‘101 Dalmatians’ Color Stylist Peregoy Dies

Walt Peregoy, who worked as the the legendary color stylist on Disney’s classic feature 101 Dalmatians, died Friday, according to the official D23 Twitter account.

After a short stint working at Disney as a teenager, Peregoy returned to the studio in 1951. He was the first background painter on Sleeping Beauty and then helped develop a new way painting backgrounds as color stylist on 101 Dalmatians. He worked on most of the studio’s major animated features through the mid-1960s, when he was laid off.

Peregoy then went into television, creating backgrounds for The Lone Ranger before signing on at Hanna-Barbera in 1968, where he led the background department.

In the late 1970s, he returned to Disney in the theme park division, and worked as a freelance animator through the 1980s and 1990s.

He was an outspoken critic of the animation industry in his later years. His work was recognized by ASIFA-Hollywood with the Winsor McCay Award in 2012.

Walt Peregoy