2nd Signal Photo Lab Unit - insignia

While this particular design was not created at the Disney Studio and does not feature a recognizable Disney character, I was very happy when a friend offered the piece to me at a very reasonable price.


This piece of original insignia art bears the initials "CY 1943" in the bottom right quadrant. According to a note penned in India ink on the reverse, the finished art was created by none other than Disney artist Cyrus S. (Cy) Young. (The emblem's design components were created by a fellow serviceman, but it was Young who put the idea to paper and painted the finished product).

Young, who was born in Hawaii in 1900, was an extremely talented artist who started the Disney Studio Special Effects Department in 1934. He was later joined by Ugo D'Orsi. The two artists were responsible for some of the greatest effects animation created in that time period.

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston wrote in their book Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life: "Through the entire thirties, the entire Effects Department consisted of only two men: Ugo D'Orsi, a straightforward, stubborn, and dedicated Italian, and Cy Young...quiet and sensitive...who loved to play the bass fiddle as a hobby." Thomas and Johnston added, "Since [D'Orsi and Young] did most of the careful work themselves, they needed only a single assistant between them."

In his book Paper Dreams, John Canemaker noted Young had his start in animation at several New York silent cartoon studios including J.R. Bray's, Paul Terry's and Max Fleischer's. Canemaker added that in the 1920s, Young created technical animation at the Annapolis Naval Academy and medical animation for the Tuberculosis Society of America.

According to Canemaker a "1941 studio personnel report described Young as the 'most highly specialized technical animator in the industry'." Young was fired from Disney's the day before the infamous 1941 employee strike. He was rehired in July of that year, but then fired for good in mid-September.


During the war, Young served as a Sergeant in the 1st Signal Photo Lab, at Camp Livingston, Louisiana. Curiously, Young is listed as a member of the Armed Forces on the reverse of the pin-up gate-fold found in the Studio employee newsletter, Dispatch From Disney's. The notation was made despite the fact he was let go almost two years prior.

I have not been able to locate much information on either Young's unit, or the Signal Unit he created the art for. I recently sent an email to the Signal Corps Museum at Fort Gordon, Georgia, asking if they had any history for either unit and am currently waiting to hear back from the Museum historian.

After the war Young worked as a clerk with the Air Force. Sadly, and like so many other Disney artists before him, Young met a tragic end - he committed suicide on January 16, 1964.