His first major project was the 1936 film Things to Come. After World War II, he worked on films like Quo Vadis until he was recruited by Walt Disney Studios to work on their first live action film, Treasure Island. He would go on to work on films like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Mary Poppins, for which he won an Academy Award. He retired after doing The Black Hole in 1979, but came back to do matte paintings for Dick Tracy in 1990. His son Harrison is also an Academy Award-winning effects designer.

He was made a Disney Legend in 1993.

After Peter Ellenshaw retired from the film business, he dedicated his life to his passion for fine art painting. Numerous masterpieces were created, of both Disney Fine Art and non-Disney themed subjects, which have been highly collected and are considered extremely valuable.

Selected filmography

• The Thief of Bagdad (1940), assistant matte artist
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946), assistant matte artist
• Black Narcissus (1947), assistant matte artist
• The Red Shoes (1948), assistant matte artist
• Treasure Island (1950), matte artist
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), matte artist
• Old Yeller (1957), matte artist
• Johnny Tremain (1957), production designer
• Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), special effects
• Pollyanna (1960), matte artist
• Swiss Family Robinson (1960), matte artist
• The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), special effects
• Mary Poppins (1964), special effects (Academy Award winner)
• The Love Bug (1969), special effects
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), art direction (Academy Award nominee)
• The Island at the Top of the World (1974), special effects and production design (Academy Award nominee for the latter)
• The Black Hole (1979), miniature effects creator (Academy Award nominee for visual effects)
• Dick Tracy (1990), matte artist

External links

• Artist's Official Disney Fine Art Site
• Artist's official website biography.
• Peter Ellenshaw at the Internet Movie Database