Tyrus

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TYRUS is Pamela Tom's tour-de-force documentary about 105-year old Guangzhou-born, L.A. based visual artist, Tyrus Wong and his breathtaking scope of work across multiple artistic mediums and his personal and professional journey navigating racial bigotry in 20th century America. Tom's film makes meticulous use of Tyrus Wong's exquisite art, archival footage, illuminating interviews and commentary from Wong himself to document how his unique style, melding Chinese calligraphic and landscape influences with contemporary Western art, helped the Disney animated film, Bambi (1942) specifically, and early Hollywood in general establish their signature visual styles. The film makes a critical contribution to the documentary tradition and to American society in correcting a historical wrong by spotlighting this seminal, but heretofore under-credited figure.

SMITHSONIAN ARTICLE: How Tyrus Wong's Christmas Cards Captivated the American Public

Journal of Asian American Studies | Ann Thuy-Ling Tran, UC Irvine
"Wong’s story reminds us that one can be excluded from the national terrain of culture even while being the literal hand in its very production. As much of the emphasis in Asian American cultural studies is on more contemporary popular culture, scholars who are interested in early twentieth-century Asian American popular culture will find this film to be an invaluable contribution to fields related to historic Asian American visual cultures."

Library Journal
"A fascinating and well-made documentary of interest to artists, art and film history enthusiasts, and students of Asian American and popular culture studies."
Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) | Andy Horbal, University of Maryland Libraries
"[...] All of this context enables the viewer to evaluate not just what they think about the works themselves, but to form their own opinion about their larger significance. This elevates Tyrus above other biographical documentaries in two key ways, both of which are exemplified by the film’s treatment of Wong’s time in Hollywood. First, by showing examples of artworks Wong produced as an inspirational sketch artist, first on Walt Disney’s Bambi and later as a member of the art department at Warner Brothers, side-by-side with scenes from the films for which they were made clearly shows the impact he had on them. In addition to celebrating Wong’s personal contribution, this also shines a light on an important part of the movie-making process that many people don’t even know exists and trains the viewer to look for distinctive artistic elements in films to determine who contributed what, making Tyrus an incredibly useful tool for film studies teachers.
Second, by detailing the specific consequences of the institutional and personal racism that Wong faced throughout his career and life, Tyrus reveals just how far-reaching the costs of such behavior can be to an entire society. To again focus on Wong’s career in the movies, the film conclusively establishes that racism was responsible for his being fired from Disney with a year to go in the production of Bambi and subsequently improperly credited as being merely one of many “background artists” who worked on it. In addition to resulting in many decades passing before his true role was acknowledged (and therefore understood), this incident also presumably figured prominently in Wong’s decision to decline an invitation to work on the 1998 Disney production Mulan more than 50 years later. This story and others told by Wong, such as one about a Japanese-American contemporary who never painted again after being interned during World War II, helps the viewer realize how hard it is to measure what is lost when an entire group of people is denied the right to participate fully in the life of a country just because of what they look like or where they’re from. It’s not just the art that Wong or his contemporaries didn’t produce that you have to account for, it’s also the work of the countless other artists they never got a chance to inspire or mentor. [...]"

NYU Tisch School of the Arts | John Canemaker, Professor of Animation; Oscar and Emmy-Award winning animation filmmaker "Pamela Tom’s Tyrus is a superb, illuminating documentary about the great artist, Tyrus Wong and the triumph of his creative spirit. The film will surely find a wide audience in school and community classrooms, for it touches on many political and artistic topics and issues -- historical and contemporary -- including xenophobia, racism, Chinese art, Disney animation, pop culture, the Depression, and immigration."
Booklist Starred Review | Candace Smith
"Chinese American painter Tyrus Wong (1910–2016) knew from an early age that he wanted to be an artist. There was strong prejudice against Chinese immigrants in California, where Wong and his father settled after fleeing their homeland. Archival photos of Wong’s early work show artistic promise, and in interviews, the elderly but still vibrant artist describes his evolving career. Author Lisa See, whose grandfather was an early supporter of the Asian American art community, shares memories of Wong’s murals that covered her grandfather’s restaurant. Wong recalls his three-year stint at Disney Studios, where his artwork is featured in the classic animated film Bambi. He then moved to Warner Bros., where he painted storyboards and sets for such blockbusters as Rebel without a Cause and Sands of Iwo Jima. Wong’s daughters remember their parent’s happy marriage and their father’s work, which included designing and making greeting cards, kites, dishware, and other art. Historians, art critics, animation experts, and others discuss Wong’s film career, with one expert asserting that “Wong was treated differently because he was Chinese.” Wong is honored for being a pioneer in the Chinese American community in Los Angeles and an influential artist whose work bridged Chinese traditions and modern art."
Sheridan College | Nancy Beiman, Professor of Animation
"This incredible film not only describes the remarkable life and career of a master designer of animation, film --and kites-- it also provides a glimpse into a little-publicized yet fascinating school of West Coast Asian-American Art. Tyrus Wong was a legend at Disney long before he became a 'legend'. Watch this film and see why."
University of Hull | Dr. Amy Davis, Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education and author of Good Girls & Wicked Witches: Women in Disney's Feature Animation
"Tyrus is a fascinating, eloquent film about the life and work of a true master of 20th-century American art, Tyrus Wong. Perhaps best known in some circles as a hugely-important part of Bambi's production team, this wonderful documentary shows the scope of his contributions to American art, cinema, and even the ephemera of everyday life in his designs for table ware and Christmas cards! But more than this, Tyrus weaves the story of Wong's career into the story of his life, from the hardships and prejudices he faced as a Chinese immigrant in a pre-civil rights era America, to the story of his meeting and marrying the love of his life and raising a family. As with any artist (and most gifted people), Wong's personal and artistic life cannot be separated, and Tyrus brings these together with deftness and sensitivity. This film comes across as a true labour of love, telling the story of a warm, wonderful, charming, and immensely-talented man. The story of Tyrus Wong's life is one that all will find captivating, fascinating, and genuinely moving."
University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Corrie Francis Parks, Assistant Professor, Animation
"I think students would get a lot out of the film and it would make a great interdisciplinary event on campus."

University of Wisconsin–Madison | Edward Friedman, Professor Emeritus, Political Science
"He is such a magnificent artist. I lack the vocabulary to capture how much Mr. Wong's work moves me. His art, all of it, even the Hallmark cards, are so beautiful and powerful and profound. I just see this powerful artist trained in the Chinese brush coming to see and draw the world through the eyes of numerous great artists and traditions and then synthesizing them all in new and magnetic ways that are true to his own individual vision, life experience and personal inspiration. The film is a visual delight."
Media that Matter | Judith Trojan
"Tyrus is not only an inspiring celebration of artist Tyrus Wong and his body of work, but it also is an important reminder of the obstacles facing immigrants–past and present–as they attempt to study, work, raise a family and realize their dreams in America. The film will be an evergreen addition to school, library, university and museum programs focusing on the immigrant experience in America, Disney animation, ethnic art and mid-20th century film history."
Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
"While Tyrus is a film that puts a human face to our nation of immigrants, it is also a love story about family and art, from his father’s early encouragement to Wong’s own paternal instinct."
Otis College of Art and Design | Joan Takayama-Ogawa, Professor
"Tyrus is a beautiful film about resilience over racism, working hard, pursuing a dream, learning that we can't fix all things but can learn to carry them with us. Pam Tom and everyone related to the film did a wonderful job. I was completely engaged and transported. I am reminded that I need to bring more Asian American role models to Otis, as my Chinese and Korean students were deeply touched."

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Main credits

Tom, Pam (screenwriter)
Tom, Pam (film director)
Tom, Pam (film producer)
Wynne, Gwen (film producer)
Khalaf, Tamara (film producer)
Wong, Tyrus (on-screen participant)

Other credits

Director of photography, Shana Hagan; editors, Carl Pfirman, Tim Craig, Walt Louie, Angela Park; composer, Derek Baird; art director, Susan Bradley.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

Asian American Studies, Art History, Ethnic Studies, American History, Animation, Popular Culture Studies; "Tyrus"; GOOD DOCS

WEBVTT

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[ Wind chimes tinkling ]

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♪♪

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Narrator: This is Tyrus Wong,
Chinese-American painter,

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at work in
his Los Angeles studio.

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Here are his brushes,
palette, and Chinese ink.

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♪♪

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Tyrus:
What drives me to painting
is something I can\'t explain why

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because something I
just love to do, you know?

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See: In the \'20s and \'30s,
in Chinese-American communities,

00:01:08.710 --> 00:01:11.590
what could you hope to achieve?

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Maybe you could become
a laundryman,

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be a houseboy,
or work in a restaurant.

00:01:20.350 --> 00:01:26.100
To be an artist was not
a remote possibility.

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♪♪

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Leong: Can I get a hug?

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See:
So, Tyrus, are you still coming
down here every day to work?

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Tyrus: Yeah.

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Not down here.
I just work in the small house.

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See: In the small house?

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Tyrus: Yeah.

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See: Thank you. Wow.

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Tyrus: This is the studio.
See: Oh.

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Tyrus: It\'s oil.

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Harrington:
He\'s a quintessential
20th century artist,

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working with different media
in very different areas.

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Tyrus: This is from
the motion picture \"Harper\"

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with Paul Newman and so forth.

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So this is some sketches.

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Remember, let\'s see,
Bambi fell in love with Faline.

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- See: Oh, yes.
- Tyrus: Strange, you know,

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so I try to create his feeling
of real happy and gay.

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Harrington:
He\'s primarily a fine artist

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who spent three decades
of his life

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working as a motion-picture
illustrator.

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♪♪

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Tyrus: I love to paint.

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Anything else,
I\'m no good at all.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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See: This was time
of tremendous turmoil in China

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and great poverty.

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He did not come
from a wealthy family.

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Wong:
I never saw my mother again.

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[ Horn blows ]

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[ Laughter ]

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[ Laughter ]

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♪♪

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See: Angel Island was
in the San Francisco Bay

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to be a kind
of Ellis Island of the West.

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♪♪

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Although, at Ellis Island,

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we think of it as being
a very welcoming place.

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The purpose of Angel Island
was to keep the Chinese out.

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Duggan: What season
did you arrive? What month?

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Tyrus: Oh, gee.
I forgot.

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In fact, I was just worried
about my father.

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Whether I can get the chance
to see him again, but, you know?

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Duggan: So, the first day,
you were separated?

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Tyrus: Yeah, separated.

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All of a sudden, he\'s gone.

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See: His father had already
been here

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and so was able
to go through easily.

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But Tyrus had to stay
on Angel Island

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as a small boy, 9 years old.

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Tyrus: I just cry, you know?

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They went, \"Oh, don\'t cry.

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You will see your father
maybe today or maybe a month.\"

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See: Some people,
when they arrive,

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were able to pass through
in maybe two days.

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Some people stayed
as long as two years.

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Wong:
So, I just suffered, you know?

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Whatever day
I stayed there was...

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Every day was just miserable.
Miserable.

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I hated that place.

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See: The immigration inspectors
had these interrogations.

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And the goal of the inspectors

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was to trick a person
to make a mistake

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so that you could just
automatically be deported.

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Tyrus: They asked you about
your village,

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who lived next to you
on your right-hand side,

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your left-hand, how many windows
you had in your house.

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\"What about your village?
Do they have a fish pond?

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Who lives in front of you?

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Who lives in back of you?\"
and so forth.

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Very trick questions, you know?

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Maybe something wrong
with the papers

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that they kill themselves.

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Very sad. I remember
the stories. Very sad.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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You don\'t have to work,
anything like that.

