Danny Lee was one of the most talented special-effects men in the history of the Disney Studio.
He worked on 47 Disney films, was nominated for an Academy Award® for his work on The Black Hole, and won an Academy Award for Best Effects, Best Special Effects for his innovative work on Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
From 1946–1969, Lee worked as an independent—working frequently with Disney but also traveling the world to work on such special effects-intensive films as It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World for United Artists and The Great Race for Warner Bros. Soon after beginning work on The Love Bug, Lee joined the Disney Studio, accepting a position as head of the special effects department. He masterminded mechanical effects—a specialty branch of effects work that involves rigging objects that move—a car, robot, airplane, spacecraft, Herbie the Volkswagen.
“It doesn’t get any easier no matter how long you’ve been in the business,” Lee once said. “With the Herbie films, each sequel tries to outdo the last. In our department the word “impossible” doesn’t exist.”
Some of the other classic Disney films Lee worked on are Swiss Family Robinson, Freaky Friday, The Shaggy D.A., and Pete’s Dragon. His final film for Disney was Dragonslayer in 1981.
“I remember watching Danny Lee on my lunch hour as he worked on effects shots for Disney films in the 1970s,” says Dave Smith, Walt Disney Archives founder and chief archivist emeritus. “It was such a treat to watch him direct the clothes and armor that magically came to life in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.”
