a place for a young Peregoy within today's set up? I hope so.
