March 23 - Norman Palmer

Image courtesy d23.com

On this day, in 2013, Norman Palmer passed away in his sleep at his home in Northridge, California. Norm was born on October 7, 1918 in Santa Ana, California the fourth generation of his family to be native to the area. He graduated from Hollywood High School in 1937 and became a projectionist for the Walt Disney Studio the following year. After six months on the job, he moved into the Editing Department and stayed there for the rest of career.

Image copyright Disney

After helping edit features like Pinocchio and Fantasia, World War II came along and Norman did his patriotic duty, enlisting in the United States Navy. He quickly became part of the Field Photo branch and began working with the likes of legendary director John Ford. He spent most of his tour editing films for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington but he did spend some time on the front as an aerial photographer doing reconnaissance work.

When the war was over, Norman returned to Burbank and resumed his editing duties for Disney. It wasn't long before a young lady in the Ink and Paint Department caught his eye. In December 1947, Barbara Major became Mrs. Norman Palmer and happily remained his wife until her death 52 years later.

Image copyright Disney

As the Fifties began, Norman made two important contributions to the company. First, he created a whole new genre of wildlife pictures with the Tru-Life Adventure series. His ability to edit thousands of hours of raw footage down into entertaining nature films, perfectly paired with just the right music, set the standard for years to come. It's really his editing that won Oscars for movies like The Living Desert, Water Birds and In Beaver Valley. Second, he took on the potentially thankless task of mentoring the boss' kid. When Roy E. Disney joined his father and uncle's company, he started in the Editing Department and learned everything he needed to know from Norman.

After the Tru-Life Adventures ran their course, Norman continued editing other live action movies for the studio like The Incredible Journey, The Gnome-Mobile and The Shaggy D.A. He also edited more than two dozen episodes of the Wonderful World of Color (and all its later versions) right up to his retirement in 1983. In 1998, for his 45 years of hit making genius in the editing room, Norman was made an official Disney Legend. He also received a posthumous homage in the video game Bendy and the Ink Machine: one of the game's characters is a projectionist named Norman Polk. He was 95 when he died.