Joshua Meador

Joshua Lawrence Meador was an American animator, effects animator, special effects artist, and animation director for the Disney studios for 30 years.

Meador was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. His family later moved to Columbus in 1918. He attended the Chicago Art Institute where he met Herbert Ryman who convinced him to submit his art portfolio to Walt Disney who hired in him in 1936. He began his career in the effects department where he worked on The Old Mill and the final touches on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Proving to be very imaginative, Meador provided many effects, such as Fantasia, where he developed a technique of using bubbling mud to simulate the lava for "The Rite of Spring". He also animated on several features and shorts of the 1940s and 1950s, such as Dumbo, Bambi, Saludos Amigos, Song of the South, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Mary Poppins as well as Disney's anthology series and assisted with plans for Disneyland. In 1954, he was part of the Academy Award winning team for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Best Visual Effects.

Apart from his job at Disney, Meador was also a well-known landscape painter within California, painting more than 2,000 canvases, many of which were presented at various art galleries and exhibitions. In August 1965, Meador suffered a fatal heart attack at his residence in Casper, California. He was buried his hometown of Columbus where his home was given a historical marker.

Filmography[]

Year	Film	Position
1937	The Old Mill	Animator (uncredited)
1937	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	Animator
1938	The Whalers	Effects animator (uncredited)
	Good Scouts	Effects animator (uncredited)
	Mickey's Parrot	Animator (uncredited)
1939	The Pointer	Effects animator (uncredited)
1939	Goofy and Wilbur	Effects (uncredited)
1940	Pinocchio	Animator
1940	Fantasia	Animator: "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" Animation Supervisor: "The Rite of Spring" Special Animation Effects: "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (uncredited)
1941	The Reluctant Dragon	Special Effects
1941	Dumbo	Animator
1942	The New Spirit	Animator (uncredited)
	Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line	Effects animator
	Bambi	Animator
	Four Methods of Flush Riveting	Effects animator
	T-Bone for Two	Effects animator (uncredited)
	The Olympic Champ	Animator (uncredited)
	Saludos Amigos	Animator Effects animator: "Lake Titicaca" "Pedro"
	Sky Trooper	Animator
1943	The Grain That Built a Hemisphere	Animator
	Victory Through Air Power	Animator
	Defense Against Invasion	Animator (uncredited)
	Private Pluto	Animator (uncredited)
	Figaro and Cleo	Effects animator (uncredited)
1944	Donald Duck and the Gorilla	Animator (uncredited)
	The Plastics Inventor	Animator (uncredited)
	The Three Caballeros	Special Effects Animator
	Contrary Condor	Effects animator
1945	The Clock Watcher	Animator
	Donald's Crime	Animator
	Insects as Carriers of Disease	Effects animator (uncredited)
	Tuberculosis	Animator (uncredited)
	Old Sequoia	Animator
1946	Make Mine Music	Director: "After You've Gone" Effect animator:"Trees" "Peter and the Wolf" "Willie the Operatic Whale"
1946	Song of the South	Effects animator
1947	Clown of the Jungle	Animator
1947	Fun and Fancy Free	Animator (uncredited)
1948	Melody Time	Effects animator: "Pecos Bill"
1948	Soup's On	Animator
1949	So Dear to My Heart	Effects animator
1950	Pluto and the Gopher	Effects animator
	Cinderella	Effects animator
	Pests of the West	Effects animator
1951	Alice in Wonderland	Effects animator
1951	Nature's Half Acre	Animation Effects
1952	Water Birds	Animation Effects
1953	Bear Country	Animation Effects
	How to Catch a Cold	Effects animator (uncredited)
	Peter Pan	Effects Animator
	The Alaskan Eskimo	Animator
	Prowlers of the Everglades	Animation Effects
	The Living Desert	Animation
1954	The Vanishing Prairie	Animation Effects
1954	20,000 Leagues Under the Sea	Special Effects
1954-1967	The Magical World of Disney	Director Animator Special artwork
1955	Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier	Special Artwork
	The African Lion	Animation Effects
	Men Against the Arctic	Animation Effects
	A World is Born	Animation supervisor (uncredited)
1956	Secrets of Life	Animation Effects
	The Blue Men of Morocco	Animation effects
	Sardinia	Animation effects
1957	Perri	Special Effects
	Navajo Adventure	Animation effects
	Alaskan Sled Dog	Animation effects
	Lapland	Animation effects
1958	White Wilderness	Animation Effects
1958	Wales	Animation effects
1959	Sleeping Beauty	Effects Animator
	Nature's Strangest Creatures	Animation Effects
	Donald in Mathmagic Land	Sequence Director
	Darby O'Gill and the Little People	Animation Effects
	Mysteries of the Deep	Animation Effects
1960	Islands of the Sea	Animation Effects
	Jungle Cat	Animation Effects
	Japan	Animation effects
1961	The Absent-Minded Professor	Special Effects
	Donald and the Wheel	Effects Animator
	Babes in Toyland
1962	The Prince and the Pauper	Special artwork (uncredited)
1962	Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates	Special art work
1963	Son of Flubber	Special effects
1964	The Restless Sea	Animator
1964	Mary Poppins	Special Effects (uncredited)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Walt and actor Fred MacMurray were known collectors of several of Meador's paintings. One of Walt's paintings is on display at The Walt Disney Family Museum.
Though uncredited in Mary Poppins, Meador assisted with the penguin dance scene during the film shoot to make certain Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews hit their marks precisely on the already animated prints.