00:09:02.810 --> 00:09:08.440
See:
In Sacramento, Tyrus\' father
was working for a cobbler.

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And so, Tyrus\' father went down
to Los Angeles,

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leaving behind his son
by himself, 10 years old.

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Tyrus: He said, \"You be
a good boy and go to school.\"

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The typical father,
wants you to be a good kid.

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Woman: Were you a good kid?

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Tyrus: Uh...

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No.

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♪♪

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See: Tyrus, you know,
in those days,

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I think he must
have been kind of naughty.

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He would go fishing, or he would
go running around in the street.

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Wong:
And run like hell, you know?

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♪♪

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I don\'t like schools at all.

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Every time I go
to arithmetic class,

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why, I can almost swear

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I\'m just killing myself,
you know?

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So, I started playing hooky.

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One day, two days, three days.

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And then, finally, over a month.

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What kind of excuse
are you gonna make?

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You can\'t say you had the
stomachache for a whole month.

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He said, \"You take the first
train, come in to Los Angeles.\"

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When I get off the train,
before I got a chance to say,

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\"Hi, Father,\" it\'s just...

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You know, slapping me
in the face, and so forth.

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\"I\'m very, very disappointed
in you,\" and so forth.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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In school, I do all
the drawing like,

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you know, like fire-prevention
week and so forth.

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Do all the things, and then
the teacher finally said,

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\"Gee, you like to draw
and paint.\"

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And I said, \"Yeah, that\'s
the only thing I like to do.\"

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And I said,
\"What\'s a scholarship?\"

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\"That means if they accept you,
you can go there for free.\"

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\"You mean for nothing?\"

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\"For nothing.\"

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I said, \"Gee, this is great.\"

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♪♪

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The first time I paint
in front of a nude model.

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♪♪

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That was really a lot of fun.

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Dean said, \"Well, Tyrus,
your term is up.

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You go back to finish
your junior high school.\"

00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:47.700
Said, \"No,
I don\'t want to go back there.

00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:50.870
This is what I want to do.\"

00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:53.660
He said, \"Well, I\'m sorry,
but this scholarship has ended.

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You have to pay for a term.\"

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You know, a term
was 90 some-odd dollars.

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It was like going to college.

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So, I told my father about it.

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See: His father was working
in a gambling den.

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They\'re living in utter poverty
in a boarding house for men...

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A butcher shop on one side,
prostitutes on the other.

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No one had $90 a year
to spend on something

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as seemingly frivolous
as art school.

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♪♪

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Tyrus: Said, \"Well, you really
like to draw and paint.\"

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♪♪

00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:40.630
See: Tyrus\' father recognized
in his son

00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:46.590
that he had a talent, and
that this should be nurtured.

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Tyrus: So, he borrowed
about 90 some-odd dollars.

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See: It wasn\'t just that his son

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was doing something
kind of crazy,

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but he had to go out and ask
people to support his son

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who was doing something
different and crazy.

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♪♪

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Mak: Art school
was a very different world

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than Los Angeles\' original
Chinatown where he lived.

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It was a very important set
of formative years

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because it enabled him

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to become part of
a broader arts community.

00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:46.570
It was, in many ways, a place
where he could nurture a talent

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that he innately possessed.

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Wong:
Every minute, I was, you know,
either painting or drawing.

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♪♪

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I look at all the masters,
you know, Michelangelo,

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Wissler,

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Picassos,

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Turners,

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and George Bellows...

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all different artists.

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[ Indistinct conversations ]

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[ Camera shutter clicking ]

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Woman: What would you say had
the greatest influence

00:15:34.870 --> 00:15:36.200
on you as an artist?

00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:42.790
♪♪

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Tyrus: My father wanted me
to be an artist.

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Mak: His father was very strict
and insistent

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that Tyrus be committed
to studying his calligraphy.

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Tyrus: So, every night
before I go to bed,

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I had to get old newspaper,
and then we can\'t afford ink,

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so we using water and a brush.

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Just paint it.
You had to leave an impression.

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He\'d say, \"Oh, this is could be
a little bit this

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and little bit that.\"

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My father, he doesn\'t want me
to, you know, play baseball.

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And he said, \"Well, what if
you break your finger?

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Ruin your fingers,
it will ruin your whole career.\"

00:16:22.660 --> 00:16:27.590
♪♪

00:16:27.630 --> 00:16:31.630
See: This practice of that
calligraphy would really evolve

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for Tyrus into what came to be
known in the Chinese style

00:16:37.180 --> 00:16:40.520
as ink-and-brush painting,
this kind of wash,

00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.890
this very fluid
kind of calligraphy.

00:16:43.980 --> 00:16:51.980
♪♪

00:16:53.990 --> 00:16:57.450
♪♪

00:16:57.490 --> 00:17:01.490
Tyrus: When I went to Otis,
I had to pass a library,

00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:03.330
the downtown library.

00:17:03.410 --> 00:17:04.660
Every time, when I passed that,

00:17:04.750 --> 00:17:06.750
I\'d go to
the research department.

00:17:06.790 --> 00:17:10.210
Go to the Chinese art
department, look at painting.

00:17:10.300 --> 00:17:13.800
I studied painting,
Sung Dynasty, especially.

00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:18.340
♪♪

00:17:18.390 --> 00:17:24.180
Chinese is always very poetic
like landscape, you know?

00:17:24.270 --> 00:17:27.310
Way big, wide space.

00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.770
Some tiny figure compared
to the universe is nothing.

00:17:32.820 --> 00:17:36.990
The painting
is very powerful, feelings.

00:17:37.030 --> 00:17:42.200
See: There\'s
a kind of melancholy...

00:17:42.290 --> 00:17:46.580
a loneliness...

00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:51.040
the starkness and desolation.

00:17:51.090 --> 00:17:55.340
You see this over and over again
in Tyrus\' work.

00:17:57.930 --> 00:18:01.600
Canemaker:
There\'s a quote by Gombrich,
who wrote a book on art.

00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:05.230
Talked about Chinese art
and said that the reason

00:18:05.270 --> 00:18:08.020
that Chinese artists
don\'t like a lot of detail

00:18:08.100 --> 00:18:11.770
is that they consider it
childish.

00:18:11.860 --> 00:18:13.500
What you should really
be putting in there

00:18:13.530 --> 00:18:16.740
is the artist\'s enthusiasm.

00:18:16.820 --> 00:18:18.950
And I thought that was
a lovely description

00:18:19.030 --> 00:18:21.780
of what Tyrus\' art does.

00:18:21.870 --> 00:18:29.870
♪♪

00:18:34.630 --> 00:18:35.630
Tyrus: Yeah.

00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.760
Yeah.

00:18:44.810 --> 00:18:52.230
♪♪

00:18:56.030 --> 00:19:04.030
♪♪

00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:09.620
When my father died, I think
something really died in me

00:19:09.710 --> 00:19:12.630
because he was such
a great father.

00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:20.670
♪♪

00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:24.970
[ Horns honking ]

00:19:25.050 --> 00:19:27.060
[ Bells ringing ]

00:19:27.100 --> 00:19:30.980
See: In the \'30s, there were
three sort of art places.

00:19:31.060 --> 00:19:34.270
There was Otis Art School.
There was Chouinard Art School.

00:19:34.310 --> 00:19:36.070
And then there was
the Art Students League,

00:19:36.110 --> 00:19:40.110
which at that time was being run
by Stanton MacDonald-Wright.

00:19:40.150 --> 00:19:44.160
Tyrus: I admired him.

00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.790
Here\'s a Caucasian man who
was interested in Chinese art.

00:19:47.830 --> 00:19:55.830
♪♪

00:20:07.510 --> 00:20:15.510
♪♪

00:20:17.520 --> 00:20:25.520
♪♪

00:20:27.530 --> 00:20:31.370
He said, \"Tyrus, you have
a great tradition,

00:20:31.450 --> 00:20:33.080
so don\'t forget it

00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:35.500
because you can combine
your tradition

00:20:35.580 --> 00:20:37.460
with modern art, you know?

00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:41.050
Then you will become
a great artist.\"

00:20:41.090 --> 00:20:44.630
See: What do you do if you want
to become a famous artist?

00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.350
You go to New York.
You go to Paris.

00:20:47.390 --> 00:20:51.020
Los Angeles was not
on the art map.

00:20:51.060 --> 00:20:53.270
Wong:
After that, I went to Eddy.

00:20:53.350 --> 00:20:55.060
I get acquainted with Eddy See.

00:20:55.140 --> 00:20:57.020
See:
It was my grandfather

00:20:57.110 --> 00:21:01.190
who had a Chinese antique store
down in Chinatown.

00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:05.030
And everybody sort of
congregated around him.

00:21:05.110 --> 00:21:09.740
So, there was Tyrus Wong
and Hideo Date.

00:21:09.830 --> 00:21:13.750
There was Benji Okubo, who was
a Japanese-American artist

00:21:13.790 --> 00:21:15.620
at the Art Students League.

00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:19.090
And Gilbert Leong,
who went to Chouinard.

00:21:19.130 --> 00:21:21.380
My grandfather,
at one point, thought,

00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:25.220
\"Well, we have a mezzanine
above the antique store

00:21:25.260 --> 00:21:27.720
where I could put a gallery.

00:21:27.760 --> 00:21:31.600
He put together what is believed
to be the very first

00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.060
Asian-American art exhibition

00:21:34.140 --> 00:21:36.440
to have been held
in the country.

00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:44.480
♪♪

00:21:46.490 --> 00:21:52.370
♪♪

00:21:52.410 --> 00:21:54.250
McLelland: They were open.
They were young.

00:21:54.290 --> 00:21:57.540
Most of these guys
were like 18 to 22 years old.

00:21:57.580 --> 00:21:59.290
Mak:
These Asian-American artists

00:21:59.380 --> 00:22:01.500
were actually drawing
on something

00:22:01.590 --> 00:22:04.130
that they already felt
a sense of ownership about,

00:22:04.210 --> 00:22:05.970
cultural ownership.

00:22:06.010 --> 00:22:08.220
It was a time
in which people\'s attitudes

00:22:08.260 --> 00:22:11.930
about Chinese
were beginning to shift.

00:22:11.970 --> 00:22:15.390
They were fueled by
the broader public interest

00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.270
of exoticizing Chinese culture.

00:22:18.310 --> 00:22:19.390
Woman: I love the movement.

00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.690
Tyrus: Oh, yeah,
and the brushstrokes.

00:22:20.770 --> 00:22:24.400
I painted it really fast.

00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:26.490
The brush is about this size.

00:22:26.570 --> 00:22:28.910
- Woman: Really big brush.
- Tyrus: Uh-huh.

00:22:28.950 --> 00:22:30.320
Woman:
Do you remember doing that one?

00:22:30.410 --> 00:22:32.660
See: There was an exhibit
that included artists

00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:34.240
not just from Los Angeles,

00:22:34.330 --> 00:22:37.330
but also from
the San Francisco Bay Area.

00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:40.000
These were
the very first exhibits

00:22:40.080 --> 00:22:46.210
anywhere of these artists
as a group, as a movement.

00:22:46.300 --> 00:22:49.380
Mak: It was an exciting time
for artists like Tyrus

00:22:49.470 --> 00:22:51.340
and the California Orientalists

00:22:51.390 --> 00:22:56.020
to be gaining ground,
gaining visibility.

00:22:56.060 --> 00:22:58.020
Again, this is all taking place

00:22:58.100 --> 00:23:01.440
while Chinese immigration
is illegal.

00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.860
Chinese people couldn\'t
testify in courts,

00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:06.030
especially against
a white person.

