Restrictions on Access
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Preferred Citation
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Biography
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Title: Wah Chang papers
Collection number: PASC 202
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.4 linear ft.
(2 boxes and 6 flat boxes)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1950-2000
Date (inclusive): ca. 1928-2000 (bulk, ca. 1950-2000)
Abstract: Collection consists of biographical scrapbooks and exhibit panels documenting the career of special effects and film pioneer,
artist Wah Chang.
Language of Materials: Materials are in English.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Creator:
Chang, Wah
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Wah Chang Papers (Collection PASC 202). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift, 2001.
Biography
Wah Ming Chang was born 1917 in Honolulu and moved to San Francisco in the early 1920s. There he began exhibiting his creative
work at the age of six. After the death of his mother in 1928, he came to live with Blanding Sloan and Mildred Taylor. In
1938, Chang began his career in film and special effects by building murals, sets, and animated puppets shown at the World's
Fair in San Francisco. He joined Disney Studios' Effects and Model Department in 1939 and worked on projects such
Pinocchio,
Fantasia, and
Bambi. In 1941, he worked for George Pal Puppetoon Studio as head of the puppet department working on Army and Navy training films.
Chang formed East-West Studios with Blanding Sloan in 1945 and produced
The Way of Peace, an animated puppet film commissioned by the American Lutheran Church. He later formed Centaur Productions, working on television
commercials and toy designs. Throughout the 1950s he freelanced and worked on motion picture projects such as the
King and I,
Can Can,
Tom Thumb,
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, and
The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao , for which he received an Oscar nomination. Over the next several years he worked on major motion pictures, commercials for
such companies as Dole Pineapple, Kellogg, and Kraft, and various television series such as
The Outer Limits and
Star Trek. Chang left Hollywood in the 1970s to pursue his interests in wildlife and sculpture.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of biographical scrapbooks and exhibit panels documenting the career of special effects and film pioneer,
artist Wah Chang. Includes original and reproduced photographs, clippings and ephemera.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Books About Chang
- Clippings
- Photographs
- Scrapbooks
- Exhibit Panels
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chang, Wah--Archives.
Cinematography--Special effects--Archives.
Photographs.