Inside an incarceration camp, a Sears catalog became his sketchbook.
July 17, 1934: Japanese American animator Willie Ito was born in San Francisco.
Sears catalogs were free. Sketchbooks weren’t.
While incarcerated with his family at Topaz during World War II, young Willie Ito filled old Sears catalogs with drawings. Those pages became his canvas, giving him a way to imagine worlds beyond the barbed wire that surrounded him.
Willie Ito was only seven years old when Executive Order 9066 uprooted his family.
Like more than 120,000 Japanese Americans, they were forced from their home and sent to an incarceration camp. At Topaz in Utah, drawing became one of Willie’s favorite escapes.
Paper was scarce, and sketchbooks were a luxury many families could not afford. Old Sears catalogs, however, were free. Willie filled their pages with cartoons, characters, and anything else his imagination could create.
A Mentor Who Had Been There Too
Few could have imagined those childhood drawings would one day help shape some of the most beloved animated films and television shows ever created.
After the war, Willie continued drawing and eventually landed an interview at Walt Disney Studios. There he met another Japanese American artist whose life had followed a remarkably similar path.
Iwao Takamoto had also been incarcerated during World War II, spending years at Manzanar before beginning his own career at Disney. Takamoto recognized Willie’s talent, encouraged him, and became an important mentor as the young artist entered the animation industry.
One former incarceree was now helping another build a future through art.
From Topaz to Animation History
At just 19 years old, Willie joined Disney and worked alongside artists on Lady and the Tramp. He contributed to the famous spaghetti dinner sequence, one of the most recognizable scenes in animation history.
His career continued for more than four decades.
After Disney, Willie worked at Warner Bros. with legendary director Chuck Jones before moving to Hanna-Barbera, where he helped bring countless television favorites to life, including The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and Josie and the Pussycats.
Generations of children grew up watching characters Willie Ito helped animate, often without realizing that one of the artists behind them had once been a child incarcerated behind barbed wire.
Coming Full Circle
Later in life, Willie returned to the story that had shaped his childhood.
Partnering with author Shig Yabu, he illustrated Hello, Maggie!, a children’s book inspired by Yabu’s childhood at Heart Mountain. The story was later adapted into an animated short, allowing Willie to use the craft he had spent a lifetime perfecting to help preserve another child’s incarceration story.
The same boy who once drew in discarded Sears catalogs behind barbed wire continues to inspire new generations through his artwork.
His journey came full circle.