Tyrus and Milton: An Animated Friendship

Tyrus Wong and Milton Quon, two L.A. gentlemen whom I have previously featured in several posts:

Chinese American Artists Working in Los Angeles

Pacific Standard Time Marches On

The Official Milton Quon Fan Club

Hiroshima and Tyrus Wong

Happy 104th Birthday Milton!

I knew they were friends.  I knew they had a lot in common which included being employed as Disney animation artists early in each of their successful and multi-faceted careers.  

But I did not realize the depth of their friendship until Pamela Tom, filmmaker of Finding Home, and Tyrus, wrote to me with the following:

Milton:  I first met Tyrus at the Chinese Congregational Church when he was courting Ruth Kim. She was singing in the choir and practicing and he and I sat in the last row of the pew. I happened to sit next to him, and I knew about him being a great artist. While the rehearsal was going on, I noticed that Tyrus was drawing on brown wrapping paper, drawing monkeys. I think at that time he already had a scholarship to Otis Art Institute. I remember he was a very sporty dresser and he had this nice sport coupe out in front of the church on 9th place near San Pedro Street.

Tyrus is a very, very…he’s very funny. He breaks me up. I remember at Bill Jong’s New Year party this year January 31st he just had me in stitches. I had to hold my stomach. I don't know what he does, but he just breaks me up.

I just love the guy. Every time we get together he breaks me up.

Photo courtesy of Pamela Tom

Pamela expressed that this photograph "captures their relationship in ways words cannot. It was taken at a joint fundraiser event for my film/celebration of Tyrus's 98th birthday. Milton and Tyrus had an incredibly special and enduring relationship. Their faces lit up whenever they saw each other. They were like two kids. They had so much mutual respect and love for each other."

Happy 104th Birthday Milton!

Previous blog posts covered Los Angeles artist Milton Quon - in 2012 when his work was exhibited at the Vincent Price Art Museum and then in 2015.



Milton and his wife Peggy (in burgundy jacket) along with family and friends.  Sorry you were cut off Jeffrey!

At his birthday luncheon in Torrance, California, held Sunday August 20th, Milton was charming as ever.  With wife Peggy by his side (who he has known since 1939), they sat leaning snugly into each other throughout the party.

The following day brought something else special when the solar eclipse peaked at 10:21 a.m. PST.  It was "the first in nearly a century to cast the moon's shadow on the entire contiguous United States (the last one was in 1918)" according to Space.com.

So Monday was a workday back at the Natural History Museum.  After viewing the eclipse amongst staff and visitors, Milton was on this blogger's mind - the museum became the new cultural center in the city when its doors opened on July 4th, 1913  - the following month Milton was born, the new Angeleno in the City of the Angels - and by November the city celebrated its new water supply with the opening of the L.A. Aqueduct.  The total solar eclipse in 1918?  Milton was around, and this blogger would like to think he witnessed it.

[Update July 17, 2019]  Mr. Quon passed away peacefully on June 18th surrounded by his loving family.

Hiroshima and Tyrus Wong

The Asian Pacific American Heritage Month concludes in a few days.  The month of May was designated due to key historic May events that defined the Japanese-American and Chinese-American experience.

African-Americans have their month in February; National Hispanic Heritage month runs from September 15th through October 15th each year.



My mementos from the concert

The L.A.-based jazz band, Hiroshima, scheduled a concert in Arcadia this recent May 14th.  The group leader, Dan Kuramoto, called the attention of the audience to the heritage month, explaining that he coincided this at-home concert because "this is our month".



Dan Kuramoto and musicians at their May 14th concert

Several weeks earlier, the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival featured a screening of "Tyrus Wong:  Brushstrokes in Hollywood" in Little Tokyo's Aratani Theatre.  Tyrus, now 105 ½  years old, was the center of attention in receiving rounds of applause as he entered the theatre in a wheelchair.  His long-time friend, colleague and fellow artist, Milton Quon, arrived shortly before, with the help of a walker.