00:23:06.070 --> 00:23:08.740
They couldn\'t own property,

00:23:08.820 --> 00:23:12.280
and they couldn\'t marry
outside of their race.

00:23:12.370 --> 00:23:17.120
It was a hostile environment.

00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:20.000
Johnson: These artists created
a sort of synergy

00:23:20.040 --> 00:23:22.210
by coming together
to exhibit their work

00:23:22.290 --> 00:23:26.340
and a great reputation that led
to these museum invitations.

00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:28.420
I think of it as a renaissance
because there were so many

00:23:28.510 --> 00:23:30.880
different things happening
all at the same time.

00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:34.890
Woman:
Hey. \"Artists such as Okubo,
Hideo Date, and Tyrus Wong

00:23:34.970 --> 00:23:36.720
advanced the stylistic approach

00:23:36.810 --> 00:23:38.890
by showing together
as oriental artists

00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:41.520
in several high-profile
museum exhibitions.

00:23:41.560 --> 00:23:44.980
Their work during this period
reflected their interaction

00:23:45.060 --> 00:23:47.190
with Stanton MacDonald-Wright,

00:23:47.230 --> 00:23:50.530
a major figure
in the Los Angeles art scene.\"

00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:57.030
Tyrus: I was exhibiting
all over the place.

00:24:01.540 --> 00:24:04.040
Man: \"Tyrus Wong
has a landscape with water

00:24:04.080 --> 00:24:07.920
and a cliff,
a marvel of living stillness.\"

00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:13.930
Woman:
\"Only 22, he gives a Chinese
twist to a Michelangelo figure.\"

00:24:14.010 --> 00:24:19.060
Man:
\"He had mastery enveloped in an
atmospheric harmony of color.\"

00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:21.480
Wong should have a great future.

00:24:23.100 --> 00:24:24.810
Tyrus: I was busy painting.

00:24:24.900 --> 00:24:27.730
I didn\'t want to accept,
you know,

00:24:27.770 --> 00:24:30.690
wondering where the next meal
would come from in that time.

00:24:30.780 --> 00:24:34.570
Depression, you know,
it was terrible.

00:24:34.610 --> 00:24:35.950
See: Everybody was broke.

00:24:36.030 --> 00:24:38.280
I mean, they were just broke.

00:24:38.330 --> 00:24:41.830
And somehow the idea came up
of what is the one thing

00:24:41.910 --> 00:24:45.120
people need even if it\'s
the height of the Depression?

00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:46.130
Food.

00:24:46.210 --> 00:24:51.670
♪♪

00:24:51.760 --> 00:24:55.640
So, my grandfather decided
to open a restaurant

00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:57.640
in the basement of the store.

00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:58.850
Wong:
Gee, down in the basement.

00:24:58.930 --> 00:25:01.350
How about we can make
a restaurant out of it?

00:25:01.430 --> 00:25:03.100
So, his brother Ming said,

00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:05.100
\"A restaurant down
in the basement?

00:25:05.140 --> 00:25:07.360
You\'re crazy. Who the hell
would want to eat

00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:08.810
down in the basement?\"
you know?

00:25:08.860 --> 00:25:12.940
See: Brick, a bunch of pipes,
exposed pipes up on the ceiling.

00:25:12.990 --> 00:25:14.240
All the rafters were open.

00:25:14.280 --> 00:25:17.450
Everything was just
this dark, dank basement.

00:25:17.530 --> 00:25:21.040
So, they decided
to paint murals.

00:25:21.120 --> 00:25:25.960
One area was
the Eight Immortals.

00:25:26.040 --> 00:25:28.790
Tyrus: And then one corner,
they had painted a dragon.

00:25:28.830 --> 00:25:32.130
And it was fighting
one of the immortals.

00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:37.430
See: He used ink and pencil
to do the monkeys in the trees

00:25:37.470 --> 00:25:40.510
in that kind
of Sung Dynasty style.

00:25:43.470 --> 00:25:46.690
Quon:
He did the great sign outside.

00:25:46.770 --> 00:25:50.400
His great brush lettering which
showed the Chinese characters.

00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:54.240
Oh, he was so great
in his lettering.

00:25:54.320 --> 00:25:57.530
See: He designed
the matchbook covers.

00:25:57.610 --> 00:26:01.280
He designed and hand-painted
every single menu.

00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:06.460
Quon: It turned out to be
a big hangout

00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:08.830
for Hollywood celebrities.

00:26:08.870 --> 00:26:16.870
♪♪

00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:22.050
See:
And this became Dragon\'s Den.

00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:24.600
Tyrus: One of the girls who used
to work up in See\'s house

00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:27.020
by the name of Ruth Kim.

00:26:27.060 --> 00:26:28.520
I seen her before.

00:26:28.560 --> 00:26:31.020
There was something...

00:26:31.110 --> 00:26:35.570
What is that...
Attracted to her.

00:26:35.650 --> 00:26:38.860
Passing the drug store,
and I saw Ruth sitting in there.

00:26:38.900 --> 00:26:40.360
I said, \"Gee,
I got to ask that girl

00:26:40.410 --> 00:26:42.870
whether she want
an ice-cream cone or not.\"

00:26:42.910 --> 00:26:45.040
I was a big spender, you know?

00:26:45.080 --> 00:26:46.540
So, I went in there, and I said,

00:26:46.580 --> 00:26:49.290
\"Ruth, can I buy you
an ice-cream cone?\"

00:26:49.370 --> 00:26:52.130
She smiled.
She said, \"Oh, no, thank you.\"

00:26:52.210 --> 00:26:55.670
My friend, Jackie, said,
\"See what I tell you? Dumb jerk.

00:26:55.760 --> 00:26:57.380
You go didn\'t even go through
junior high school,

00:26:57.470 --> 00:26:58.880
and she went to UCLA.

00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:01.890
She is not interested in you.
You are crazy!\"

00:27:01.970 --> 00:27:03.600
See:
She spoke beautiful English.

00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:07.350
He\'s still very embarrassed
about his English.

00:27:07.390 --> 00:27:11.440
She was very cool, very elegant.

00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:15.110
Tyrus is pretty emotional.

00:27:15.150 --> 00:27:18.320
Tyrus: Boy, I was really feeling
so bad so long.

00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:20.950
See: So, he kind of gave up
for a while,

00:27:20.990 --> 00:27:24.240
but he didn\'t
give up completely.

00:27:24.330 --> 00:27:26.450
Pres. Roosevelt:
My most immediate concern

00:27:26.540 --> 00:27:30.040
is in carrying out the purposes
of the great work program

00:27:30.080 --> 00:27:32.630
just enacted by the Congress.

00:27:32.670 --> 00:27:35.590
Its first objective
is to put men and women

00:27:35.670 --> 00:27:38.880
now on the relief rolls to work.

00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:43.720
♪♪

00:27:43.760 --> 00:27:49.560
Canemaker:
He was eking out a living
by doing paintings, you know,

00:27:49.600 --> 00:27:52.310
classical watercolor paintings.

00:27:56.320 --> 00:27:59.190
He was doing some
commercial work, as well.

00:28:01.900 --> 00:28:04.070
But it wasn\'t enough.

00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:07.450
Man: In the early \'30s,
when Roosevelt was elected,

00:28:07.540 --> 00:28:09.660
George Biddle came to him,
and he said,

00:28:09.750 --> 00:28:12.460
\"Listen, you know, you need
to set up an art program.\"

00:28:12.540 --> 00:28:14.180
Narrator: The sensitive fingers
of artists

00:28:14.210 --> 00:28:16.210
are poorly suited
to manual labor,

00:28:16.290 --> 00:28:18.920
and in finding suitable work
for musicians and other artists,

00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:22.340
the WPA has contributed greatly
to the culture of America.

00:28:22.430 --> 00:28:25.180
Tyrus: They pay you about
90 some-odd dollars a month,

00:28:25.260 --> 00:28:27.300
and then you just bring
in one painting.

00:28:27.350 --> 00:28:31.100
So, I did lithograph
and watercolor.

00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:35.310
Man: ♪ I put on
my walking shoes again ♪

00:28:35.350 --> 00:28:40.320
♪ Sometimes, I think
the road\'s my only friend ♪

00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:42.700
♪ Open highway
or an old great car ♪

00:28:42.740 --> 00:28:44.910
♪ Don\'t know where,
but I\'m going far ♪

00:28:44.990 --> 00:28:47.660
♪ I put on
my walking shoes again ♪

00:28:47.700 --> 00:28:49.540
Tyrus: They exhibit the painting
all over the place,

00:28:49.580 --> 00:28:52.710
for libraries and so forth,
public building.

00:28:52.790 --> 00:29:00.790
♪♪

00:29:02.800 --> 00:29:08.050
♪♪

00:29:08.140 --> 00:29:10.180
Good thing we had the WPA,
because otherwise,

00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:14.060
a lot of artists
would have starved to death.

00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:17.020
One day, I was with Eddy
and so forth.

00:29:17.060 --> 00:29:18.610
Eddy said, \"Well, gee, Tyrus.

00:29:18.690 --> 00:29:21.230
How would you like
to be a waiter?

00:29:21.320 --> 00:29:23.740
Help us out for a while?\"
I said, \"Okay.\"

00:29:23.780 --> 00:29:26.490
I think that pay was
just working on tips.

00:29:26.530 --> 00:29:30.120
See: When my grandfather was
looking for people to be waiters

00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:32.290
and waitresses, Tyrus said,

00:29:32.370 --> 00:29:34.000
\"You know,
there\'s that Ruth girl.

00:29:34.040 --> 00:29:35.210
I\'m gonna go ask her.

00:29:35.250 --> 00:29:36.960
Maybe she\'d like
to come and work here.\"

00:29:37.040 --> 00:29:38.790
Tyrus: So, we worked there
for a little bit,

00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.960
and finally I got enough nerve
to ask her again.

00:29:42.050 --> 00:29:46.550
And said, \"Gee, they\'re playing
\'David Copperfield\'

00:29:46.630 --> 00:29:48.180
over in
the Million Dollar Theatre.

00:29:48.220 --> 00:29:49.850
Would you like to join me?\"

00:29:49.890 --> 00:29:51.470
She said, \"No, I don\'t mind.\"

00:29:51.560 --> 00:29:55.060
Micawber:
In short, I have arrived.

00:29:55.100 --> 00:29:57.440
Wong:
So, that\'s the first date.

00:29:57.520 --> 00:29:59.730
Fong: He said he remembers
they were walking.

00:29:59.810 --> 00:30:02.020
That he, all of a sudden,
leaned over

00:30:02.070 --> 00:30:04.490
and kissed her real fast
and really caught her off guard.

00:30:04.570 --> 00:30:06.780
And I guess they started
laughing after that.

00:30:06.860 --> 00:30:11.160
♪♪

00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:14.410
Tyrus: I believe in fate.

00:30:14.450 --> 00:30:18.460
I think I am very lucky.

00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:21.460
Woman: What moment in your life
gave you the most joy?

00:30:21.540 --> 00:30:24.340
[ Laughs ]

00:30:24.420 --> 00:30:26.550
Tyrus: When I got married.

00:30:32.010 --> 00:30:40.010
♪♪

00:30:42.020 --> 00:30:50.020
♪♪

00:30:51.530 --> 00:30:54.200
See: It was just beginning to
come out of the Depression.

00:30:54.290 --> 00:30:58.580
He was just married,
just had his first baby.

00:30:58.660 --> 00:31:00.420
Fong: I figured, in Chinese,
if you were in married,

00:31:00.460 --> 00:31:04.420
you had to support your wife.

