Jules Engel was born in Budapest in 1915, emigrating with his parents to the United States, Illinois, in 1935. After moving to Los Angeles to study at the Chouinard Art Institute in 1937, he began working for Walt Disney. Throughout his career he worked on Fantasia and Bambi, created the characters Gerald McBoing Boing and Mr Magoo and was nominated for an Oscar for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright. Engel was a founding member of the United Productions of America (UPA) animation studio.
Engel was also accomplished in painting and printmaking. In 1966 he worked at Gemini Ltd on the lithographic series New York, New York. Through the use of repeated line and muted colour the works in this series create a sense of upward motion that recalls the vertiginous feeling of staring up at a row of skyscrapers.
Emilie Owens
1915
Born in Budapest, Hungary
1935
Emigrates with parents to Evanston, Illinois, United States of America
1937
Moves to Los Angeles
Studies at the Chouinard Art Institute
1938
Creates Chinese and Russian dances in Fantasia, animated film at Walt Disney Studios, Los Angeles
1943-45
Serves in the United States Air Force First Motion Picture Unit
1945
Founding member of the United Productions of America (UPA) animation studio
1950
Included in exhibition, American Abstract and Surrealist Art, at Chicago Art Institute, Illinois
Receives Purchase Prize, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
1951
Receives Purchase Prize, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
Receives Purchase Prize, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles
1952-60
Exhibits paintings and drawings at Paul Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles
1952
Included in exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1959
Helps establish Format Films; produces Icarus Montgolfier Wright, scripted by Ray Bradbury; nominated for Academy Award
1960
Receives Tamarind Lithography Fellowship, Los Angeles
Receives Oscar nomination for his work on the film Icarus Montgolfier Wright
1962
Travels to Paris, France, to direct animated film, The World of Sine, which won the La Bell Qualité Award
1965
Receives the Prix Jean Vigo Award for live action film, Coaraze
Produces, New York, New York, series of lithographs at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles
1967
Solo exhibition, Sculptures, at Downey Museum, Downey, California
1971
Founding director of the Experimental Animation Department, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, where he taught in the department until his death
1985
Included in exhibition at Tamarind-Grunwald Center for Graphics Arts, University of California, Los Angeles
1990on
Exhibits paintings and drawings at the Tobey C. Moss Gallery, Los Angeles
1992
Receives the Norman Mclaren Heritage Award, Canada
1994
Receives Lifetime Achievement Award, Cardiff International Film Festival, Wales
2001
Title of Institute Fellow conferred by the California Institute of the Arts
2003
Receives Lifetime Achievement Award, Cartoons on the Bay, Positano, Italy
Jules Engel died in Simi Valley, California
Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Emilie Owens, 2007
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.
