{{short description|American artist (1935–2022)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Paul Wenzel | image = | caption = | birth_name = Paul Edward Wenzel | birth_date = {{birth date|1935|02|14}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|2022|05|27|1935|02|14}}}} | death_place = Prescott, Arizona, <!--Links not needed per MOS:OVERLINK--> U.S. | title = artist, illustrator | notable_works = Walt Disney stamp, ''Mary Poppins'' movie poster | employer = The Walt Disney Company | movement = | awards = | website = [https://msgprescott.com/our-artists/paul-wenzel Paul Wenzel] }}
'''Paul Edward Wenzel''' (February 14, 1935 – May 27, 2022) was an American artist, best known for his career with The Walt Disney Company, creating illustrations for movie posters and retail merchandise.<ref name="DisneyAtoZ p 521">Dave Smith, ''Disney A to Z: The Updated Official Encyclopedia'', {{p.|521}}</ref>
==Career== Wenzel first began at Disney in 1958, working for the studio for 42 years, creating thousands of illustrations for movies and consumer products. Wenzel worked on over 100 movie posters during his tenure as a designer/illustrator for the Motion Picture Advertising Department, including the Academy Award winning ''Mary Poppins''; re-releases of ''Pinocchio'' and ''Song of the South''; ''The Parent Trap''; ''Herbie Goes Bananas''; ''Gus''; ''The Monkey's Uncle''; ''The Misadventures of Merlin Jones''; ''The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit''; ''Moon Pilot''; ''Summer Magic''; ''Pete's Dragon''; ''Dragonslayer''; ''The Black Cauldron''; and ''The Fox and the Hound''.<ref name="Wenzelart" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinematerial.com/artists/paul-wenzel-i793|title=Paul Wenzel|publisher=Cinematerial.com| access-date= August 14, 2019}}</ref> Wenzel created concept paintings for ''Primeval World'' as part of Walt Disney's Ford Motor Company ''Magic Skyway'' attraction at the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://the-disney-elite.tumblr.com/post/110926505488/top-middle-paul-wenzels-primeval-world-concept|title=Top & Middle: Paul Wenzel's Primeval World concept paintings (1962).|publisher=THE DISNEY ELITE| access-date= August 14, 2019}}</ref> Wenzel created concept art of The Haunted Mansion that would later become the cover of the 1964 Disneyland Records album ''Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collectingclassicmonsters.com/tag/paul-wenzel|title=MONSTROUS SOUNDS: CHILLING THRILLING SOUNDS OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE|publisher=Collecting Classic Monsters|access-date=August 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814075802/http://collectingclassicmonsters.com/tag/paul-wenzel/|archive-date=August 14, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wenzel also designed nearly a dozen Disney Company Christmas cards.<ref name="Wenzelart" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/12/from-all-of-us-to-all-of-you-disney-christmas-cards-celebrate-disney-parks/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411082901/https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/12/from-all-of-us-to-all-of-you-disney-christmas-cards-celebrate-disney-parks/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 11, 2019|title=From All of Us to All of You: Disney Christmas Cards Celebrate Disney Parks|publisher=Disney Parks Blog| access-date= August 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rd.com/culture/vintage-disney-christmas-cards/|title=24 of the Best Vintage Disney Christmas Cards from Every Decade|magazine=Reader's Digest| access-date= August 13, 2019}}</ref> Wenzel became Disney Consumer Products first Art Director for their creative publishing team, and in 1985, Paul was made Creative Director of Character Art, supervising over 25 artists.<ref name="Wenzelart" />
===Walt Disney commemorative stamp=== thumb|upright|1968 U.S. Walt Disney commemorative postage stamp. Wenzel painted the portrait, and C. Robert Moore designed the stamp.
Wenzel's most famous work is the Walt Disney portrait made, after Disney's passing in 1966, for a 6-cent commemorative stamp issued in the United States on September 11, 1968.<ref name="stamp" /> The stamp represents Walt Disney with a line of ''It's A Small World'' styled children coming out of a silhouette of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle on the edge of a sphere.<ref name="stamp" /> The portrait was illustrated by Wenzel while the children and the castle were made by Bob Moore.<ref name="stamp">{{cite news|last1=Sampson|first1=Wade|title=Walt Disney's Stamp of Approval|url=https://www.mouseplanet.com/8208/Walt_Disneys_Stamp_of_Approval|access-date=August 13, 2019|work=Mouseplanet.com|date=August 15, 2007}}</ref> During the first 10 days that the Disney stamp was on sale throughout the United States, more than 150 million copies were sold, making the Disney stamp one of the most popular and successful issues in United States history.<ref name="stamp" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/artofthestamp/SubPage%20table%20images/artwork/Artist%20Bios/paulwenzel.htm|title=Art of the Stamp|publisher=Smithsonian National Postal Museum|access-date=August 13, 2019|archive-date=August 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814060037/https://postalmuseum.si.edu/artofthestamp/SubPage%2520table%2520images/artwork/Artist%2520Bios/paulwenzel.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Other work and retirement=== Throughout the 1960s Wenzel was also an illustrator for science-fiction magazines creating covers and interior art for titles such as ''Space Travel''; ''Galaxy Science Fiction''; ''Worlds of Tomorrow''; ''Fantastic Stories of Imagination''; and ''if''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?27517|title=Summary Bibliography: Paul E. Wenzel|publisher= ISFDB.com| access-date= August 13, 2019}}</ref> In 2000, Wenzel retired from Disney to reside in Prescott, Arizona and pursue his fine art paintings of animals and American Indians. His work is exhibited by the Mountain Spirit Gallery.<ref name="Wenzelart">{{cite web|url=https://msgprescott.com/our-artists/paul-wenzel|title=Paul Wenzel |date=January 18, 2015 |publisher= Mountain Spirit Gallery| access-date= August 13, 2019}}</ref>
Wenzel died at his home in Prescott, Arizona, on May 27, 2022.<ref>{{cite news|date=June 4, 2022 |title=Obituary: Paul Wenzel|url=https://www.dcourier.com/news/2022/jun/04/obituary-paul-wenzel/|work=The Daily Courier|access-date=June 15, 2023}}</ref> {{clear}}
==References== {{Reflist|25em}}
==External links== * [https://msgprescott.com/our-artists/paul-wenzel Paul Wenzel at Mountain Spirit Gallery] * [https://www.discogs.com/artist/3489872-Paul-Wenzel Discogs entry for Paul Wenzel]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenzel, Paul}} Category:1935 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Artists from California Category:American illustrators Category:Film poster artists Category:American poster artists Category:Disney people