Kent Melton

Kent Melton
Born1955 (1955)[1]
Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Died (aged 68)
Stone County, Missouri, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationAnimation sculptor
Notable workThe Lion King, The Incredibles, Aladdin
SpouseMartha Melton
Children3

Kent Melton (1955 – February 22, 2024) was an American animation sculptor.[2] He created sculptures and reference maquettes for The Walt Disney Company, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Brothers.

Early life

Born in 1955, Melton was the second of three children of an agriculture teacher in Springfield, Missouri. He lived in Aurora and Marionville during elementary school. He moved to Illinois after his father was hired for a teaching position there.[1][3] Melton was raised on farms and never attended art school nor received any formal art training.[4]

Career

Melton left his job carving wood and cutting glass at an amusement park in Branson, Missouri and went to Los Angeles, where he worked at Hanna-Barbera as a staff sculptor, the first person to do so. He sculpted characters from The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and worked on The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. Melton created painted Beatles statues based on the TV cartoons. They have since been reproduced through the years. In addition to creating porcelain-based sculptures for the Walt Disney Classics Collection, Melton also freelanced for Warner Bros., making sculptures for Tiny Toons Adventures, before being hired by Disney.[5] His credits include Aladdin (1992), Thumbelina (1994), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Tarzan (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), The Incredibles (2004), Coraline (2009), Tangled (2010), ParaNorman (2012), and The Boxtrolls (2014).[5][6] For Aladdin, Melton worked on the first computer-animated character ever made in an animated film.[7][8] He is considered an important figure in the "Disney Animation Renaissance" of the 1990s.[5] He was a featured artist at the 2018 Toonfest.[9]

Later life and death

Melton died from Lewy body dementia at his home in Stone County, Missouri, on February 22, 2024.[10][11] He was married to Martha, with whom he had three children and four grandchildren.[5]

Edna Mode and Violeta maquettes by Melton

References

  1. ^ a b "Kent Melton". MoMA. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  2. ^ Lang, Jamie (February 26, 2024). "Kent Melton, Disney And Laika Maquette Maker, Dies At 68". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  3. ^ "Getting to Know Kent Melton". www.417mag.com. January 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Dautrich, Camille (March 26, 2014). "Ozarks sculptor shapes Hollywood animated characters". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Barnes, Mike (February 22, 2024). "Kent Melton, Character Sculptor for 'Aladdin,' 'The Lion King' and 'Coraline,' Dies at 68". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "Kent Melton: From Aladdin to ParaNorman". Missouri State University Blog. March 18, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Addio a Kent Melton, scultore di 'Aladdin', 'Il Re Leone' e dei 'Flintstones'". Cinecittà News (in Italian). February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  8. ^ Crumpe (February 22, 2024). "Kent Melton, sculpteur des personnages d'Aladdin, Le Roi Lion et Coraline, décède à 68 ans". Crumpe (in French). Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Ragsdale, Matt (September 12, 2018). "Toonfest brings artists from around the country to Marceline". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "Disney and Laika Character Sculptor Kent Melton Dies at Age 68". www.animationmagazine.net. February 23, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "Famed Character Sculptor Kent Melton Passes at 68". Animation World Network. Retrieved June 2, 2024.