8:46pm ET
Disney Legend Tyrus Wong has passed away at the age of 106.
Wong was an artist who heavily influenced Disney's animated feature Bambi.
Born in 1910, Wong moved to the United States from China with his father at the age of 9. As a kid, Wong loved to sketch and draw--- and he was so well at his craft that he won a scholarship to the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.
After school, while looking for steady employment, Wong joined Walt Disney Studios where he helped with the animation for Bambi. He was offered the job while the movie was in pre-production because of his brilliant landscape pictures featuring deer and other wildlife.
Wong left Disney right before Bambi was released in 1942 and joined Warner Bros, where he worked for 25 years. He officially became a Disney Legend in 2001.
A watercolor painting from the visual development phase of Bambi:
Picture Courtesy: D23 (Top), Wall Street Journal (Bottom)