| |
Floyd
Norman
at
Disney
from the
documentary
of his
life
(Courtesy
of
Michael
Fiore
Films) |
| |
Ford
Freedom
Award
Spotlights
Pioneers
in Stage
and
Screen
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
- The
creative
storytelling
achievements
of two
legendary
artists,
a
playwright
and an
animator
were
celebrated
Monday
by the
Ford
Motor
Company,
in
collaboration
with the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
of
African
American
History,
at the
19th
annual
Ford
Freedom
Award
program.
Pulitzer
Prize
winning
playwright
August
Wilson
was
honored
with the
Ford
Freedom
Award
for his
timeless
body of
work
that
dramatizes
the
trials
and
triumphs
of
African
American
life
from the
decades
following
slavery,
into the
1990s;
collectively
they are
known as
the
American
Century
Cycle
series.
From the
drawing
boards
of
Disney,
Hanna
Babar
and
Pixar,
Floyd
Norman
was a
trailblazing
animator,
who also
made
history
as the
first
African
American
to be
hired by
Disney.
Norman
was
presented
the Ford
Freedom
Award
Scholar
for his
excellence
in arts,
entertainment
and
animator.
Head of
CHM
nails AW
panel:
From the
left,
August
Wilson’s
wife
Constanza
Romero
Wilson
assists
Juanita
Moore,
President
& CEO of
the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum.
(Photo
by Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit)
The
theme
for the
evening
honoring
these
two
pioneering
artists
was
fittingly
titled
“Talents
That
Unite”
and
kicked
off with
Floyd
Norman
and late
playwright
August
Wilson’s
wife,
Constanza
Romero
Wilson,
participating
in a
media
roundtable.
Listening
into the
conversation
guests
learned
that
August
Wilson’s
favorite
play was
"Joe
Turner’s
Come and
Gone"
that
tells a
moving
story of
migrants
set in
1910.
The play
earned
Wilson
his
first
Pulitzer
Prize as
well as
a Tony
Award.
Constanza
Romero
Wilson,
spoke
candidly
about
her
surprise
that
Denzel
Washington
did not
win an
Oscar
for his
role in
the film
adaptation
of
August
Wilson’s
"Fences"
which
was also
nominated
for a
Best
Picture
Oscar.
However
she did
praise
the
production
for
preserving
the
play’s
stage
craft
and
dialogue
and said
that her
late
husband’s
work
will
live on
when HBO
brings
August
Wilson’s
plays to
the
screen.
Honorees
Media
Roundtable:
Ford
Freedom
Award
nominees
at the
Media
Roundtable.
From the
left
Shawn H.
Wilson
of the
Ford
Motor
Company
Fund,
Constanza
Romero
Wilson,
wife of
the late
August
Wilson
and
animator
Floyd
Norman,
Ford
Freedom
Award
recipient.
(Photo
by Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit)
On hand
to
discuss
his
pioneering
body of
work was
Floyd
Norman,
the
first
African-American
hired by
Disney
in 1956
as an
apprentice,
his
first
assignment
was
working
on the
classic
Sleeping
Beauty.
If
you’ve
watched
101
Dalmatians,
The
Jungle
Book or
Toy
Story 2,
you’ve
seen
just the
tip of
the
iceberg
that is
Norman’s
work in
animation
and
storytelling.
Norman
spoke
about
being
the
first
black
employee
at
Disney
saying
it was
more an
issue
for
others
who
doubted
a black
person
could
break
into
Disney
because
of race.
He
emphasized
that in
spite of
criticisms
of
discrimination
levied
against
Walt
Disney,
the man
said
Norman
was not
a racist
but more
a task
master
with
great
expectations.
A
special
honor
was
bestowed
on the
legendary
playwright,
August
Wilson
during
the Ford
Freedom
program.
A bronze
nameplate
was
dedicated
bearing
his name
and
placed
on the
Ring
Genealogy
in the
museum’s
Ford
Freedom
Rotunda.
Wilson’s
name
joins
other
prominent
African
Americans
in
history
whose
achievements
have
earned a
place in
the
rotunda.
Bronze
nameplate
installed
in the
Rotunda
of the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
of
African
American
History
(Photo
by Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit)
Following
the
nailing
in
ceremony
of the
bronze
plate
guests
were
treated
to a
showing
of
“Floyd
Norman:
An
Animated
Life” a
critically
acclaimed
documentary
film of
Norman’s
60 year
span in
animation
and
filmmaking.
The film
covers
various
milestones
in his
Wilson’s
life
including
leaving
Disney
in 1966
when
Walt
Disney
died. He
continued
working
as an
animator
and
storyteller
for Fat
Albert
and The
Cosby
Kids.
During
this
time he
also
co-founded
Vignette
Films
that
produced
films
about
black
history.
Wilson
said the
location
of the
films
today is
unknown.
The film
covers
various
milestones
in
Norma’s
life
including
leaving
Disney
in 1966
when
Walt
Disney
died. He
continued
working
as an
animator
and
storyteller
for Fat
Albert
and The
Cosby
Kids.
During
this
time he
also
co-founded
Vignette
Films
that
produced
films
about
black
history.
Wilson
said the
location
of the
films
today is
unknown.
In the
film a
colleague
called
Norman
the
"Forrest
Gump" of
animation,
a name
the
animator
thinks
stemmed
from him
being
everywhere
at
Disney
working
on
numerous
films.
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