00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:07.920
So, I had to find a job.

00:31:08.010 --> 00:31:11.430
I didn\'t know what I could do,
except I just loved to paint.

00:31:16.270 --> 00:31:21.440
Fong:
My mother was very good about
steering him in the right way.

00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:24.020
You know,
\"Maybe you should try this.\"

00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:30.400
Fong: So, I take my painting
in there and show it them.

00:31:30.490 --> 00:31:31.990
He said, \"Well, you know,
we could give you

00:31:32.030 --> 00:31:33.870
a scholarship as an apprentice.\"

00:31:33.950 --> 00:31:36.160
I think $29 a month
or something like that,

00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:37.830
you know, to learn the trade.

00:31:37.910 --> 00:31:42.170
♪♪

00:31:42.210 --> 00:31:44.500
Solomon: Hollywood,
and animation in particular,

00:31:44.540 --> 00:31:46.880
was very much an old boys\' club

00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:49.800
during the \'30s and \'40s
and even into the \'50s.

00:31:49.840 --> 00:31:51.720
The number of minorities working

00:31:51.800 --> 00:31:54.720
in the whole film industry was
fairly small then.

00:31:54.800 --> 00:31:57.970
There were not a lot of Asian
or Asian-American actors

00:31:58.060 --> 00:31:59.890
or Africa-American actors

00:31:59.980 --> 00:32:03.020
who played much
beyond villainous

00:32:03.060 --> 00:32:05.150
Fu Manchu characters
or servants.

00:32:05.190 --> 00:32:08.190
Katrin: Take it away, please.

00:32:08.280 --> 00:32:09.690
The plate, take it away.

00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:11.740
Solomon: You find this prejudice
is repeated

00:32:11.780 --> 00:32:13.660
in a lot of the cartoons
of the era.

00:32:13.700 --> 00:32:16.780
There are lots of jokes about
things being stamped kosher,

00:32:16.870 --> 00:32:18.580
although there were
a lot of Jews

00:32:18.620 --> 00:32:22.040
working in Hollywood then.

00:32:22.120 --> 00:32:24.960
Italians had big noses
and ran food stands.

00:32:25.040 --> 00:32:28.800
Chinese jabber incomprehensible
syllables and run laundries.

00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:32.260
[ Imitating speaking Chinese ]

00:32:32.340 --> 00:32:34.720
It\'s not a pretty picture,
but it is one that reflects

00:32:34.800 --> 00:32:37.850
a good deal
of the attitudes there.

00:32:37.890 --> 00:32:40.060
Canemaker:
When you joined the Disney
Studio in those days,

00:32:40.100 --> 00:32:44.100
you had to begin
to learn the craft.

00:32:44.190 --> 00:32:46.400
Even though Pinocchio was
in production at that time,

00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:51.780
1938, Tyrus was assigned
to the Mickey Mouse shorts.

00:32:51.860 --> 00:32:55.030
They always put people,
even with a wonderful artistic

00:32:55.070 --> 00:32:58.410
background and very special
skills like Tyrus Wong,

00:32:58.490 --> 00:33:01.540
they would throw them
into the inbetweener pool.

00:33:01.580 --> 00:33:06.170
The inbetweener pool was
a pretty rough place to be.

00:33:06.250 --> 00:33:08.250
You had to take
the rough animator sketches

00:33:08.290 --> 00:33:11.300
and clean them up
very precisely.

00:33:11.380 --> 00:33:14.720
You had to do the in between
drawings between the main poses

00:33:14.760 --> 00:33:16.090
that the animators put there.

00:33:16.140 --> 00:33:18.890
It was almost
a mechanical process.

00:33:18.930 --> 00:33:21.560
Solomon: He said his eyes were
turning into tennis balls,

00:33:21.600 --> 00:33:23.480
that it was just staring
at the light box

00:33:23.560 --> 00:33:25.600
and altering drawings
a little bit.

00:33:25.640 --> 00:33:27.440
And I don\'t think he liked

00:33:27.520 --> 00:33:30.020
working with other peoples\'
drawings that much.

00:33:30.110 --> 00:33:33.030
Fong: I hated that job,
so I come home,

00:33:33.110 --> 00:33:35.900
and I told Ruth about it.

00:33:38.620 --> 00:33:41.120
She said, \"Well, what are you
going to do, then?\"

00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:45.410
I said, \"Well, I don\'t know.\"

00:33:45.500 --> 00:33:47.880
So, I discovered they
were making \"Bambi,\"

00:33:47.960 --> 00:33:49.920
about the deer in the forest.

00:33:53.630 --> 00:33:55.300
So, during the weekend,
I told myself,

00:33:55.340 --> 00:33:57.590
I can do tiny little sketches.

00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:06.600
Hahn: Here was a guy that was
painting in a really loose,

00:34:06.690 --> 00:34:08.480
atmospheric style.

00:34:08.520 --> 00:34:10.400
And detail wasn\'t as important

00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:17.030
as shape and color
and composition.

00:34:17.110 --> 00:34:20.820
Canemaker: And he brought his
own sketches to Tom Codrick,

00:34:20.870 --> 00:34:24.750
who was the main
art director on the film.

00:34:24.830 --> 00:34:28.710
That is where Codrick
discovered Tyrus Wong.

00:34:28.790 --> 00:34:30.500
Fong: He said,
\"Gee, what department?\"

00:34:30.580 --> 00:34:32.060
I told that I had been
an inbetweener.

00:34:32.090 --> 00:34:34.630
\"Maybe put you
in the wrong place.\"

00:34:34.670 --> 00:34:38.880
After Walt saw Tyrus Wong\'s
sketches for Bambi,

00:34:38.930 --> 00:34:41.680
he made the go-ahead
to Codrick to hire him.

00:34:41.720 --> 00:34:43.970
- He said, \"Gee,
\'Snow White\' was very ornate.

00:34:44.060 --> 00:34:45.560
This is really simple.

00:34:45.600 --> 00:34:47.270
I kind of like
that unusual style.

00:34:47.350 --> 00:34:50.400
Had a little bit
of oriental influence to it.\"

00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:52.520
So, he liked that.
Now I could get started.

00:34:52.560 --> 00:34:53.940
Thank you, Walt.

00:34:54.020 --> 00:35:02.020
♪♪

00:35:04.030 --> 00:35:06.370
♪♪

00:35:06.410 --> 00:35:09.960
Canemaker:
Tyrus was what they called
an inspirational sketch artist,

00:35:10.040 --> 00:35:13.880
and it was concepts
that he came up with

00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:17.510
that then could be taken on
by anybody on the crew,

00:35:17.550 --> 00:35:19.800
not just the directors

00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:23.390
but also the layout people
and the animators.

00:35:23.430 --> 00:35:25.970
It was like a domino effect.

00:35:29.060 --> 00:35:33.150
Fong: My job was, you know,
to paint as many sketches

00:35:33.230 --> 00:35:35.770
as I could, set an atmosphere.

00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:42.660
♪♪

00:35:42.740 --> 00:35:46.620
Early in the morning
when, you know, very foggy.

00:35:46.700 --> 00:35:51.040
I also had snow,
and then the fire.

00:35:51.080 --> 00:35:56.460
♪♪

00:35:56.550 --> 00:35:59.090
Goldberg: Because it is
so impressionistic,

00:35:59.170 --> 00:36:00.760
his use of light

00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:06.350
and his use of softness
helps you focus

00:36:06.430 --> 00:36:07.760
on the characters who are,

00:36:07.810 --> 00:36:10.770
by their nature,
drawn on the cells, sharp.

00:36:10.810 --> 00:36:15.480
♪♪

00:36:15.560 --> 00:36:18.730
His use of color is very,
very adventurous.

00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:22.950
He was using color to really
raise the emotional stakes

00:36:22.990 --> 00:36:25.030
of what was going on
in the story.

00:36:25.120 --> 00:36:31.500
♪♪

00:36:31.540 --> 00:36:35.380
Solomon:
\"Bambi\" stands out for being
just so singularly beautiful

00:36:35.460 --> 00:36:38.710
and having a style
that is as unique and strong

00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:42.470
as any of the great
Disney features.

00:36:42.510 --> 00:36:46.350
Part of that is
Tyrus\' personal style,

00:36:46.390 --> 00:36:47.930
and part of that is drawing

00:36:47.970 --> 00:36:51.480
on the traditions
of Chinese art.

00:36:51.520 --> 00:36:55.520
Deja: You could actually
see brushstrokes on the screen.

00:36:55.600 --> 00:36:56.730
It sort of gave you the idea

00:36:56.810 --> 00:36:59.150
of a whole bunch
of leaves or a bush.

00:36:59.230 --> 00:37:01.740
But they were brushstrokes.

00:37:04.780 --> 00:37:08.490
Canemaker: Bambi is rather
an experimental film.

00:37:08.580 --> 00:37:10.540
It has a poetry to it,

00:37:10.580 --> 00:37:15.500
a lyricism that we don\'t
see very much today.

00:37:15.580 --> 00:37:17.880
Goldberg: It\'s only really
happened a few other times

00:37:17.960 --> 00:37:20.210
where the entire studio

00:37:20.300 --> 00:37:23.090
will cleave
to one artist\'s style.

00:37:23.170 --> 00:37:25.090
It happened on
\"Sleeping Beauty.\"

00:37:25.180 --> 00:37:28.180
Walt said, \"Okay,
we\'re doing Eyvind Earle.\"

00:37:28.260 --> 00:37:30.470
But it happened on \"Bambi,\"
as well.

00:37:30.560 --> 00:37:33.060
You know, \"Okay,
we\'re doing Ty Wong.\"

00:37:33.140 --> 00:37:36.440
Tyrus: The funny thing,
you know, I never met Walt.

00:37:36.520 --> 00:37:37.900
Of the 3 1/2 years, I never.

00:37:37.940 --> 00:37:40.440
I would just see him come in for
a story meeting and so forth,

00:37:40.520 --> 00:37:43.940
but I never...
Nobody introduced me to him.

00:37:44.030 --> 00:37:45.650
Maybe because they think
I am Chinese.

00:37:45.740 --> 00:37:46.910
I don\'t know.

00:37:46.950 --> 00:37:48.490
Solomon: Though he doesn\'t like
to talk about it,

00:37:48.530 --> 00:37:50.990
Tyrus has said there were people
who did treat him differently

00:37:51.080 --> 00:37:54.750
because he was Chinese,
because he had an accent.

00:37:54.790 --> 00:37:57.920
He wasn\'t a good WASP.

00:37:57.960 --> 00:38:02.000
Canemaker:
There was jealousy, as well,
that he had moved up so quickly.

00:38:02.090 --> 00:38:04.970
Tyrus said that there were
some people that, you know,

00:38:05.050 --> 00:38:08.050
they didn\'t know why they
were taking orders from him.

00:38:08.140 --> 00:38:10.100
Indirect orders
through Tom Codrick.

00:38:10.180 --> 00:38:12.010
Wong:
He\'s very, very nice to me.

00:38:12.100 --> 00:38:13.810
He said, \"Tyrus,
don\'t get discouraged.

00:38:13.890 --> 00:38:15.390
You know, some guys, you know,

00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:17.230
this and that,
so don\'t pay attention.

00:38:17.270 --> 00:38:19.980
You just do your own work,
do your work, and so forth.\"

00:38:20.060 --> 00:38:24.070
You know, \"As long as Walt likes
your work, it\'s okay,\" you know?

00:38:24.110 --> 00:38:27.240
Canemaker: In May of 1941,

00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:31.200
about 300 employees
went out on strike at Disney.

