Eyvind Earle

An American Painter and Illustrator, born in New York

City in April 1916 became one of Disney Studio’s most
iconic concept artists during his time working on projects
like ’Peter Pan’ (1953), ‘Lady and the Tramp’ (1955), and
‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959).
In 2015, 15 years after his death, Earle received the
Disney Legend Award, accepted on his behalf by his
daughter.
 Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Eyvind Earle is best known for developing his ornate,
gothic/medieval stylised look of ‘Sleeping Beauty’. His work
shows a lot of perpendicular lines throughout that add a
sense of height and scale. The brilliant use of colour
throughout the dragon pieces adds vividness and
excitement to the frame.
 Lady and the
Tramp (1955)
For Sequence 7, known as
‘Bella Notte’, Earle was
instructed to create concepts
that show Lady and Tramp’s
moonlit walk through the park
after their spaghetti and
meatball meat.

The limited colour palette

used shows the idyllic
romance intended with simple
shapes and an easy on the eye
composition.
 Eyvind Earle’s Influence
Earle’s paintings from his time on Sleeping Beauty were not only instrumental to
the film but also years later when Disneyland Paris built Le Chateau de la Belle au
Bois Dormant (The Castle of Sleeping Beauty), showing the colourful stained glass
windows and tapestries from his medieval themed designs.

And Earle’s influence didn’t stop there, even years after his death, its clear by
looking at the colour palettes used, that artists were inspired by Earle’s deep
analogous hues and subtle temperature shifts creating distinctive, strong shapes
and silhouettes.
Images: Eyvind Earle artwork (Left), Frozen concept art (Bottom).