My souvenir button purchased after the screening

Pamela Tom's film reveals his contributions to the 1942 animated film, Bambi.  Tyrus' delicate expressions of forest scenes led Walt Disney to ultimately adopt his conceptual style for the entire film's background scenes.  In recent years, Tyrus was belatedly recognized and honored for his considerable contributions to the film, notably by the late Diane Disney (daughter of Walt).  The documentary also explains the influence of storyboard artists, (like Tyrus, who later worked for Warner Bros.) whose visual layouts for movie scenes often swayed the directors.



Filmmaker Pamela Tom during the Q&A session
following the screening at the Aratani Theatre

It would be wonderful if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could present an Honorary Award to Tyrus next year .  It might redeem the sting from the last two years' Oscars ceremonies:  the #OscarsSoWhite show earlier this year was inclusive of Asian Americans but only to poke fun at the same old stereotypes; last year's awards show brought on comedian Margaret Cho to act as a North Korean.  (Update:  Rest in Peace, Tyrus Wong.  He died at age 106, December 30, 2016) (Update:  He was recognized for a couple of seconds during the In Memoriam segment of the 2017 Oscars ceremony televised February 26th)



Tyrus in 1928, seated with legs crossed at front row, second from left.
Courtesy of the Seaver Center for Western History Research

Tyrus Wong was born in 1910, about the same time East Coast movie companies were discovering the year-round sunshine in L.A.  Tyrus immigrated from China to the U.S. as a child.  All he ever wanted to do was draw.  He made it a successful livelihood in order to raise a family by working in Hollywood but also branching out as a commercial artist.  He managed to bring his artistry into the cultural fabric of our country.

The band, Hiroshima, formed with a unique sound through the accompaniment of the Japanese string instrument, a zither called the Koto, played by master kotoist June Kuramoto.  The early band was a pride of the 1970s local L.A. Asian American dance scene, and Hiroshima later found mainstream success, radio play and Grammy nominations.  Like Tyrus, the band Hiroshima managed to bring their artistry into the cultural fabric of our country.



June Kuramoto on the Koto

This post is published on the day of President Barack Obama's historic trip to Hiroshima, Japan, one of the two sites bombed by U.S. atomic bombs to force an end to World War II.


The Official Milton Quon Fan Club

Over 1,000 artists worked on the 1940 Walt Disney film Fantasia.  The 75th anniversary of its theatrical release is nearing in November.  One of those artists is an Angeleno, Mr. Milton Quon.  His family and members of his church (a place he attends regularly on Sundays) organized a program celebrating his accomplishments the past Saturday evening, June 13th.

There is not an actual fan club...but this post expresses admiration for the second-generation Toishan Chinese American, which is what I have in common with him.  A 2005 Los Angeles Times article "Through a native son's eyes" posed the question whether Milton's artistic style was influenced by his ethnicity; the writer, Scott Sandell, concluded that "Quon's story remains quintessentially L.A."



Milton Quon chatting with filmmaker Arthur Dong on May 13 in Little Tokyo
at a screening for The Curse of the Quon Gwon

I bumped into Milton and his son and daughter last month at a program in the series Big Trouble in Little Tokyo.  That evening we enjoyed watching the restored circa 1916 silent film "The Curse of the Quon Gwon", the earliest known feature film by a Chinese American.  Come to think of it, Milton would have been a toddler, 3 1/2 years old when that film was made...

It had been three years since I first met Milton and members of his family at the Vincent Price Art Museum in 2012 when his work was on exhibit in a Pacific Standard Time Exhibition "Round the Clock".

Getting back to the June 13th event, the evening highlighted Milton's animation work on the "mushrooms" in Fantasia and Mr. Stork's delivery in the 1941 Disney film, Dumbo.  In Fantasia, he helped bring to screen life Hop Low and the Mushroom Dancers, performed to the soundtrack's Nutcracker Suite - Chinese Dance.



The souvenir program listed Chinese Dance
(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center for Western History Research)

Jeff Quon, one of Milton's sons, told the audience last Saturday that his father remembered vividly attending a staff screening; it was extra special because the film employed a unique new sound technology "Fantasound", which later evolved to the widely-used stereophonic sound.



Before the event, Milton is shown preparing a sketch

During the Q&A session, many in attendance were already familiar with his life story, and some prompted him about his acting roles and his friendship with fellow Disney animator Tyrus Wong.