00:38:31.240 --> 00:38:34.620
They were striking for a number
of reasons...

00:38:34.700 --> 00:38:37.000
Job security, money.

00:38:37.080 --> 00:38:40.210
Solomon:
Some of the artists didn\'t feel
they belonged in a union.

00:38:40.250 --> 00:38:42.090
That they were artists,
not workers.

00:38:42.130 --> 00:38:43.370
And many of the artists believe

00:38:43.420 --> 00:38:45.090
that hey had
a relationship with Walt

00:38:45.130 --> 00:38:47.590
that was more important
than any contract

00:38:47.630 --> 00:38:50.470
or union agreement
could possibly be.

00:38:50.550 --> 00:38:52.260
Tyrus: So, I asked
Travis Johnson, I said,

00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:54.310
\"Are you going to go in
or go out?\"

00:38:54.350 --> 00:38:56.980
So, Travis said,
\"I think I will stay in.\"

00:38:57.020 --> 00:38:59.140
So, I stayed in with him.

00:39:03.820 --> 00:39:07.280
Solomon: Although the Disney
strike took place in 1941,

00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:11.030
it was one of the watershed
moments in animation.

00:39:11.110 --> 00:39:14.830
Even in the early 2000s,
there were still artists

00:39:14.870 --> 00:39:17.120
who held grudges
over that strike.

00:39:17.160 --> 00:39:19.660
It was that bitter
and that deep.

00:39:19.750 --> 00:39:21.460
[ Cheers and applause ]

00:39:21.500 --> 00:39:23.340
When the strike vote
finally came,

00:39:23.420 --> 00:39:26.630
it was, again,
a very bitter division.

00:39:26.670 --> 00:39:29.300
The artists who stayed in
didn\'t forgive the strikers

00:39:29.380 --> 00:39:31.890
in many cases, and vice versa.

00:39:31.970 --> 00:39:34.720
Canemaker: Tyrus said that
when the strike was over,

00:39:34.810 --> 00:39:36.060
that there was resentment,

00:39:36.140 --> 00:39:37.810
even more resentment toward him

00:39:37.890 --> 00:39:39.980
because he hadn\'t
gone out on strike.

00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:47.730
Tyrus: I think I went back one
day, it was something like that.

00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:50.030
And know that I\'m out,
and that\'s it.

00:39:52.490 --> 00:39:58.040
Canemaker:
Even though there was a year
to go on \"Bambi,\" he was let go.

00:39:58.120 --> 00:39:59.370
He was fired.

00:39:59.450 --> 00:40:05.590
♪♪

00:40:05.670 --> 00:40:09.170
Tyrus was credited as one of
the background painters,

00:40:09.210 --> 00:40:11.130
but that\'s not what he did.

00:40:11.220 --> 00:40:15.010
He was that film in terms
of the design,

00:40:15.100 --> 00:40:19.140
and he was not properly
credited for it.

00:40:19.220 --> 00:40:22.230
[ Explosions
and klaxons blaring ]

00:40:27.690 --> 00:40:30.740
Announcer:
The attack was carried out
by Jap torpedo planes.

00:40:30.780 --> 00:40:34.320
The far-eastern double-crossers
had their ships and planes

00:40:34.410 --> 00:40:36.660
on the way for the sneak punch.

00:40:36.700 --> 00:40:44.250
♪♪

00:40:44.330 --> 00:40:47.000
See: The Japanese being
sent to interment camps,

00:40:47.090 --> 00:40:49.170
this is a terrible blot
on our history.

00:40:49.250 --> 00:40:53.220
But it was very difficult for
the Chinese at that time, too,

00:40:53.260 --> 00:40:55.720
particularly in the West.

00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:59.260
People would stop Chinese
in the street,

00:40:59.310 --> 00:41:00.930
throw them in the street,

00:41:01.020 --> 00:41:03.440
you know, beat them up.

00:41:03.520 --> 00:41:08.020
Tyrus: I am afraid that somebody
might mistake, you know? Yeah.

00:41:08.110 --> 00:41:09.900
So, I had my button.

00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:11.610
Usually wearing one
that says China,

00:41:11.690 --> 00:41:13.950
or that I was Chinese
or something like that.

00:41:20.910 --> 00:41:24.250
See: One of Tyrus\'
very closest friends,

00:41:24.330 --> 00:41:25.750
Benji Okubo,

00:41:25.830 --> 00:41:28.380
is sent off
to the interment camp.

00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:36.720
Although he taught painting and
did some painting in the camps,

00:41:36.760 --> 00:41:39.800
once he got out,
he never painted again.

00:41:43.270 --> 00:41:47.310
They never really came together
again as a group

00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:49.900
or as a movement after the war.

00:41:49.940 --> 00:41:54.860
So, whatever momentum they had
had just completely melted away.

00:41:54.950 --> 00:42:00.080
♪♪

00:42:00.120 --> 00:42:01.450
Tyrus: I did a lot of work

00:42:01.540 --> 00:42:03.830
that I didn\'t particularly care
for, but I had to do it.

00:42:03.910 --> 00:42:06.040
I used to pick asparagus
and so forth.

00:42:06.120 --> 00:42:09.790
It\'s hot,
and I think I was itchy.

00:42:09.830 --> 00:42:11.630
It\'s terrible.

00:42:11.670 --> 00:42:15.720
See: Tyrus had a couple
of commissions that he did,

00:42:15.800 --> 00:42:20.470
one for $5, one which was
a lot of money, $50.

00:42:20.550 --> 00:42:22.720
But you\'re not going to
live off of that.

00:42:25.980 --> 00:42:29.690
Tyrus: I was painting
a dragon down in Chinatown.

00:42:29.770 --> 00:42:33.570
Dick Kelsey, he was
lead artist at Disney.

00:42:33.650 --> 00:42:36.950
He was down in Chinatown,
he yelled, \"Hey, Tyrus!

00:42:36.990 --> 00:42:38.320
Come out!
I want to talk to you!\"

00:42:38.410 --> 00:42:41.660
He said, \"How would you like
to design Christmas cards?\"

00:42:41.740 --> 00:42:43.160
I said, \"Design Christmas cards?

00:42:43.200 --> 00:42:46.040
I don\'t know a damn thing about
Christmas cards, you know?\"

00:42:46.080 --> 00:42:49.670
So, he had to explain to me.
He said, \"Well, Christmas cards.

00:42:49.750 --> 00:42:53.090
You think about, you know,
Christmas and stockings,

00:42:53.170 --> 00:42:56.010
and gifts and so forth
and snow.\"

00:42:56.050 --> 00:43:04.050
♪♪

00:43:04.100 --> 00:43:04.970
And they zoomed up.

00:43:05.060 --> 00:43:08.890
They really sell like hotcakes.

00:43:08.980 --> 00:43:12.400
And, every year,
I put out 20 designs.

00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:14.360
Kim: My mother would do
a lot of the research,

00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:17.030
come up with ideas
on what he would paint

00:43:17.070 --> 00:43:18.990
and what kind of theme it
would be

00:43:19.030 --> 00:43:20.410
or the story
that would go with it.

00:43:20.450 --> 00:43:22.700
Tyrus: I was happy, really
happy, through Christmas time.

00:43:22.780 --> 00:43:26.290
It was all on my own,
I can go over there and paint.

00:43:26.370 --> 00:43:29.040
I was designing
for about 20 years.

00:43:29.080 --> 00:43:37.080
♪♪

00:43:39.090 --> 00:43:47.090
♪♪

00:43:49.100 --> 00:43:57.100
♪♪

00:43:59.110 --> 00:44:04.530
♪♪

00:44:04.620 --> 00:44:06.790
I think maybe, each card,

00:44:06.870 --> 00:44:09.700
I think I got
about 3 or 4 cents.

00:44:09.750 --> 00:44:13.960
♪♪

00:44:14.040 --> 00:44:15.750
Travis Johnson, I called him up.

00:44:15.790 --> 00:44:17.460
He said, \"Oh, I\'m working
at Warner Bros.

00:44:17.550 --> 00:44:20.260
Why don\'t you come
into Warner Brother?\"

00:44:20.300 --> 00:44:23.760
And I told him, I said, \"No, I\'m
not familiar with live actions.

00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:26.350
I don\'t think I could cut
the mustard and go in there.\"

00:44:26.430 --> 00:44:30.480
He said, \"I think you can do it.
You know, you can do everything.

00:44:30.560 --> 00:44:32.100
Why don\'t you bring
in your sample?\"

00:44:32.190 --> 00:44:38.400
♪♪

00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:43.450
I had about 12 sketches, so I
bring it in to Warner Bros.,

00:44:43.490 --> 00:44:47.200
to the live action studio,
to the art department.

00:44:47.280 --> 00:44:48.680
And Ralph Gilbert is
the head of it.

00:44:48.740 --> 00:44:50.080
And then they look at it
and say, \"Yeah.

00:44:50.120 --> 00:44:52.750
Young man, I like your work.

00:44:52.790 --> 00:44:54.170
I will give you two weeks\' time.

00:44:54.250 --> 00:44:57.170
If you can cut the mustard,
I will hire you.

00:44:57.250 --> 00:44:59.340
I will pay the top salary.

00:44:59.380 --> 00:45:00.960
But if you can\'t
cut the mustard,

00:45:01.010 --> 00:45:03.680
you go and shake my hand
and no hard feeling.\"

00:45:03.760 --> 00:45:05.680
Okay.

00:45:05.720 --> 00:45:08.430
Announcer: Warner Bros.
First National Studios.

00:45:08.470 --> 00:45:09.600
Back in the air again,

00:45:09.640 --> 00:45:11.220
we look down on one of
the largest studios.

00:45:11.310 --> 00:45:13.890
Musso: Known for its
James Cagney gangster films,

00:45:13.980 --> 00:45:18.610
its Errol Flynn swashbucklers,
and high-profile war dramas...

00:45:18.650 --> 00:45:20.150
Rick: I was willing to shoot
Captain Renault,

00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:21.480
and I\'m willing to shoot you.

00:45:21.530 --> 00:45:26.450
Musso: Warner Bros.
Was worlds apart from Disney.

00:45:26.490 --> 00:45:29.450
Harrington: Since the beginning
of the established studio system

00:45:29.530 --> 00:45:32.000
in the 1920s,
there were art departments

00:45:32.040 --> 00:45:34.250
that were physically located
on the lots

00:45:34.330 --> 00:45:36.670
of the motion picture studios.

00:45:36.750 --> 00:45:41.050
They hired professional artists
to be on hand

00:45:41.130 --> 00:45:42.590
throughout the year.

00:45:42.670 --> 00:45:44.010
It was a full-time job.

00:45:44.090 --> 00:45:46.720
And all of the scripts that were
being developed by the studio

00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:49.220
would come through
the art department.

00:45:49.300 --> 00:45:51.890
Musso: We would take the written
words of the script,

00:45:51.970 --> 00:45:53.390
and we would illustrate it

00:45:53.480 --> 00:45:56.390
with either big
conceptual illustrations,

00:45:56.480 --> 00:46:00.570
or we would block out the shots
within those scenes

00:46:00.610 --> 00:46:03.490
by a series of storyboards.

00:46:03.530 --> 00:46:07.570
It would be a very accurate
representation of, say,

00:46:07.660 --> 00:46:10.200
what the set or scene
was going to look like.

00:46:10.280 --> 00:46:12.040
Woman: Oh, Judge, you\'re not
walking out on us.

00:46:12.080 --> 00:46:13.580
We have got to get married.

00:46:13.660 --> 00:46:15.290
Man: You\'ve got to get married?

