Location: Emporium Annex, Town Square - Main Street USA, Disneyland.
In 1935, Claude Coats joined the Walt Disney Studios as a background painter. He painted stunning watercolors for many of Disney's most memorable films, including Pinocchio, Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, Fantasia, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. Working in animation, Coats met his wife, Evelyn Henry, an inker at Walt Disney Studios.
In 1955, Coats designed and developed show themes and artwork for the Grand Canyon, Primeval World, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Snow White's Scary Adventures. A talented artist, Coats used lighting and color to tell stories and set moods.
Coats retired from the Walt Disney Company in 1989 after 54 years. In 1991, he was named a Disney Legend in both Animation and Imagineering. Claude Coats died January 9, 1992 in Burbank, California.