Frank Armitage (born in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian-born American painter and muralist, known for painting the backgrounds of several classic animated Disney films, designing areas of and painting murals for Walt Disney World and Tokyo DisneySea, and his biomedical visualization artwork.
Animation Department, Art Department, Production Designer
Spouse
Karen Connolly Armitage
Awards
Disney Legends
Star Sign
Leo
#
Fact
1
In 2006, Frank donated much of his medical art collection to the University at Chicago (UIC), the organization's Biomedical Visualization Graduate program (BVIS), which established "The Frank Armitage Lecture," honoring his legacy in the field of medical illustration. Frank lived in Paso Robles with his wife, Karen Connolly Armitage when he passed away peacefully on January 4, 2016. Frank is survived by his former wife, Patty Ray and their three children, Natalie Doolittle, William Doolittle, Kenyan Armitage and Trent Armitage, a sister Margaret Parfett in Australia.
2
Armitage left Disney after The Jungle Book, and went on to provide production illustration for Fox's science fiction film Fantastic Voyage. The film sees a submarine crew shrunk to microscopic size to repair the damaged brain of an injured scientist. The visual effects made good use of Armitage's expertise in anatomical drawings, and went on to win two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-color and Best Special Effects.
3
Frank Armitage, the acclaimed artist and production illustrator who contributed to such Disney classics as Sleeping Beauty and Mary Poppins and to the Fox visual-effects standout Fantastic Voyage. A longtime Walt Disney Imagineer contributed murals and designs to theme parks around the world, he contributed to backgrounds and layouts for such features as Peter Pan (1953), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967). In 1977, Armitage returned to Disney to become an Imagineer, and his artwork of anatomical subject matter paved the way for the Wonders of Life Pavilion at the Epcot park in Orlando. He created a concept painting for Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant (The Castle of the Sleeping Beauty) at Disneyland Paris, in the style of the original Eyvind Earle designs. He also painted a 5,500-square-foot mural for the Safari Fare Restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida as well as several murals for Tokyo DisneySea.
Animation Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Steps Towards Maturity and Health
1969
Short background artist
The Social Side of Health
1969
Short background artist
The Jungle Book
1967
background artist
Girl to Woman
1965
Documentary short background artist
Donald's Fire Survival Plan
1965
Short background artist
Freewayphobia #1
1965
Short background artist
Mary Poppins
1964
background artist - uncredited
Mr. Digit and the Battle of Bubbling Brook
1961
Short background artist
The Dick Tracy Show
1961
TV Series background artist - 14 episodes
Mister Magoo
1960
TV Series background artist - 9 episodes
Sleeping Beauty
1959
backgrounds
Fill 'Er Up
1959
Short background artist
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1955
TV Series layout designer - 1 episode
Lady and the Tramp
1955
animator - uncredited
Peter Pan
1953
background artist - uncredited
Art Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Cosmos
1980
TV Mini-Series documentary biological art consultant - 2 episodes
Production Designer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Rhapsody of Steel
1959
Short
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Once Upon a Dream: The Making of Walt Disney's 'Sleeping Beauty'
1997
Video documentary short thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Once Upon a Dream: The Making of Walt Disney's 'Sleeping Beauty'
$6 Million
