‘Huz: Drawn to Life’ Gives Animator Ron Husband His Long Overdue Flowers

September 4, 2026 Victoria Wade

There are names woven into the history of Disney that we know by heart. Walt Disney. The Nine Old Men. Glen Keane. John Musker. And then there are those who work may have shaped the films, characters and worlds we grew up with, even if we never knew their names. Ron Husband was one of those names. That changed this year.

While attending D23 Expo this past August, I had the chance to sit in on a panel accompanying Huz: Drawn to Life, Don Hahn’s documentary following the life and career of longtime Disney Animator Ron Husband, now streaming on Disney+. The conversation was led by Hahn, alongside Husband and several legendary Black artists and creatives featured in Disney Animation including Disney Legend Floyd Norman, Bruce W. Smith, Marlon West, and Phil Morris. At the time, I knew I was sitting in the same room as some amazingly talented people. What I did not realize yet is how deeply Husband’s story would stay with me.

After watching Huz on Disney+, I walked away feeling that the documentary was more than a retrospective of one animator’s career. It is a story of perseverance, mentorship, creativity and representation. It is also a reminder that some of Disney’s most important stories are still waiting to receive the attention they deserve.

Nearly Four Decades of Work

“I’ve never considered my time at Disney ‘work.'” Husband says early in the documentary. “The 38 years I was there, I was just putting pencil to paper.”

Throughout the documentary, Husband comes across as remarkably humble as he did in person when I spoke to him briefly after the panel. There is little sense that he views himself as a trailblazer or someone who consciously set out to make history. Instead, he seems driven by something much simpler.

He loves to draw. He loves to learn.

That passion can be traced back to one of his earliest mentors: his high school art teacher, Mrs. Clemons. She encouraged Husband to carry a sketchbook with him, advice that would become a lifelong practice, which we saw demonstrated as we even saw him sketching briefly during the panel, with Floyd Norman peeking over happily. She even paid for him to take art classes outside of school.

Decades later, the sketchbook remains a constant and after watching Huz, it became one of the moments that I thought about the most. After decades in animation, after a career of making history, Husband is still sketching. Still practicing. Still learning.

The documentary gives us a glimpse into how deeply this practice has shaped his life. We see stacks of sketchbooks and drawings going back decades. Husband describes sketching photographs, particularly sports photographs, as a way he improved his skills. For him, the work never really ends.

Practice, practice, practice.

That philosophy may be one of the simplest explanations for the extraordinary career that followed.

The Power of Someone Believing in You

One of the more interesting things to emerge from Huz is Mentorship. During the panel, Hahn spoke about how much the theme surprised him during the creation of the documentary. But as you watch Husband’s story unfurl, it is difficult to imagine telling it without talking about the people who helped guide him.

Mrs. Clemons was the first. Followed by legendary Imagineer Sam McKim, who taught Ron at ArtCenter, becoming another monumental influence on his journey. It was through McKim that Husband learned about opportunities at Disney in the ‘70s, when the studio was looking to train a new generation of artists for the studio. Mentorship was also a topic that expanded beyond Husband’s story during the panel. Floyd Norman reflected on his own time at ArtCenter, describing how the school gave him the discipline and foundation that transformed his passion for drawing into something more serious.

Bruce W. Smith spoke about his formative experience at CalArts and how exposure to working with Disney artists helped him grow. Listening to these men speak about the people who helped shape their careers was one of the more powerful parts of the panel. Because legends rarely become legends on their own. Someone encourages you, challenges you, teaches you and gives you an opportunity. And that opportunity can ultimately end up changing everything.

Entering Disney During a Changing Era

Ron Husband joined Disney Animation during one of the most important transitional periods of the studio’s history. The ‘70s marked the change of an era, with the Nine Old Men of Disney beginning to pass their knowledge and experience to the next generation who would shape what Disney would become. Before Disney, Husband was a technical Illustrator at Honeywell but did not get the creative fulfillment he desired. Enter Sam McKim, who informed him of Disney’s new trainee program. Originally reluctant, he submitted his sketchbooks and Disney saw the potential.

The program was demanding, with the trainees only having four weeks to prove themselves before being officially brought on. Yet Husband persevered. While Husband was entering an exciting new chapter professionally, he was also entering an industry where Black artists were rarely represented. This reality becomes one of the documentary’s most important conversations.

Huz doesn’t shy away from the racial barriers Black artists faced in animation during the time. Marlon West, Head of Animation Effects and Visual Effects Supervisor at Disney Animation, recalls never seeing a Black animator while growing up. Bruce Smith remembers encountering the idea that Black people simply didn’t work in animation. His observation about the animated shows he grew up with was rather striking.

“Where were Black people in the Flintstones? What about The Jetsons?” According to those shows, Black people seemingly didn’t exist in the past or future. Yet Black children were watching. That is why representation on screen. During the panel, hearing Smith discuss the significance of seeing artists like Ron Husband added another layer to that conversation. Seeing Ron Husband working at Disney mattered. It made something seem possible because sometimes seeing someone who looks like you in a room you were told you could never enter.

