San Diego native and self-proclaimed California Boy, David Willardson, enjoyed a successful career in design and illustration before teaming up with Disney. He had always loved all things Disney--from the first time he visited Disneyland as a kid in 1955, to working there as a cast member throughout high school--but he never considered a professional relationship until he received a call from Jeffrey Katzenberg (head of animation at Disney) in the 80’s. Katzenberg had seen an illustration of Goofey that Willardson had done for a national ad spot, and asked if he would be interested in creating an entirely new look for the animated movie poster campaigns that featured the reissued classics and new movies. Then for the next 17 years, Willardson was the artist of choice for those Disney campaigns.