Joe Rinaldi was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist, who worked at Disney within its story department with fellow writers Erdman Penner, Ted Sears, Bill Peet, Winston Hibler, Dick Huemer, and others.
Joe Rinaldi was born on August 1, 1914 and graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1932. A gifted draughtsman while working at Disney, he came with concept art from "The Pastoral Symphony" segment of Fantasia. This led further contributions of art and story ideas for features, like Dumbo, Melody Time, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Babes in Toyland. He worked on many short films and features up until Sleeping Beauty, when he became a writer for Disney's anthology series.
Frank Thomas said once that Rinaldi had a lot to do with what was great about Lady & the Tramp and The final look of the film was significantly shaped by his drawings. During an episode of the anthology series ("Cavalcade of Songs"), he appeared with Ed Penner, Peggy Lee, and Sonny Burke on a segment that showcased what it was like to bounce ideas back and forth with fellow writers behind the scenes, which included artwork from the early stages of Lady and the Tramp.
He died on November 25, 1974 at the age of sixty.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Fantasia | Concept art - uncredited |
| 1941 | Dumbo | story development |
| 1947 | Fun and Fancy Free | "Mickey and the Beanstalk" (writer) |
| 1948 | Melody Time | story "Pecos Bill" (writer) "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed" (story) |
| 1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (writer) |
| 1950 | Cinderella | story |
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | story |
| 1953 | Peter Pan | story |
| 1954-1969 | The Magical World of Disney | special art work writer |
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp | story |
| 1959 | Sleeping Beauty | additional story |
| 1961 | Babes in Toyland | screenplay |
Gallery[]
Known Artwork[]
.jpg "Lady Tramp Tony Joe Rinaldi (2).jpg (75 KB)")
