[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E117-E118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF TYRUS WONG

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2017

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of celebrated 
artist Tyrus Wong, of Sunland, California, who passed away on December 
30, 2016, at the age of 106.
   Tyrus Wong, best known for his beautiful, impressionistic renderings 
in the Walt Disney Studio's animated film ``Bambi,'' was born as Wong 
Gen Yeo in China on October 25, 1910. He and his father emigrated to 
the United States in 1920.
   Tyrus' father taught his son calligraphy, drawing and painting, 
encouraging Tyrus' artistic talents. Tyrus attended junior high school 
in Pasadena, but left that school to attend Otis Art Institute, now 
Otis College of Art and Design, on a full scholarship. At Otis, Mr. 
Wong

[[Page E118]]

studied great western artists and Chinese brush paintings, especially 
Song dynasty landscapes that expressed mountains, trees and fog with 
nominal brush strokes. He graduated from Otis and joined the 
Depression-era Federal Art Project, creating paintings for government 
buildings and other institutions. During this time period he was a 
featured artist at an Art Institute of Chicago exhibition that included 
artists such as Pablo Picasso, and was active in organizing local art 
exhibitions for Los Angeles' Asian artists.
   In 1937, Tyrus married Ruth Ng Kim, and after the birth of their 
first daughter, Kay in 1938, he began working for Disney as an 
``inbetweener,'' where he worked on hundreds of Mickey Mouse sketches. 
After learning about Disney's film ``Bambi,'' which was in pre-
production, he created watercolors and drawings of a deer in a forest, 
and those tiny, evocative renderings became the basis for the film's 
visual style and he became the film's lead artist. In 1941, after a 
Disney animators' strike, Mr. Wong went to work at Warner Brothers 
Studios as a film production illustrator and sketch artist, where he 
drew set designs and storyboards for movies such as ``Sands of Iwo 
Jima,'' ``Rebel Without a Cause'' and ``Auntie Mame.'' Tyrus retired 
from Warner Bros. in 1968, but continued to work as an artist, creating 
greeting cards for Hallmark Cards, working as a ceramicist, and 
building and designing exquisite hand-made kites.
   Mr. Wong's life and work has been featured in many significant 
exhibitions at The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco and The 
Museum of Chinese in America in New York City and his striking Chinese 
Dragon mural is prominently displayed in Chinatown. Tyrus is featured 
in several documentaries, including the award-winning documentary 
``Tyrus,'' in which he shared his struggles with poverty, racism and 
adversity.
   Mr. Wong is survived by his daughters: Kay Fong, Tai-Ling Wong, Kim 
Wong and two grandsons.
   I would like to ask all Members to join me in remembering Tyrus 
Wong, a Disney Legend, whose innovative work inspired generations of 
animators, and who leaves a lasting legacy as one of the foremost 
artists in Los Angeles, California.

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