Dan Goozee, Renowned Walt Disney Imagineering and Movie Poster Artist, Dies at 80

Dan Goozee, the acclaimed artist who created posters for such films as Clash of the Titans, Superman IV and the James Bond movies Moonraker, Octopussy and A View to a Kill, has died. He was 80.

Goozee died April 7 at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center of an age-related condition he had battled for two years, his son, Rob, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The unassuming Goozee spent years as a Walt Disney Imagineering theme park consultant, crafting conceptual artwork for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea, for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder rides, for the Imagination Pavilion and Seas Pavilion at EPCOT and for the Tree of Life attraction at Animal Kingdom.

He also handled effects work for Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).

Born in 1943 in Astoria, Oregon, Daniel Goozee worked on weekends at movie theaters that his father and uncle owned and operated in nearby Seaside, then graduated from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena in 1965.

A year later, he landed a job in the art department at Fox and was a production illustrator on Doctor Dolittle (1967), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974) and a set illustrator on Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).

After working on Logan’s Run (1976) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Goozee joined Walt Disney Imagineering as a developmental/consulting artist.

For Moonraker (1979), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985), Goozee captured 007 star Roger Moore in close contact with, respectively, Lois Chiles, Maud Adams and Grace Jones.

Dan Goozee’s poster for the 1985 film ‘A View to a Kill’ featured Roger Moore and Grace Jones.

MGM/UA/courtesy Everett Collection

In addition to Clash of the Titans (1981) — the final film from effects legend Ray Harryhausen — and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Goozee worked on posters for Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Black Stallion Returns (1983), Crocodile Dundee (1986), The Mission (1986) and more.

Along the way, Goozeé was honored by the Oil Painters of America, Watercolor West and the California National Watercolor Society, among others. He produced a 19-foot mural for Robert Mondavi’s Golden Vineyard Room at Disney’s California Adventure, and his work can be seen at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Autry Museum of the American West.

In addition to his son, survivors include his wife, Michi; daughter-in-law Sarah; and twin grandsons Christopher and Jonathan. Services will be held at 1 p.m. on April 25 at Forest Lawn Glendale.

“You will always be with us even as your work lives on from all things Disney, movies, fine art and more,” Rob wrote. “I’m sure you’re enjoying the views from up there. Look forward to one day seeing them with you again.”

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