The Fight to Keep Drawing

One of the more difficult portions of Huz follows a medical crisis that could’ve ended Husband’s career, and life, entirely.

He would begin to experience increasingly concerning symptoms, which doctors initially could not determine the cause. Eventually, with the help of Walt Disney’s own secretary, would he see a neurosurgeon who would help him discover a cyst on his brain. The surgery was life threatening, yet he survived the eight-hour brain surgery against all odds. But his recovery brought upon another challenge. He lost his ability to write or draw. Doctors expected a recovery time of one to two years. Husband was back to work within six months.

That part of his story is where Husband into a superhero and that’s what I feel makes this documentary so effective because he keeps moving forward. He returns to what he has always done, and that’s to draw against all odds.

Making History Without Intending To

Ron Husband did not walk into Disney Animation with the goal of becoming a history making figure. He entered with the goal of flourishing creatively. However, his presence at Disney ended up being so much larger. Huz does a great job of exploring the history of Black artists at the studio and some of those individuals who helped break barriers before and alongside Husband. It places his career within a broader history, acknowledging those Black creatives who entered spaces that were not designed with them in mind.

Husband would eventually become the first Black animator at Disney Animation. People would quickly recognize what his presence represented. He received fan mail, became a source of inspiration and ultimately a part of Disney History. Yet he was not chasing history, which is a common theme amongst the Black creatives we see featured here. They wanted to work, learn, improve and do better and in turn they changed the industry.

Finding His Voice Through Art

As Husband continued to grow creatively, he looked for ways to challenge himself. When the work he began to receive didn’t always push him in the ways he wanted; he began to experiment. Eventually, he worked from within. He would draw inspiration from his own familial history; with the stories his mother had told him about growing up in Mississippi.

His personal history in turn became his art. That connection between Husband and his art is one of the more beautiful elements of the documentary. His family describes him as one who does not always communicate verbally. But through his artwork, they have been allowed the chance to understand him on a more profound level.

At one point, Husband describes his relationship with drawing through his faith. Referencing a famous sentiment from Chariots of Fire, he explains that when he draws, he feels God’s pleasure. He draws to give glory back to God. For Ron, drawing isn’t just a profession, but his connection to his true faith.

The Disney Characters Behind the Artist

Husband’s work can be found throughout some of Disney Animation’s most beloved and cherished films.

He worked on Beauty and the Beast as a member of the Gaston Team. He contributed to The Lion King where Disney Animators famously studied actual lions in house as part of their research and character development. He supervised Djali, the goat from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

And then there is Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

One of the more compelling sections of Huz explores Husband’s connection to Dr. Joshua Sweet, the first major Black animated Disney character to be in a feature film. Husband was assigned to animate the character, while actor Phil Morris provided his voice. Morris would reflect on the significance of the character and the history surrounding the artists who helped bring him to life. These were artists who excelled in an industry that historically had not made room for them and they were determined to change that.

Why Ron Husband’s Story Matters

A few years ago, I learned about Disney Legend Martha Blanding. And this year, I had the incredible honor of meeting her during D23 day at Disneyland.

Learning about her story in her own words through her book introduced me to another side of Disney History. It was a prominent reminder that Black men and women helped build and influence many of the Disney experiences that I have loved throughout life, even if I didn’t know their names growing up. Ron Husband has now become one of those stories for me and many others through Huz.

I am grateful to Don Hahn for choosing to tell this story because Ron Husband deserves his flowers, as is very clearly shown through this documentary. As does, Floyd, Bruce, Marlon, Phil and many other Black creatives who continue to help open doors and transform the industry. Their stories and contributions matter and names deserve to be remembered.

Ron Husband’s story of adversity, creativity, growth and perseverance came into my life at a time when I personally needed to hear it. There is something so powerful about witnessing someone face obstacles that could have easily stopped them.

Professional uncertainties, racism, a life-threatening medical crisis and the loss of his ability to draw.

And yet, he continued on. Not because the journey was easy or because everything worked out in the end. But because he continued to put pencil to paper. That is what I gained coming out of Huz: Drawn to Life. The stories of Black creatives who have entered and continue to make their mark within the Disney bubble often share a similar thread. They served themselves and their passions, and in doing so, contributed to their community, making it possible for others to follow in their footsteps.

Huz did not get the same amount of attention as larger projects surrounding D23 Expo this year, and after watching it myself, I feel that is a shame. Don Hahn has managed to create an exceptional portrait of a Black creative whose story deserves to be seen. It was made very clearly with such admiration for Ron Husband. You can feel it through conversations with his family, friends and fellow artists. But throughout it all, Huz never feels like a simple walk through of someone’s career.

It is far more intimate. It is the story of an artist, father, athlete, student, mentor survivor and ultimately someone who found pure joy in the simple pleasures of creating.

And through the simplicity of putting pencil to paper, he helped shape Disney history. For me, Ron Husband is no longer an unfamiliar name buried in the credits of films I adore. He is part of the story and I am grateful to have learned more about it through this documentary and his own words.