Tony Baxter

Steps of St. Paul's by Tony Baxter

 

Tyrolean Fantasy by Tony Baxter

 

These two inaugural personal art releases from Disney Legend Tony Baxter and the Disney Fine Art portfolio (“Steps of St. Paul’s” and “Tyrolean Fantasy”) are significant because they inspired and informed his work as a Disney Imagineer and reflected his love of classic Disney films. This is the first time art images from Tony Baxter’s private collection have ever been offered as fine art releases.

Created as an homage to Walt Disney’s film musical “Mary Poppins,” “Steps of St. Paul’s” was an original watercolor painting crafted by Tony in 1969. The artwork imagery represents Tony’s love of the film, considered one of the most original and innovative Hollywood movie musicals of all time, and its emotional highlight, the classic Sherman brothers’ lullaby “Feed the Birds”),

Painted by Tony Baxter circa 1975, "Tyrolean Fantasy" was inspired by the artistry of his mentor at Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Legend Claude Coats. Before becoming a renowned Imagineer, Coats was responsible for creating stunning backgrounds for many of Walt Disney’s early animated films, most notably the 1940 animated feature “Pinocchio.”

"Tyrolean Fantasy" represents Tony’s self-imposed personal challenge of trying to create something akin to the look of a Claude Coats background. However, later in Tony’s Imagineering career, the artwork informed the look of the 1983 “New Fantasyland” at Disneyland Park in California and, later in the early 1990s, the placement of the castle at Disneyland Paris.