Earle died on July 20, 2000, at age 84. During his lifetime he created many works that have not been publicly seen or exhibited.

The details of Eyvind Earle's life are too fascinating to be overlooked. Although he was born in New York in 1916, Earle and his family moved to Hollywood California in 1918. Earle began his prolific career at age 10 when his father, Ferdinand Earle, gave him a challenging choice: read 50 pages of a book or paint a picture every day. Earle chose both. From the time of his first solo show in France when he was 14, Earle's fame steadily began to grow.

At age 21, Earle bicycled across the country from Hollywood to New York, paying his way by painting 42 watercolors, one for each day of the trip. In 1937, he opened at the Charles Morgan Galleries, his first of many solo shows in New York. Two years later at his third consecutive showing at the gallery, the response to his work was so positive that the exhibition sold out, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his paintings for its permanent collection. His earliest work was strictly realistic, but after having studied the work of a variety of masters, such as Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rockwell, Kent, and Georgia O'Keefe, Earle came into his own unique style. His oeuvre is characterized by simplicity, directness and a surety of handling.

In 1951, Earle joined Walt Disney studios as an assistant background painter. He intrigued Disney in 1952 when he created the look of “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom”, an animated short film that won an Academy Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award. Disney kept the artist busy for the rest of the decade. Earle painted the settings for such stories as Peter Pan, For Whom the Bulls Toil, Working for Peanuts, Pigs is Pigs, Paul Bunyan, and Lady and the Tramp. The artist was also responsible for the styling, background and colors for the highly acclaimed movie Sleeping Beauty, and is largely credited for giving the movie its magical, medieval look.

Earle’s career has encompassed many different fields. In addition to book illustrating, the artist also designed a number of covers for magazine publications. He also produced and created several animated commercials and specials for television. In 1998, the International Animated Film Society gave Earle its Windsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement. In the 1940s, Earle adapted his creative landscapes to Christmas cards and painted more than 800 designs that have sold more than 300 million copies through American Artist Group.

After about 15 years of creating animated art, Earle returned to painting full-time in 1966. He continued to work rigorously until the end of his life. In addition to his watercolors, oils, sculptures, drawings, and scratchboards, Earle began making limited-edition serigraphs in 1974. Earle had a completely original perception of landscape. He successfully synthesized seemingly incongruent aspects into a singularly distinctive style-- a style that is simultaneously mysterious, primitive, disciplined, moody, and nostalgic. He captured the grandeur and simplicity of the American countryside, and represented glimpses of the American scene with a direct lyric ardor. His landscapes are remarkable for their suggestion of distance, landmass, and weather mood.

"For 70 years I've painted paintings, and I'm constantly and everlastingly overwhelmed at the stupendous infinity of nature," Earle wrote in 1996. "Wherever I turn and look, there I see creation. Art is creating. Art is the search for truth."

Earle died on July 20, 2000, at age 84. During his lifetime he created many works that have not been publicly seen or exhibited.

Eyvind Earle (April 26, 1916 – July 20, 2000) was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney animated films in the 1950s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rahr West Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona State University Art Museum have purchased Earle's works for their permanent collections. His works have also been shown in many one-man exhibitions throughout the world.

This is his animation resume:

1951 Started with the Walt Disney Studios as background painter on: FOR WHOM THE
__ BULLS TOIL, MELODY, and the Academy Award winner for “Best Short of the Year”
__TOOT, WHISTLE, PLUNK and BOOM which also received a Cannes Film Festival Award.
__Production Designer, Color Stylist and Background Painter for the DIsney animated __classic SLEEPING BEAUTY, as well as, PIGS IS PIGS, GRAND CANYONSCOPE,
__PAUL BUNYAN, LADY AND THE TRAMP, LONDON BRIDGE, and WORKING FOR PEANUTS.
__He designed 5 murals for Disneyland.
1958 Joined John Sutherland Motion Picture Company in Los Angeles.
1960-1966 Created 24 sheet poster for Hamm’s Beer.
__Started motion picture animation company, Eyvind Earle Productions, Inc.
__Created animated commercials for Chevrolet Motors, Chrysler Corporation, Marlboro
__igarettes, Motorola Television and the Kellogg Cereal Company.
__Created animated trailer for WEST SIDE STORY for United Artists.
1961 Created animated television special THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS starring
__Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Roger Wagner Choral.
1962 Created animated television special THE EASTER SPECIAL.
__Created title for the KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER.
__Created the logo trademark trailer for Universal Pictures.
__Produced and created the theatrical short DEATH AND SUNRISE