Peter Ellenshaw

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William "Peter" Ellenshaw (May 24, 1913 - February 12, 2007) was an Anglo-American award-winning matte designer and special effects creator who worked on many Disney features.

His first major project was the 1936 film Things to Come. After World War II, he worked on films like Quo Vadis until he was recruited by Walt Disney Studios to work on their first live action film, Treasure Island. He would go on to work on films like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Mary Poppins, for which he won an Academy Award. He retired after doing The Black Hole in 1979, but came back to do matte paintings for Dick Tracy in 1990. His son Harrison is also an Academy Award-winning effects designer.

He was made a Disney Legend in 1993.

[edit] Selected filmography

The Thief of Bagdad (1940), assistant matte artist
A Matter of Life and Death (1946), assistant matte artist
Black Narcissus (1947), assistant matte artist
The Red Shoes (1948), assistant matte artist
Treasure Island (1950), matte artist
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), matte artist
Old Yeller (1957), matte artist
Johnny Tremain (1957), production designer
Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), special effects
Pollyanna (1960), matte artist
Swiss Family Robinson (1960), matte artist
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), special effects
Mary Poppins (1964), special effects (Academy Award winner)
The Love Bug (1969), special effects
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), art direction (Academy Award nominee)
The Island at the Top of the World (1974), special effects and production design (Academy Award nominee for the latter)
The Black Hole (1979), miniature effects creator (Academy Award nominee for visual effects)
Dick Tracy (1990), matte artist