ALBION, N.Y. — This week the Walt Disney Company marked it's 100th anniversary, a tremendous milestone, and a Western New Yorker played a big role in Disney's early success.
The strokes of genius started to emerge early for Hank Porter, a prodigy from Albion, says Village Historian Sue Starkweather Miller.
"When Hank was in school he was a part of the Chevron which was our yearbook, and he was an illustrator there. He was showing signs of artistic ability way back when he was younger," Miller said.
As he grew up, his artistic abilities grew with him. He created a stunning art deco self portrait when he was just 21-years-old.
After graduating from what is now the Rochester Institute of Technology, he worked in Rochester before opening up his own graphic arts studio in the Queen City. He ran his own business in Buffalo for eight years before he decided he wanted something more. He tried out for Walt Disney productions and was hired.
That was the start of a life-long journey. He was jumping on a moving train, Disney had just started production on the first animated feature film, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. Hank made an immediate impact says Miller, she added,
"He was responsible for creating some of the major scenes that we've known and loved," Miller said.
"Scenes like the legendary sequence of Dopey swallowing a bar of soap and Grumpy being forced to take a bath. Porter developed into one of Walt Disney's main men. He worked on Fantasia, redesigned Donald Duck into what we know and love today. He is even credited with creating the iconic looping "D" of Disney. Sue adds that "he was one of only a handful of illustrators who was able to sign Walt Disney's signature," Miller said.
Then came World War 2, Starkweather Miller says Porter and his pen did what they do best to support the troops.
"When the war broke out there were so many battalions and platoons that were being formed so quickly, they really wanted to build morale and build this sense of belonging. So, they reached out to Disney and asked if they could come up with some insignias for the battalions and platoons and stuff and really Hank Porter was the guy he'd go to," Miller said.
Porter created more than 1,000 insignias and emblems for various military branches. He became such an important asset that Disney actually called him a "one man art department".
It was an art department that was taken too soon. Hank Porter died of cancer at the age of 50-years-old. You may be wondering why the Hank Porter is not a household name? Well simple, it's all business. Everything he and all the other artists created were stamped Disney Productions. So, the artist basically lost his identity to the corporate name.