Yale Gracey | |
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Born | September 3, 1910 |
Died | September 5, 1983 Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, United States | (aged 73)
Cause of death | Murder |
Education | Art Institute of Chicago, Art Center School of Design, The Chouinard Art Institute |
Occupation(s) | Animator Imagineer |
Years active | 1939–1975 |
Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios (1942–1956) |
Spouse | Beverly Gracey |
Family | Yale |
Yale Wilbur Gracey (September 3, 1910 – September 5, 1983) was a Disney Imagineer, writer, and layout artist for many Disney animated shorts, including classics such as The Three Caballeros and Fantasia. Gracey joined the company in 1939 as a layout artist for Pinocchio. In the 1960s, he designed many of the special effects for the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions at Disneyland. Among these was a fire effect, developed for Pirates of the Caribbean,[1] which appeared so realistic that the Disneyland fire department wanted an emergency switch to turn it off in case of a real fire.[2] The Haunted Mansion character Master Gracey was named in homage to him. Gracey retired from the company on October 4, 1975.[3]