Kent Melton
WDCC Sculptor
Kent Melton was a legendary animation sculptor and maquette artist whose work helped define characters for some of the most celebrated animated films of the modern era.
A foundational artist of the Walt Disney Classics Collection, Melton combined an extraordinary understanding of animated character design with the ability to translate drawings into expressive three-dimensional form.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Discover the artist behind the sculptures
Born in 1955 in Springfield, Missouri, Kent Melton developed his abilities without formal art-school training, teaching himself to draw and sculpt the characters that fascinated him.
After moving to Los Angeles, he joined Hanna-Barbera and became the studio's first staff sculptor, creating three-dimensional interpretations of animated characters.
He later joined Disney as a character sculptor and maquette artist, contributing to films including Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan and Tangled.
Kent Melton & WDCC
Work for the Walt Disney Classics Collection
Kent Melton was involved with the Walt Disney Classics Collection from its earliest days. While creating animation maquettes for Disney films, he was invited to contribute to the company's new line of collectible porcelain sculpture.
Initially skeptical about how successfully animated characters could be reproduced in porcelain, Melton changed his mind after seeing the detail achieved in one of the collection's earliest prototypes and became an integral artist in the development of WDCC.
Over the following two decades, he became one of the collection's most prolific and influential sculptors, creating everything from individual characters to elaborate limited editions and Signature Series scenes.
NOTABLE WDCC CREATIONS
A selection of sculptures created by Kent Melton
BEYOND WDCC
Other projects and collectible lines
Beyond collectible sculpture, Kent Melton became one of the animation industry's most respected character maquette sculptors. His models gave animators a physical reference for understanding characters from every angle.
His career extended across major studios including Hanna-Barbera, Disney, Warner Bros., DreamWorks and Laika, and across traditional animation, computer animation and stop-motion.
- Aladdin
- The Lion King
- Mulan
- Tarzan
- The Incredibles
- Coraline
- Tangled
- ParaNorman
DID YOU KNOW?
A little story behind the artist
Before audiences ever met the Genie on screen, Kent Melton had already helped bring him into three dimensions by creating a character maquette for Aladdin.
That original 1992 Genie maquette became significant enough to be exhibited decades later as an artifact in the international Disney100 exhibition.