Stages of Crump

Roland Crump started as an inbetweener at Disney in 1952, in the same wave of artists as John Sparey and most of the other artists in our series of John's artwork ... I met Roland for the first and only time at WED in 1981, where the Disney animation department enjoyed a presentation by -- and long lunch with -- the WED Imagineers. "Rollie" was the most vivid personality in attendance. I sat next to him for two hours and he regaled me with tales about his last Disney animation gig: keeping track of ALL the spots on ALL the dogs in "101 Dalmations," making sure none of them slipped or changed position. Roland said the job drove him bonkers, and he was grateful when Walt happened into his room during a nighttime prowl, spied Mr. Crump's array of small, spinning mobiles, and dispatched him to WED in Glendale. Roland spent the rest of his Disney career working on designs for the Haunted Mansion, the Enchanted Tiki Room and It's a Small World. Mr. Crump was also known for a series of "psychedelic" posters satirizing the political and social excesses of the era.

John drew this cycle after noting the transitory nature of Crump's facial and hair grooming: