Freeze Frame! - The Edwin Parks Trophy

In the 1949 Goofy cartoon Tennis Racquet, the victor is awarded the Edwin Parks Trophy. But just who is Edwin Parks? The answer is not rooted in the sport of tennis, but in the ever mischievous antics of Disney Studio staffers.

Ed Parks was an animation veteran who began his career at the Hyperion Avenue studio in the 1930s. According to Parks' son Gary, his father " . . . attended Yale University Art School, with the idea of being a mural painter. During this time, he answered an ad posted on a bulletin board, 'Disney Needs Artists.' This soon led to his moving to California and a job at Disney, at the original Hyperion studio location, and then at the "new" (present) studio in Burbank. As did many animators, he began as an in-betweener, then as an assistant, and spent many years as an effects animator before moving into character animation on both features and many short subjects."

In 1961, Parks left Disney to join Hanna Barbera, where he stayed until his retirement in 1978. He passed away in 1999.

David Lesjak adds:

My research indicates Ed Parks started at the Studio as an Effects Animator on March 7, 1938 and by 1941 had transferred into the Publicity Art Department. He and a couple of other artists helped Hank Porter create insignia designs when Porter was overwhelmed with requests.

Studio employment records indicate Parks left on September 3, 1942 for military service and upon his return on October 30, 1945, he was assigned to work in the Animation Department.

Parks left the Studio in 1961. His only on-screen credit that I've been able to locate was as an Effects Animator on 101 Dalmations.

Image © Walt Disney Company