Disney Legend Dead at 99: Joe Hale Worked on Countless Classic Movies

Joel Hale, the legendary Disney animator who was nominated for an Oscar for his effects works in the 1979 film The Black Hole, has died. Hale, who also contributed to Disney classics including Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty, died of natural causes at his home in Atascadero, California on Wednesday, Jan. 29, his wife, Beverly Hale, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 99.

Born in Newland Village, Indiana in June 1925, Hale spent 35 years of his career at Disney, working as an animator, layout artist, and producer. After serving with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, during which time he fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima, and later graduating from the Lukits Academy of Fine Arts in Los Angeles, Hale was hired at Disney in April 1951.

He began his career at the famed company as an in-betweener on Alice in Wonderland (1951) before becoming an assistant animator under Ollie Johnston, one of the studio’s famous Nine Old Men. After moving to the layout department in 1955 and working on The Wonderful World of Disney and Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Hale shifted his focus to animated special effects, working on films including Return From Witch Mountain (1978), The Cat From Outer Space (1978), and The Watcher in the Woods (1980). His special effects work on the 1979 film The Black Hole earned him a VFX Oscar nomination alongside Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, and Harrison Ellenshaw.

A year after his work on The Black Hole, Hale was named a first-time producer on Disney’s ill-fated film The Black Cauldron. Based on Lloyd Alexander’s five mythological Chronicles of Prydain books, the project had been in limbo for seven years by the time Hale was brought onboard. He was charged with “trying to pull the whole thing together,” he said, and oversaw a staff of 300 artists — including Tim Burton — and a $44 million budget.

The film was initially slated for a Christmas 1984 release, but was delayed to July 1985 after studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered a re-edit against Hale’s wishes when children found some scenes in the movie disturbing during a test screening. The movie grossed less than $22 million at the box office.

After The Black Cauldron, Hale and his team began developing a film adaptation of T.H. White’s Mistress Masham’s Repose, but he and his staff were laid off from Disney in 1986.

During his time at Disney, Hale also worked on films like Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), The Jungle Book (1967), The Fox and the Hound (1981), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Pete’s Dragon (1977). In 2008, he was given an honorary Disney Legend Award by the National Fantasy Fan Club.

Hale, who later worked as a sculptor, is survived by his wife, Beverly; son, Steven; and two grandchildren.