00:46:15.370 --> 00:46:19.540
Everybody is this room
has got to get married.

00:46:19.580 --> 00:46:22.300
Tyrus: Before they built
the set, you had an architect

00:46:22.380 --> 00:46:24.010
to draw up the floor plan

00:46:24.050 --> 00:46:27.590
and blueprint
and show it to a director.

00:46:27.680 --> 00:46:29.010
He can\'t read it.

00:46:29.050 --> 00:46:30.220
You know, it is
pretty hard to read.

00:46:30.300 --> 00:46:33.640
A blueprint doesn\'t mean
a thing to a director.

00:46:33.720 --> 00:46:37.230
So, they either built a model
called a scale model,

00:46:37.310 --> 00:46:40.020
or they also made a sketch.

00:46:40.100 --> 00:46:43.730
And my job was to paint
the sketch.

00:46:43.780 --> 00:46:45.570
Musso:
There was formula that they used

00:46:45.650 --> 00:46:48.280
where they could
actually lay camera angles,

00:46:48.360 --> 00:46:50.950
triangles down on blueprints.

00:46:51.030 --> 00:46:54.160
Plans and elevations,
quarter-inch scale

00:46:54.240 --> 00:46:55.450
or eighth-inch scale,

00:46:55.540 --> 00:46:58.080
depending on the size
of the set.

00:46:58.160 --> 00:47:00.250
Tyrus: I was scared to death,
you know?

00:47:00.290 --> 00:47:07.220
We don\'t know what, you know,
how to go about it and so forth.

00:47:07.260 --> 00:47:11.640
Man: Come closer.
I want to talk to you again.

00:47:15.560 --> 00:47:18.270
Tyrus: My first picture
was \"Background To Danger\"

00:47:18.350 --> 00:47:19.640
with George Raft.

00:47:19.690 --> 00:47:27.690
♪♪

00:47:29.700 --> 00:47:30.910
♪♪

00:47:30.950 --> 00:47:32.450
Barton: Hey.

00:47:32.530 --> 00:47:40.530
♪♪

00:47:41.460 --> 00:47:45.340
Miss Ramsey?

00:47:45.420 --> 00:47:48.970
Ramsey: Mr. Barton!

00:47:49.010 --> 00:47:51.630
Tyrus: For the first few months,
I really struggled.

00:47:51.680 --> 00:47:53.550
So, that was quite a challenge

00:47:53.640 --> 00:47:56.510
to quickly learn
anything new, you know?

00:47:56.600 --> 00:47:59.770
But taking time, take time.

00:47:59.810 --> 00:48:06.020
This is a sketch for the picture
\"Harper\" with Paul Newman.

00:48:06.110 --> 00:48:08.650
Showing this, you know,
I had to make this sketch

00:48:08.740 --> 00:48:09.860
to show to the director,

00:48:09.940 --> 00:48:12.160
you know, so he can go in
and build the set.

00:48:12.200 --> 00:48:15.490
Woman:
This is the astrology bit, but
obviously without much success.

00:48:15.530 --> 00:48:17.580
Harper:
Any astrologist in particular?

00:48:17.660 --> 00:48:19.260
Tyrus: This one is from
\"The Wild Bunch.\"

00:48:19.290 --> 00:48:22.870
By Sam Peckinpah, the director.

00:48:30.260 --> 00:48:33.510
Musso:
For the most part, you really
had to work on everything.

00:48:33.590 --> 00:48:36.140
We just didn\'t question
what they gave us.

00:48:36.180 --> 00:48:37.560
We just did it.

00:48:37.640 --> 00:48:40.520
Harrington: He has got some
incredible beautiful drawings

00:48:40.560 --> 00:48:43.480
for an unrealized Warner
Brothers motion picture

00:48:43.520 --> 00:48:45.480
that was meant to be a musical
that was influenced

00:48:45.520 --> 00:48:46.900
by Salvador Dali.

00:48:46.980 --> 00:48:50.780
Very surreal,
very unusual colors.

00:48:50.860 --> 00:48:52.530
He was trained to be able
to do anything,

00:48:52.610 --> 00:48:53.950
and he could do anything.

00:48:54.030 --> 00:48:55.110
And he followed his assignments.

00:48:55.200 --> 00:48:57.490
And his assignments
were to be flexible,

00:48:57.580 --> 00:49:01.500
innovative, and work to
the service of that screenplay.

00:49:01.540 --> 00:49:03.620
And that is what he did.

00:49:06.040 --> 00:49:08.380
Man: I hope I haven\'t
inconvenienced you.

00:49:08.460 --> 00:49:10.460
[ Explosions ]

00:49:19.100 --> 00:49:23.560
Helen:
♪ Someday he\'ll come along ♪

00:49:23.600 --> 00:49:25.650
♪ The man I love ♪

00:49:25.730 --> 00:49:27.400
[ Dogs barking ]

00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:31.530
Woman: Four!

00:49:31.570 --> 00:49:33.240
[ Laughs ]

00:49:33.320 --> 00:49:37.570
♪♪

00:49:37.620 --> 00:49:42.950
♪♪

00:49:43.040 --> 00:49:49.290
♪♪

00:49:49.380 --> 00:49:50.420
Harper: Hey!

00:49:50.500 --> 00:49:53.670
Woman: Oh, I\'m sorry, baby!

00:49:53.760 --> 00:49:58.180
Judy: He needed you, maybe.
But so do I, Jim.

00:49:58.260 --> 00:50:01.640
Harrington: When you look
at work by Tyrus Wong

00:50:01.720 --> 00:50:03.770
and some of the other really,
you know, talented

00:50:03.850 --> 00:50:05.020
motion-picture illustrators,

00:50:05.100 --> 00:50:09.270
they almost end up making
the look of the movie

00:50:09.360 --> 00:50:10.400
because they are the ones

00:50:10.440 --> 00:50:11.880
who are getting
the first crack at it

00:50:11.940 --> 00:50:14.650
and saying to the director,
\"Here\'s a group of concepts,

00:50:14.740 --> 00:50:17.950
and here\'s a group of ideas.
Do you like this?\"

00:50:18.030 --> 00:50:21.330
And, sometimes, people would
really get hooked on the visual

00:50:21.410 --> 00:50:22.620
that they were seeing,

00:50:22.660 --> 00:50:25.750
and that would help dictate
what the atmosphere

00:50:25.790 --> 00:50:28.750
and the environment would
actually end up looking like.

00:50:28.790 --> 00:50:36.790
♪♪

00:50:38.800 --> 00:50:46.800
♪♪

00:50:48.810 --> 00:50:52.400
Tyrus: I had more fun over
in Warner Bros. than Disney.

00:50:52.480 --> 00:50:54.480
We got a bigger lot.

00:50:54.530 --> 00:50:56.280
I could go down to visit

00:50:56.320 --> 00:50:59.280
where they paint
the backgrounds and so forth.

00:50:59.320 --> 00:51:01.160
One of the guys said,
\"How\'s the food,

00:51:01.240 --> 00:51:03.280
you know, at the café?\"

00:51:03.330 --> 00:51:04.490
I said, \"I don\'t know.\"

00:51:04.540 --> 00:51:05.830
He said, \"What do you mean?

00:51:05.910 --> 00:51:08.620
Didn\'t you work in the cafeteria
or the restaurant?\"

00:51:08.710 --> 00:51:10.630
I said, \"No,
I work in the art department.\"

00:51:10.670 --> 00:51:12.380
He was surprised.

00:51:12.460 --> 00:51:16.710
He said, \"You work
in the art department?\"

00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:18.630
Musso: Every once in a while,
Jack Warner would say,

00:51:18.720 --> 00:51:20.220
\"Hey, we\'re going
two or three years.

00:51:20.300 --> 00:51:22.510
We\'ve got all these shows
in a can.

00:51:22.550 --> 00:51:24.970
Why am I paying this big staff?\"

00:51:25.060 --> 00:51:28.310
And he would shut down the
studio for three or four months.

00:51:28.350 --> 00:51:31.270
Harrington: Tyrus was loaned out
to Republic Pictures on occasion

00:51:31.350 --> 00:51:35.780
and worked on a number
of John Wayne movies.

00:51:35.860 --> 00:51:41.990
♪♪

00:51:42.030 --> 00:51:44.330
Kim: I just remember him
telling stories more recently

00:51:44.370 --> 00:51:45.950
that Republic was really bad,

00:51:46.040 --> 00:51:48.450
that they weren\'t
very nice to him.

00:51:48.540 --> 00:51:52.040
Tyrus: The very, very first day,
the head of department,

00:51:52.080 --> 00:51:55.750
he come in here.

00:51:55.840 --> 00:51:57.380
He introduced himself.

00:51:57.420 --> 00:51:59.050
He said...
You know what he said?

00:51:59.130 --> 00:52:02.340
\"I\'m a Swede. You are a Chink.\"

00:52:05.140 --> 00:52:08.140
I was shocked.

00:52:08.220 --> 00:52:09.930
I was really shocked.

00:52:10.020 --> 00:52:13.270
I couldn\'t...
\"Did I hear that right?\"

00:52:13.350 --> 00:52:16.980
It finally dawned on me...
He called me a Chink.

00:52:17.070 --> 00:52:19.900
Woman: How were you able just
to keep on going?

00:52:19.940 --> 00:52:23.450
Tyrus: Well, because, you know,
you had a family to support.

00:52:23.530 --> 00:52:25.120
Yeah.

00:52:25.200 --> 00:52:27.030
We had three girls.

00:52:27.080 --> 00:52:29.750
They\'re very
wonderful daughters.

00:52:29.790 --> 00:52:33.120
That is my greatest
achievement, I say.

00:52:36.420 --> 00:52:40.420
When we are looking for a house,
they look at me.

00:52:40.460 --> 00:52:43.180
You know that we are Asian.

00:52:43.260 --> 00:52:46.800
She said, \"Oh, I\'m sorry.
The house is already sold.\"

00:52:46.850 --> 00:52:48.510
And then, in a month,
go back there.

00:52:48.600 --> 00:52:50.600
The sign was still there.

00:52:54.100 --> 00:52:58.610
Stern:
In Los Angeles, deeds were
allowed to say no blacks,

00:52:58.650 --> 00:53:02.990
no Chinese,
no Jews, no Armenians.

00:53:03.030 --> 00:53:05.530
I mean, this was
all utterly explicit.

00:53:05.620 --> 00:53:11.250
See:
The Chinese, for a long time,
could only live in Chinatown.

00:53:11.290 --> 00:53:16.210
It wasn\'t until 1948 that the
laws were changed that someone

00:53:16.290 --> 00:53:19.500
who was of Chinese
descent could own property

00:53:19.590 --> 00:53:21.710
in the state of California.

00:53:25.590 --> 00:53:28.260
Kim: Before we moved out
to Sunland, he had the Realtor

00:53:28.350 --> 00:53:29.670
go knock on doors
of the neighbors

00:53:29.720 --> 00:53:32.560
and ask them how they feel
about a Chinese family moving in

00:53:32.640 --> 00:53:36.480
because if they don\'t want us
to move in then, you know,

00:53:36.560 --> 00:53:38.270
obviously wasn\'t going
to move there.

00:53:38.360 --> 00:53:40.520
They both said, \"No, we don\'t
have a problem with that.

00:53:40.570 --> 00:53:42.820
We have Chinese friends.\"

00:53:42.860 --> 00:53:44.200
So, we moved in.

00:53:44.240 --> 00:53:45.400
Not that the whole
neighborhood was that way,

00:53:45.490 --> 00:53:47.660
but those two people were.