Milton recalled playing one of the passengers aboard bus 2525 in the 1994 film Speed starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.  Milton explained that he was required to audition, and happily he got the part.  There were some dangerous rides -- and he got extra pay for it, he said in a rather dead-pan delivery characteristic of Milton, which brought chuckles from the audience.  He was 80 years old at the time according to a 2014 revisit with all the "bus passengers" written by Kristopher Tapley.

Milton explained his role in the 1994 film Speed

As for his friendship with Tyrus Wong, Milton immediately said, "He's a couple of years older than me".  Milton said Tyrus had a sporty car, and he had his eye on a girl Ruth (she later married Tyrus.)  He and Tyrus used to go to the beach and fish -- bonita fishing.  At some point, Tyrus decided he wanted try kite flying. 

Milton will be celebrating his birthday number 102 in August. 

Update July 18th:  Milton is mentioned in a recent New York Magazine article The Triple-Digit Club:  Meet 5 Centenarians Who Don't Act Their Age.

[Update July 17, 2019]  Mr. Milton Quon passed away peacefully on June 18, 2019, surrounded by his loving family.

3.14.2021:  View an updated tribute to Milton and his friend Tyrus Wong by clicking on the picture.

Chinese American Artists Working in Los Angeles

This post title is borrowed from the title of a current exhibit at the Vincent Price Art Museum located on the campus of East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park, California.

Image courtesy of the Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM)

The genuine lives of Chinese Americans are seldom portrayed in the media.  Likewise, artistic achievements by Chinese Americans in Los Angeles have not received adequate attention from art historians, including the period since the end of World War II.  The 'Round the Clock exhibition is a rare, prideful opportunity to appreciate the lives of five men through their delightful artwork, as well as their productive work careers.  After wandering through the large gallery hall, everything is all right:  the artists are strong role models, and they remedy the media vacuum with a huge dose of positivity.

 (Click on image to enlarge)

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(Click on image to enlarge) (Above four images courtesy VPAM)

My visit to the museum Saturday, March 10th, was enriched through the presence on the gallery floor by Milton Quon, the fifth artist exhibited.

(Click image to enlarge) Courtesy of VPAM

Several of his children were present also, and I had ample time to speak with everyone.  I asked Mr. Quon whether there were any women artists in his circle, and Helen Liu Fong came to his mind.  Fong was an architect - her achievements are included in the Chinese American Museum's current exhibition Breaking Ground: Chinese American Architects in Los Angeles (1945-1980) showcasing the work of "four pioneering Chinese American architects whose contributions were critical to the development of Los Angeles' urban and visual landscape between 1945 and 1980."

Although 'Round the Clock does not include a female artist, there is a strong consolation:  Sonia Mak, guest curator, is the woman who spearheaded this exhibition to make it possible.

From left:  Timothy Quon, Sherrill Quon, Milton Quon, and Sonia Mak.  The watercolor drawing behind Mr. Quon was inspired by Winslow Homer.

I learned quite a bit about Milton Quon - and I think it was mutual.  He is curious and interested in everyone around him.

He had a role as an extra in Sandra Bullock's 1994 film "Speed" portraying a "Chinese" passenger on a bus.  On the film set, he passed the long hours of waiting by sketching the activity going on around him.

Milton Quon explains how he first met artist Jake Lee, with son Timothy looking on.

I did not have the notion to ask what compelled him to his subject matters.  I do know that he is a native Angeleno.  On exhibit includes a piece from 1990 entitled "Refinery East Los Angeles."  Below is "Chavez Ravine Grocery, Effie Street" from about 1952.  Was he aware of the impending doom for the Chavez Ravine neighborhood to be redeveloped for public housing or for a ball park?

(Courtesy of VPAM)

Showcase of Tyrus Wong's commercial projects, including greeting cards.  (Courtesy of VPAM)

George Chann's "Shy Boy" (Courtesy of VPAM)

John Kwok's abstracts (Courtesy of VPAM)

For a critique of this exhibition, read Blouin Art Info.

For an interesting Q & A with the curator, Sonia Mak, read the Huffington Post issue of January 19th. 

Update: Read a review on the Los Angeles Times Culture Monster.

'Round the Clock is an admission-free exhibition - see it before it closes on May 25, 2012.