81-year-old Floyd Norman has been off the books at Disney for over 16 years, but he still shows up to work everyday.
Norman, who has worked on scores of Disney films including Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, and The Jungle Book, apparently first worked on One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
At age 65, Disney told him that they believed he had become too old to continue to do his job, which led to his firing— twice.
Despite being let go, Norman continued to show up to his job in the animator’s office. He has managed to do so in spite of not having a badge or getting a paycheck.
It turns out that his wife, Adrienne, who is 20 years younger than him, also works at the same Disney office as a storybook artist. It is Adrienne who sneaks him onto the premises.
In an interview with The New York Post, Norman said, “People got used to seeing me so often, they assumed I [still] worked there. I don’t want to sit on the front porch. I want to work!”
His story has been so inspirational to some that he has become the subject of a documentary titled Floyd Norman: An Animated Life.
It becomes clear that Norman feels like his calling is at Disney. He is quoted as saying, “There’s no better job than creating something that entertains people. It’s putting a little light into a dark world.”
Norman works out of Disney’s Burbank, CA studios.
