VFX: Peter Ellenshaw’s 7 Defining Moments
The moments that defined the remarkable career of matte painting artist, Peter Ellenshaw
Born in London in 1913, Peter Ellenshaw went on to become one of the most inspiring matte painting artists of the 20th century and an integral member of the Walt Disney team for over 30 years.
In 1965, along with Hamilton Luske and Eustace Lycett, Ellenshaw was awarded an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on “Mary Poppins,” for which he painted 102 different mattes with scenes of Edwardian London. In 1993, he was named a Disney Legend. Here we take a look at his life and highlight the moments that defined his remarkable career.
1. Becoming Walter Percy Day’s prodigy
By the age of 14, Ellenshaw had had to drop out of school and take a job at a garage to help support his family. In his spare time, he painted and drew, longing for an escape from monotony. When he learned that an artist who had worked on various movies had moved into his neighborhood, he went to speak to him in search of an opportunity. That was when Day took Ellenshaw on as an assistant.
Day was a mentor to Ellenshaw, encouraging him to study perspective and teaching him the ins and outs of matte painting, one of the first VFX techniques used in movies. It consisted of painting landscapes or large set pieces onto glass panes, which would then be combined with live-action footage to become part of the frame. Day received an OBE for his pioneering work.
2. Meeting Walt Disney
After years of working with Day (as well as serving in the Royal Air Force during WWII), Ellenshaw eventually struck out on his own and went to work for Hungarian-born British filmmaker Alexander Korda, who had found success in Britain with the movie, “The Private Life of Henry VIII.”
However, the pivotal moment of his career came in 1948, when he was offered a job as a matte painting artist at the Walt Disney Company on their production of “Treasure Island.” Ellenshaw would go on to work with Disney on “The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men,” “The Sword and the Rose,” and “Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue” in England. During this time, Walt Disney regularly stopped by Ellenshaw’s studio and would sit and talk to him about work in America.
3. Pursuing the American dream
Ellenshaw dreamed of reaching America, which is exactly what he did in 1953. Despite not having any work lined up, he sold his house and moved across the world with his wife and son in hope of landing on his feet when he arrived. However, other than a few matte paintings he had been asked to do for “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, he found himself short of work.
Ellenshaw looked for ways he could help out. When the team was having trouble with the miniature photography, Ellenshaw took it upon himself to do some sketches that caught Walt Disney’s eye. Disney put Ellenshaw to work and asked him to oversee lighting in all of the shots involving miniatures. His contribution completely transformed the movie.
4. The first map of Disneyland
After he had finished working on the movie, Disneyland was reaching the point of completion, and Ellenshaw was asked to create a map of the park. Ellenshaw had no idea at the time how successful the park would be, nor how well-known his map would become around the globe.
He painted the map onto a board that would usually be used for storyboarding film sequences. His map became iconic and was featured as a prop on the television show “Walt Disney's Disneyland,” which was hosted by Walt Disney himself, and also was used for Disneyland’s first-ever postcard.
5. His one-off collaboration with Kubrick
One day, Ellenshaw received a call from Stanley Kubrick, who was working on “Spartacus” and needed an establishing shot. Ellenshaw created an iconic matte painting of Rome for the movie, which is considered among his best work. It marked the only time he ever collaborated with Kubrick.
6. Recreating Edwardian London
Directed by Robert Stevenson, “Mary Poppins” would change the course of film history forever thanks to its pioneering use of visual effects (for which it won an Academy Award, along with Best Picture).
Ellenshaw painted 102 different mattes with scenes of Edwardian London, including the chimney smoke staircase scene, and was a key member of the movie’s production team.
7. Painting as a hobby
Alongside his work in film, Ellenshaw was a passionate painter of seas and landscapes. Once he retired from the film industry, he continued to paint and create a vast collection of work.
Ellenshaw has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including those by the American Film Institute, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Film Institute in Chicago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the R.W. Norton Art Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Disney Legends Awards.
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