Phil Meador spoke at Mississippi University for Women Friday night, on the eve of what Gov. Haley Barbour has declared Joshua Meador Day, in honor of Phil Meador”s father, Columbus native and Disney legend, Joshua Meador.
Speaking to raise money for a local art park and memorial for his father, the vivid, silver-haired man shared the story of his father”s life, kicking off weekend events in honor of Josh Meador.
“In high school he was an all-man. Track star, physics and math major, but he had a bent for art — he was always drawing,” Phil Meador said. “He was also the first male to audit a class at this university.”
Josh Meador went to art school at the Chicago Art Institute, where they were restricted to studying and drawing in black and white for 3 1/2 years.
“Oh, they went crazy with color after that,” Phil Meador said, rolling his eyes and gesturing wildly.
Josh Meador started working for Disney after a fellow CAI graduate was going to California to interview for Disney; he convinced Josh Meador to come along. Josh Meador, who wanted to do commercial art, at first refused, but was finally coerced into also interviewing at Disney. “Guess who got the job?” chuckled Phil Meador.
The original “Smokey the Bear” campaign, “Cinderella,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Forbidden Planet” and especially “Fantasia,” are a few of Phil Meador”s favorite and most famous projects of his father”s.
Through his work, Josh Meador became one of the most influential figures in the world of animation and special effects.
“”Fantasia” was so far ahead of its time that it promptly flopped when it was released,” said Phil Meador. “It did not do well until its second release.”
According to Phil Meador, even at the peak of his career, his father never took a break from creating.
“All of this time, Josh sketched, he drew. Walt (Disney) provided evening classes, models. He had to draw, sketches of places, anything. He had to have his art.”
Josh Meador also loved Columbus and visited often. He remembered his hometown by making Columbus in large lettering on a map where Davy Crockett was supposed to have traveled.
“He worked to paint,” said Phil Meador. “He painted to live.”
To preserve the landmark of Joshua Meador”s garage, which currently stands on the north side of Columbus and still states “Joshua Meador March 12, 1929,” in white paint ,nearly 80 years after it was written, Phil Meador and family have donated a 24-inch-by-34-inch oil painting titled “Cloud Patterns” that his father painted of Walt Disney”s ranch.
The painting hung at the ranch in Palm Springs, Calif., until Walt and Lillian Disney passed away. “Cloud Patterns” was given back to the Meadors family, who have given it to Columbus, to be raffled off.
Tickets for a drawing to own “Cloud Patterns” are $50 at the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center, 300 Main St. Only 290 tickets will be sold. The drawing will take place during the Decorative Arts and Preservation Forum Nov. 5-8.
“I have just thoroughly enjoyed meeting and visiting with Phil Meador,” said Rufus Ward, Billups-Garth Foundation chair and Columbus historian. “He is just a delightful person and has been very gracious in loaning artwork to Columbus and in the gift of a painting for an art park.”
On Saturday, community members joined Meador”s relatives at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library for an exhibit highlighting the artist”s personal artwork as well as his work at Disney Studios.
The weekend tribute to Josh Meador was presented by the Billups-Garth Foundation, the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mississippi University for Women, the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library”s Billups-Garth Archives and the Columbus Arts Council.
Josh Meador passed away in 1965, at age 55, of a heart attack at his home in Caspar, Calif., and lies buried in Columbus” Friendship Cemetery.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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