Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: No known aliases

Gender: N/A

Place of birth: Cedar Rapids - Iowa - USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 5

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

An employee of The Walt Disney Company for more than 65 years, during which saw the creation of nearly every Disney animated feature and theme park. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Hench attended numerous art and creative schools across the country, including the Art Students League of New York, the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, and the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. Starting in 1939 as a story artist, he weaved his way through the animation department working in areas including backgrounds, layout and art direction, effects animation and special effects. Hench was respected by Walt Disney as one of the studio's most gifted artists and teamed him with Salvador Dalí on the animated short Destino, a project begun in 1945 that was not completed and released until 2003. Hench was also Disney's "official portrait artist" of Mickey Mouse, painting the company's portraits for Mickey's 25th, 50th, 60th, 70th, and 75th birthdays. By 1954, Hench was in the studio's live action department, as lead developer of the hydraulic giant squid in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, helping to win anAcademy Award for Best Special Effects for the film. Afterward, he moved to WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering), to design attractions for Disneyland. Hench went on to design many iconic elements for Disney's theme parks, including Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, Space Mountain, and contributed to attractions such as the Mickey Mouse Revue. Because of his resemblance to Walt Disney and his frequent visits to Disney theme parks, he was often asked to sign autographs and pose for pictures with park visitors who mistook Hench for Disney himself. - Wikipedia

Most Famous Work

Peter Pan
Average
7

Peter Pan

(1953) Conceptual Design
The Three Caballeros
Average
6

The Three Caballeros

(1944) Layout
Destino
Average
7

Destino

(2003) Storyboard
From All of Us to All of You
Average
8
The Disneyland Story
Average
8

The Disneyland Story

(1954) Special Effects

Acting

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
2003 Storyboard
Year Role Movie/Tv

Art

Year Role Movie/Tv
1958 Other
1953 Conceptual Design
Year Role Movie/Tv

Crew

Year Role Movie/Tv
1954 Special Effects
Year Role Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1944 Layout
Year Role Movie/Tv

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