Harrison Ellenshaw

Many sons growing up in the shadow of a famous father feel that they want to carve their own paths in life. "That was me," says Harrison Ellenshaw, son of Disney Legend and master painter, Peter Ellenshaw, who won an Oscar for his visual effects work on "Mary Poppins" and was nominated a total of five times for the Academy Award. "I had grown up fascinated by my father's paintings," Harrison says. "He would sometimes give me canvas and paints. I have photographs of me painting when I was a small boy. My father's life was painting, even during meals he would bring the canvases he was working on into the kitchen and sit and eat and look, criticizing his own work. My mother was not always pleased that this was how the family spent mealtime, but she understood his passion. But I found both this passion and his incredible talent intimidating. I was convinced I could never live up to any of it."

Harrison graduated from Whittier College with a BA in psychology. By then, in the early 70s, the country was in the throes of a recession and Harrison found it difficult to find a job. "I remember driving with my father one day," he recalls, "and he said, 'Well, you know, just for the time being, if you're interested, the matte department at Disney is looking for apprentices.' So I went and talked to Alan Maley (head of the matte department at Disney), and he agreed that we'd give it six months."