S. Ann Sullivan: Someone to Notice
Throughout the history of the Walt Disney Studios, there have been many “unsung” talents. From painter Tyrus Wong, captured feelings in his background paintings for Bambi (1942) to actress Verna Felton who was re-hired by the studio more than any other actor to lend her voice to various animated movies (i.e. Dumbo (1941), Cinderella (1950), The Jungle Book (1967), there were many others who contributed wonderful things for the work of the studio. Unless you read all of the end credits, you never even saw their names. One who deserves some attention is Sara “S.” Ann Sullivan.
Sara Ann McNeese was born on April 10th, 1929 in Fargo, North Dakota. As an adult, she relocated with her sister to California intent on pursuing a career as a painter. She enrolled at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California where she ultimately graduated and afterwards, was fortunate enough to land a job in the animation paint lab at Disney Studios as a cel painter (who is someone who draws objects on paper and applies them to celluloid, or “cel” as it’s known in the industry). Not long after working on her first film, Peter Pan (1953), she left her job and married Kevin Sullivan, starting a family which would grow to include four children: two daughters, Shannon and Liz, and two sons, Joe and Tom. Sadly, her marriage dissolved in the early 1970s, but she was determined to get back to work at Disney.
She originally restarted her career at Hanna-Barbera productions and painted cels for the short film Freedom 2000 (1974) and the show The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977-1978). Ultimately, she was rehired by Disney in the mid-1980s and began working in the paint lab again on cels for films like Oliver & Company (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989) and the short The Prince and the Pauper (1990), which starred Mickey Mouse. She also briefly worked in the paint labs at Warner Bros., Paramount, and Fox for the films Rover Dangerfield (1991), Cool World (1992), and The Pagemaster (1994).
The rest of her career was at Disney. She continued painting cells for Disney greats such as The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), Hercules (1997), Tarzan (1999), and Fantasia 2000 (1999). In the 2000s, she painted for The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), Lilo & Stitch (2002), and Treasure Planet (2002), officially retiring from Disney after painting for Home on the Range (2004). Even after she retired, she never lost her passion for painting—teaching art to the children of the neighborhood where she lived with her family in La Mirada, California. Her daughter, Shannon, has described her as “beach” mom, because she loved to visit the beach as well as paint it. Other subjects for her landscapes included portraits of her family members and Jimi Hendrix. She even painted an abstract version of Goofy and Daisy Duck.
Ms. Sullivan is an unfortunate victim of our unique time, passing away on April 13th, 2020 due to complications from COVID-19, just three days after her 91st birthday. She was a resident of the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills, CA, during her final years and another resident who lived there, Chaplain Dina Kuperstock, said that she was nicknamed “Giggles” there because “she had the best laugh of any person I’ve ever known.” I’m sure we can all agree that “The Little Mermaid,” and “The Lion King,” and each of the aforementioned Disney films wouldn’t be the classics that they are had it not been for her beautiful cel paintings. The Disney Studios were lucky to have her on their team, and her work leaves a remarkable legacy.
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