“One of the bad days…”
Disney animator Ann Sullivan has passed away after contracting Covid-19.
The artist, whose work includes drawing The Little Mermaid, Hercules, Lilo and Stitch, and The Lion King, died in a nursing home this week.
She was 91 years old.
Sullivan passed away in Los Angeles’ Motion Picture Home Facility (MPTF), a care home and hospital specifically for members of the entertainment community.
She is the third resident of the facility to pass away due to coronavirus since last month.
MPTF president and CEO Bob Beitcher told Deadline: “There are good days and bad days. This was one of the bad days.”
“I expect there will be more before we get through the tunnel,” he said.
“We’ve got people working very long hours under stressful conditions, providing not only incredible care, but constant communication with family members.
“The industry can be proud that it has supported us over the years so that we can provide this care to the most frail and vulnerable, and in some cases, to the end of their lives with gentle and dignified transitions.”
Sullivan began working in the Walt Disney animation paint lab in the early 1950s.
After a brief stint in Hanna Barbera, she eventually moved back to Disney and is credited with drawing some of the company’s most iconic and recognisable characters. She retired in the early 2000s.
Sullivan’s daughter, Shannon, paid tribute to her mother saying that family was “everything” to her.
“My mom had a great sense of humour,” she said, “was extremely positive, and touched everyone who was lucky enough to meet her.
“She loved to have a good time.”