00:53:47.700 --> 00:53:54.870
♪♪

00:53:54.960 --> 00:53:56.710
Kay: So, once we moved out
to Sunland, of course,

00:53:56.790 --> 00:53:59.880
we were far removed
from any Asians.

00:53:59.920 --> 00:54:01.670
So, once a year,

00:54:01.710 --> 00:54:05.470
we would go to the Chinese
congregational church.

00:54:05.510 --> 00:54:06.760
Kim: I think, in those days,

00:54:06.840 --> 00:54:08.220
they wanted you to meet
other Chinese kids

00:54:08.300 --> 00:54:10.640
so you might marry
another Chinese kid.

00:54:10.680 --> 00:54:12.560
Somehow, that didn\'t click.

00:54:12.640 --> 00:54:18.150
When they sent us to Chinese
school to learn Chinese,

00:54:18.190 --> 00:54:19.560
I was, like, so bored.

00:54:19.650 --> 00:54:21.070
I didn\'t want to do it.

00:54:21.110 --> 00:54:25.030
I think I only got to page 9
in the book, and I was over it.

00:54:25.070 --> 00:54:28.280
Fong: One time,
we walked as a family

00:54:28.360 --> 00:54:29.700
up into the town of Sunland.

00:54:29.780 --> 00:54:31.490
And I remember a car driving by,

00:54:31.580 --> 00:54:34.160
and they yelled out
some sort of racial something.

00:54:34.250 --> 00:54:36.330
I remember my dad
just turning around

00:54:36.370 --> 00:54:39.920
and giving them the finger.

00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:41.800
I don\'t know if was Tai-Ling
or Kim that said,

00:54:41.840 --> 00:54:42.920
\"Well, what was that?\"

00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:45.260
And I said, \"Oh,
they were just waving at us.\"

00:54:48.680 --> 00:54:52.050
My dad always taught us,
and my mom, too,

00:54:52.100 --> 00:54:56.680
that whatever you do is going to
reflect on all Chinese.

00:54:56.770 --> 00:55:00.100
And so, you have to be
on your best behavior.

00:55:00.190 --> 00:55:04.150
One of the driving trips that we
took, when we were in a motel,

00:55:04.230 --> 00:55:05.900
they would always
have us clean up.

00:55:05.940 --> 00:55:08.570
You know, not make the bed,
but at least straighten it up

00:55:08.650 --> 00:55:10.530
because they said,
if we make a mess,

00:55:10.610 --> 00:55:15.870
they are going to think that
all Chinese people are messy.

00:55:15.910 --> 00:55:18.910
I think my mother was very good
about keeping us occupied

00:55:18.960 --> 00:55:21.630
so that he could do his art.

00:55:21.670 --> 00:55:24.300
And I think she was very
supportive that way, you know,

00:55:24.340 --> 00:55:27.970
that whatever
he had to do had to be done.

00:55:28.050 --> 00:55:30.430
And we weren\'t to bother him
at that time.

00:55:30.510 --> 00:55:31.720
Tai-Ling: He did work a lot.

00:55:31.760 --> 00:55:33.800
I mean, when he wasn\'t working
at the studios,

00:55:33.850 --> 00:55:36.390
or even when he was, he was
working on Christmas cards.

00:55:36.430 --> 00:55:42.730
So, he was working...
After dinner, he would go work.

00:55:42.770 --> 00:55:46.230
I don\'t remember that he spent
a lot of time with family.

00:55:48.280 --> 00:55:49.530
Stern: Well, we can look
at more things

00:55:49.610 --> 00:55:51.570
maybe you haven\'t seen
in a long time.

00:55:51.660 --> 00:55:53.990
Something else, which I think
you may have forgotten.

00:55:54.080 --> 00:55:58.660
When Tyrus was a student
at Otis, one of his classmates

00:55:58.750 --> 00:56:02.500
went to work for the
Winfield Pottery in Pasadena.

00:56:02.580 --> 00:56:04.500
She asked Tyrus if he would

00:56:04.590 --> 00:56:07.630
paint dinnerware
for the company.

00:56:07.710 --> 00:56:10.220
In the early post-war period,

00:56:10.300 --> 00:56:15.850
they developed a style of home
decor called Chinese-modern.

00:56:15.890 --> 00:56:19.520
And Tyrus\' dinnerware
would fit perfectly

00:56:19.560 --> 00:56:22.690
in a home with that style.

00:56:22.730 --> 00:56:28.480
♪♪

00:56:28.530 --> 00:56:31.320
This style of painting,
it\'s like watercolor.

00:56:31.360 --> 00:56:35.280
You can\'t go back
and correct it.

00:56:35.370 --> 00:56:39.620
So, every stroke is
the first go.

00:56:42.500 --> 00:56:43.540
It\'s not just skill.

00:56:43.620 --> 00:56:45.670
There\'s something
really beyond it.

00:56:45.750 --> 00:56:48.130
It is skill and inspiration.

00:56:48.170 --> 00:56:53.430
♪♪

00:56:53.510 --> 00:56:56.010
Tyrus: I was still working at
Warner Bros. and the job,

00:56:56.050 --> 00:56:59.680
sometimes paint on Saturday,
or it was at night.

00:56:59.720 --> 00:57:01.310
After I filmed
with Warner Bros. Studio,

00:57:01.350 --> 00:57:03.390
I went over and painted

00:57:03.440 --> 00:57:05.230
until about 10:00 at night
or something.

00:57:05.310 --> 00:57:07.730
Stern: This came from
Mark Peterson in Fort Worth.

00:57:07.820 --> 00:57:10.900
Tyrus: Geez.

00:57:10.990 --> 00:57:12.360
Boy, they\'ve really
traveled a long way.

00:57:12.450 --> 00:57:15.030
[ Laughter ]

00:57:15.070 --> 00:57:18.620
I didn\'t realize that I had done
so many of them.

00:57:23.120 --> 00:57:29.380
♪♪

00:57:29.460 --> 00:57:34.590
Stern: There is, in Tyrus\' work,
a grace and an ease

00:57:34.680 --> 00:57:38.600
that made his work
really accessible

00:57:38.640 --> 00:57:41.930
to a large part
of the American public.

00:57:42.020 --> 00:57:44.730
It is clearly
from another culture.

00:57:44.770 --> 00:57:49.400
At the same time, it doesn\'t
seem strange or foreign.

00:57:49.440 --> 00:57:51.690
Woman: I was wondering
if you could sign it for me.

00:57:51.780 --> 00:57:56.740
Stern: I have seen dinnerware
in advertisements for silverware

00:57:56.820 --> 00:57:59.580
where what the ad
is selling silverware,

00:57:59.620 --> 00:58:02.410
but the dinnerware
is Tyrus\' painted work.

00:58:02.500 --> 00:58:04.910
So, you know that his work

00:58:04.960 --> 00:58:11.590
was seen as part
of the American experience.

00:58:11.670 --> 00:58:13.710
Yeah, do you remember
any of this?

00:58:13.760 --> 00:58:15.260
Musso:
This was the New York street.

00:58:15.340 --> 00:58:16.840
Tyrus: Oh, yeah.

00:58:16.930 --> 00:58:19.640
I think I remember that thing.

00:58:19.680 --> 00:58:21.140
Musso: Yeah, well, this theatre
right here

00:58:21.220 --> 00:58:23.520
they used in
\"Yankee Doodle Dandy.\"

00:58:23.600 --> 00:58:25.060
Tyrus: Yeah!

00:58:25.100 --> 00:58:26.980
Yeah, I think that\'s about same.

00:58:27.020 --> 00:58:31.940
Musso: I was hired by Warner
Bros. around November of 1964.

00:58:31.980 --> 00:58:36.200
And, of course, I was a new kid
on the block.

00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:39.370
The first person
I got to know was Ty.

00:58:39.450 --> 00:58:42.450
Ty was really a mentor to me.

00:58:42.490 --> 00:58:46.040
Around 1967,

00:58:46.120 --> 00:58:50.540
Jack Warner started negotiating
to sell Warner Bros.

00:58:50.630 --> 00:58:54.050
And he sold it to Seven Arts.

00:58:54.130 --> 00:58:57.680
And, in so doing,
there was a big layoff.

00:59:00.590 --> 00:59:04.640
- Tyrus: My desk was about here.
- Musso: Yeah, right.

00:59:04.720 --> 00:59:07.020
And you had a gallon of water
about here

00:59:07.100 --> 00:59:08.890
with all your brushes.

00:59:08.980 --> 00:59:10.270
Tyrus: Yeah. Yeah, right.

00:59:10.350 --> 00:59:12.270
Musso: With fewer films shot
on the lots,

00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:15.990
the studios began to downsize
all their departments.

00:59:16.030 --> 00:59:19.320
Studios were making deals
with independent producers,

00:59:19.360 --> 00:59:20.700
and it was up to the producers

00:59:20.780 --> 00:59:23.120
to hire their own
production staff.

00:59:23.160 --> 00:59:26.080
So, consequently, you were much
more of a freelancer

00:59:26.160 --> 00:59:28.210
than you were before.

00:59:28.250 --> 00:59:30.710
Ty never got into that.

00:59:30.790 --> 00:59:35.380
Ty took the layoff and never
really came back to the studio.

00:59:35.460 --> 00:59:39.380
♪♪

00:59:39.470 --> 00:59:41.970
Harrington:
When you look at this work,
it is kind of remarkable

00:59:42.010 --> 00:59:44.930
that one person
is actually responsible

00:59:45.010 --> 00:59:47.770
for that body of work.

00:59:47.850 --> 00:59:55.850
♪♪

00:59:57.860 --> 01:00:05.530
♪♪

01:00:05.580 --> 01:00:08.250
Tyrus: Disney asked me to work
on \"Mulan,\" you know?

01:00:08.290 --> 01:00:12.460
I said, \"No.
I\'m not interested anymore.\"

01:00:12.540 --> 01:00:14.210
Even at Warners, they asked me
to go back there.

01:00:14.290 --> 01:00:16.880
I don\'t want to go back there
if they ask me.

01:00:16.920 --> 01:00:19.510
It doesn\'t mean anything
to me anymore.

01:00:19.550 --> 01:00:27.550
♪♪

01:00:29.560 --> 01:00:35.730
♪♪

01:00:35.770 --> 01:00:38.360
Mak: Tyrus tells a story
about his wife

01:00:38.400 --> 01:00:39.820
telling him to go fly a kite

01:00:39.900 --> 01:00:41.400
because he was
bugging her one day.

01:00:41.450 --> 01:00:43.740
He was retired.
He didn\'t have anything to do.

01:00:43.820 --> 01:00:47.240
Woman: What attracted you
to the kite-making?

01:00:47.280 --> 01:00:49.580
Tyrus:
Well, because it is different.

01:00:49.620 --> 01:00:52.620
Yeah.
Different medium.

01:00:55.790 --> 01:00:58.090
Mak: He actually got books
from the library

01:00:58.130 --> 01:01:01.720
about Chinese kite-building,

01:01:01.760 --> 01:01:05.430
and so he just kind of
taught himself how to do it.

01:01:09.310 --> 01:01:14.350
He not only learned how to build
the kites in a traditional vein,

01:01:14.440 --> 01:01:16.650
but he also learned
to reinterpret it

01:01:16.730 --> 01:01:19.360
through his own
creative sensibilities.

01:01:21.440 --> 01:01:23.150
Tyrus: I built this butterfly.

01:01:23.240 --> 01:01:25.160
It just flies up
and stands still.

01:01:25.240 --> 01:01:28.030
I said, \"Gee, that doesn\'t give
me a feeling of a butterfly.\"

01:01:28.120 --> 01:01:30.490
So, I put elastic in front of it

01:01:30.540 --> 01:01:32.960
so that when the wind hits it
it springs back, you know?

