(Walt Disney Studios, 1977) Appealing original production storyboard drawing of Elliot the Dragon from Pete's Dragon, depicting the friendly flying reptilian blowing fire in an amusing up-close pose measuring 6 x 4. Accomplished in graphite, and colored pencil and felt tip on untrimmed 7.5 x 5 animation paper, which signed in the lower right in black ink by the artist Ken Anderson. The drawing is affixed to a slightly larger backing sheet. In fine condition, with pin holes to upper border. Accompanied by a glossy 10 x 8 photo of longtime Disney animator Joe Hale during production of Pete's Dragon, signed in the lower border in black ink.
Hale (born 1925) worked with Walt Disney and on more than 100 projects as an animator and cartoon layout artist for the production company. He worked for 10 years on the Wonderful World of Color, a Disney television series in the 1960’s, and he also made important contributions to such classics as Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, Lady and the Tramp, and Pete’s Dragon.
Kenneth B. Anderson (1909-1993) was an art director and writer at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 44 years. He was a key player in some of the studio's most well-known animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and The Jungle Book. Anderson, who also helped develop Disneyland, was a 1991 winner of the Disney Legends award for Animation & Imagineering.