Living Legend Floyd Norman To Receive Honorary Oscar From The Academy

Animation icon and Disney legend Floyd Norman will receive an Honorary Oscar at this year’s Governors Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday. Norman will be honored alongside actress Glenn Close and filmmaker Ridley Scott, while producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

The awards will be presented on November 15 in Hollywood.

Norman, 90, became the first Black artist hired on a long-term basis at Walt Disney Studios in 1956. During his initial run at the studio, he worked on features including Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, and The Jungle Book, where he was part of Walt Disney’s story team.

After leaving Disney in the 1960s, Norman worked throughout the animation industry, including stints at Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, and Pixar. He later returned to Disney and contributed to projects such as Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

In announcing the honor, Academy president Janet Yang described Norman as “a trailblazing animator whose work has shaped generations of filmmakers and artists.”

Norman has remained active well into his later years, appearing at festivals, speaking at industry events, and participating in documentaries about animation history. Earlier this year, he attended a Smithsonian screening of Floyd Norman: An Animated Life, the documentary chronicling his life and career.

The Honorary Oscar is the latest well-deserved recognition of Norman’s career, which spans nearly 70 years and some of the most influential studios in American animation history.