01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:34.080
It bounces back like that,

01:01:34.160 --> 01:01:35.960
so that thing
would flapping like that.

01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:38.090
So, the butterfly would be
flapping like that, see?

01:01:38.130 --> 01:01:41.880
So, it catches the character
of a butterfly.

01:01:46.180 --> 01:01:49.470
Mak:
When I look at Tyrus\' kites,
I think, \"Of course somebody

01:01:49.560 --> 01:01:51.930
who is an artist
made these kites,\"

01:01:52.020 --> 01:01:55.850
because he thought about the
mechanics of what he was making

01:01:55.940 --> 01:01:57.650
and how they would look

01:01:57.690 --> 01:01:59.980
when they are animated
by the wind.

01:02:00.020 --> 01:02:02.690
How they would look
against a blue sky.

01:02:02.780 --> 01:02:10.780
♪♪

01:02:12.790 --> 01:02:16.580
♪♪

01:02:16.670 --> 01:02:19.170
See: He loved Ruth...
Loved, loved Ruth.

01:02:19.250 --> 01:02:23.340
And they had such
an incredible marriage.

01:02:23.380 --> 01:02:25.420
Fong: I can remember them
kidding around

01:02:25.510 --> 01:02:29.720
a lot together and laughing.

01:02:29.800 --> 01:02:31.560
They would go out with friends.

01:02:31.640 --> 01:02:33.850
Tai-Ling: In beautiful weather,
they\'d like to get in the car

01:02:33.930 --> 01:02:36.230
and drive someplace.

01:02:36.310 --> 01:02:39.400
Fong: He and my mom
would talk a lot.

01:02:42.940 --> 01:02:46.360
My mother was more articulate
about things.

01:02:46.450 --> 01:02:48.200
Kim: She would be the one
to type the letters,

01:02:48.240 --> 01:02:49.700
do the communication.

01:02:49.780 --> 01:02:51.280
She would organize
my dad\'s stuff

01:02:51.370 --> 01:02:53.120
and take charge of his affairs.

01:02:53.200 --> 01:02:55.660
It was great because my dad
could be allowed to paint

01:02:55.750 --> 01:02:57.660
and be creative.

01:02:57.710 --> 01:02:59.750
He really valued her.

01:02:59.830 --> 01:03:07.830
♪♪

01:03:09.840 --> 01:03:17.840
♪♪

01:03:19.850 --> 01:03:27.850
♪♪

01:03:28.110 --> 01:03:32.620
My mom was sick for a long time.

01:03:32.660 --> 01:03:37.290
She had a type of dementia
that was related to strokes.

01:03:37.370 --> 01:03:40.250
And my dad just took care of her
on a day-to-day basis...

01:03:40.290 --> 01:03:42.130
Everything.

01:03:42.210 --> 01:03:45.300
Tai-Ling: He was working so hard
to try to help her,

01:03:45.380 --> 01:03:48.090
and we actually had to have
a hospital bed in there

01:03:48.130 --> 01:03:50.380
so he could help lift her off.

01:03:50.470 --> 01:03:54.260
He had to physically lift
her off the bed.

01:03:54.300 --> 01:03:58.270
Sometimes she would
be cross with him,

01:03:58.310 --> 01:04:01.560
and so then he would
feel very hurt.

01:04:03.610 --> 01:04:07.110
We had to keep telling him
that it\'s not her.

01:04:07.150 --> 01:04:10.780
It\'s the stroke that is talking.

01:04:10.820 --> 01:04:13.910
Tai-Ling: She didn\'t recognize
any of us.

01:04:13.950 --> 01:04:16.740
We would call him Dad,
so she would call him Dad.

01:04:16.830 --> 01:04:24.830
♪♪

01:04:25.090 --> 01:04:27.460
We went to
the convalescent hospital,

01:04:27.500 --> 01:04:31.300
all of us together to see her,
and she had already died.

01:04:31.340 --> 01:04:37.060
[ Voice breaking ]
And to see him crying there,
that was a really sad moment.

01:04:37.140 --> 01:04:45.140
♪♪

01:04:46.610 --> 01:04:48.860
Tyrus:
You know, when you\'re living
with a person so many years,

01:04:48.940 --> 01:04:52.400
you know, I still miss her.

01:04:52.490 --> 01:04:53.910
Yeah.

01:04:53.990 --> 01:05:01.990
♪♪

01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:12.000
♪♪

01:05:14.010 --> 01:05:22.010
♪♪

01:05:24.020 --> 01:05:29.780
♪♪

01:05:46.080 --> 01:05:49.380
Tai-Ling:
When my mom passed away,
I thought, \"I don\'t know

01:05:49.420 --> 01:05:52.340
if Dad\'s every going to recover
from this.\"

01:06:13.990 --> 01:06:21.990
♪♪

01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:32.000
♪♪

01:06:34.010 --> 01:06:42.010
♪♪

01:06:44.020 --> 01:06:52.020
♪♪

01:06:54.030 --> 01:07:02.030
♪♪

01:07:04.040 --> 01:07:08.420
♪♪

01:07:08.460 --> 01:07:10.750
Tyrus: Well, I hope it flies.
[ Laughs ]

01:07:26.560 --> 01:07:29.060
Kim: You ready to go, Dad?

01:07:29.140 --> 01:07:37.140
♪♪

01:07:38.740 --> 01:07:41.360
Tom: One of the most
outstanding pioneers

01:07:41.410 --> 01:07:44.490
of our Chinese-American
community here in Los Angeles

01:07:44.530 --> 01:07:46.330
was Tyrus Wong.

01:07:46.410 --> 01:07:51.630
Not only was he noted here
in our Chinatown community,

01:07:51.670 --> 01:07:55.170
but he bridged the gap
of the old culture

01:07:55.250 --> 01:07:58.470
with the new culture

01:07:58.510 --> 01:08:01.380
and broadened it
to the film industry,

01:08:01.470 --> 01:08:03.800
where it has gone
all over the world.

01:08:03.890 --> 01:08:07.140
And thank you again,
and congratulations.

01:08:07.180 --> 01:08:09.430
[ Applause ]

01:08:09.520 --> 01:08:11.390
Tyrus:
I wish my pa and ma were here.

01:08:11.480 --> 01:08:13.690
[ Laughter ]

01:08:13.730 --> 01:08:17.190
See: In recent years,
especially after he turned 90,

01:08:17.280 --> 01:08:21.200
Tyrus started being recognized
by many, many different groups.

01:08:21.280 --> 01:08:29.280
♪♪

01:08:30.580 --> 01:08:32.100
Kim: He\'s probably proudest
of the fact

01:08:32.170 --> 01:08:35.210
that he was successful,
and he was Chinese,

01:08:35.290 --> 01:08:38.880
and that he managed to fight
through the racial barrier

01:08:38.920 --> 01:08:42.050
that existed back then.

01:08:42.130 --> 01:08:44.220
Tyrus: I have gone through
so many different things,

01:08:44.260 --> 01:08:49.600
like, you know, different
presidents and so forth.

01:08:49.680 --> 01:08:51.060
But I think,
well, what the heck.

01:08:51.140 --> 01:08:58.070
I mean, you know, I\'m not going
to be thinking about it.

01:08:58.150 --> 01:09:00.610
That\'s not good for my health.

01:09:00.690 --> 01:09:08.690
♪♪

01:09:10.040 --> 01:09:12.370
I think luck and hard work.

01:09:15.210 --> 01:09:18.630
Luck and hard work.

01:09:18.710 --> 01:09:20.340
I wouldn\'t say talent.

01:09:20.420 --> 01:09:22.550
I am not that talented.

01:09:22.590 --> 01:09:25.340
You know, hard work.

01:09:26.760 --> 01:09:30.930
Disney:
Our next legend had a brief
but impactful Disney career.

01:09:30.970 --> 01:09:34.770
His name is Tyrus Wong,
and he only worked at the studio

01:09:34.810 --> 01:09:36.650
for three years,
and during that time,

01:09:36.690 --> 01:09:40.110
devoted himself
to just one movie, \"Bambi.\"

01:09:40.190 --> 01:09:41.990
But what a film it was.

01:09:42.070 --> 01:09:46.410
Felix: For that one
contribution, he is legendary

01:09:46.450 --> 01:09:49.030
and constantly on the minds
of everyone here.

01:09:49.120 --> 01:09:57.120
♪♪

01:09:57.500 --> 01:10:02.630
Labrie:
This exhibition is exciting
and poignant for this area.

01:10:02.710 --> 01:10:05.680
He came to the United States
through Angel Island,

01:10:05.760 --> 01:10:07.550
which is right across the bay.

01:10:07.640 --> 01:10:11.260
Amongst his colleagues
and many artists to this day,

01:10:11.310 --> 01:10:12.680
they consider his art

01:10:12.770 --> 01:10:15.140
as some of the most exquisite
and beautiful art

01:10:15.190 --> 01:10:17.560
that was produced
at the Disney Studios.

01:10:17.650 --> 01:10:23.150
♪♪

01:10:23.190 --> 01:10:25.950
Solomon:
He is very, very much admired.

01:10:25.990 --> 01:10:27.610
He has been much
more influential

01:10:27.700 --> 01:10:30.950
than he would ever acknowledge
or probably even realizes.

01:10:31.030 --> 01:10:33.540
Docter:
Pretty good work. I think
you have a future. [ Laughs ]

01:10:36.080 --> 01:10:39.790
Mak: Tyrus\' story is like
an incredible flower

01:10:39.880 --> 01:10:44.550
growing amidst concrete
and stone.

01:10:44.630 --> 01:10:50.180
It is so unlikely, and that
is what makes it so valuable.

01:10:50.260 --> 01:10:51.680
Hahn: I think sometimes we get
blinders on, and we think,

01:10:51.760 --> 01:10:53.810
\"Oh, I have to be
a great painter,\"

01:10:53.850 --> 01:10:56.020
or, \"I have to be
an amazing animator,\"

01:10:56.100 --> 01:10:57.190
or something like that.

01:10:57.230 --> 01:10:59.440
When you look
at Tyrus Wong\'s work,

01:10:59.520 --> 01:11:02.270
there is tremendous
diversity to it.

01:11:02.360 --> 01:11:04.530
You know, his ceramic artwork,
his greeting cards

01:11:04.570 --> 01:11:07.700
or his painting at Disney
or his Warner Bros. work

01:11:07.740 --> 01:11:09.570
or his kite-building.

01:11:09.660 --> 01:11:10.950
I think all of those are
hand-and-glove, and I think

01:11:11.030 --> 01:11:12.910
all of those relate
to each other.

01:11:12.990 --> 01:11:16.000
It\'s almost a philosophy of
how he wants to live his life.

01:11:16.040 --> 01:11:24.040
♪♪

01:11:26.050 --> 01:11:34.050
♪♪

01:11:36.060 --> 01:11:44.060
♪♪

01:11:46.070 --> 01:11:54.070
♪♪

01:11:56.080 --> 01:12:03.250
♪♪

01:12:09.880 --> 01:12:17.880
♪♪

01:12:19.890 --> 01:12:27.730
♪♪

01:12:43.000 --> 01:12:51.000
♪♪

01:12:53.010 --> 01:13:01.010
♪♪

01:13:03.020 --> 01:13:11.020
♪♪

01:13:13.030 --> 01:13:21.030
♪♪

01:13:23.040 --> 01:13:31.040
♪♪

01:13:33.050 --> 01:13:39.060
♪♪

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Tyrus

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