Peter Ellenshaw, 93, Oscar-winning artist

LOS ANGELES -- Peter Ellenshaw, an Academy Award-winning special effects artist who worked on Disney classics such as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "Darby O'Gill and the Little People," and "Mary Poppins," for which he won his Oscar, has died. He was 93.

Mr. Ellenshaw, who was also a renowned sea and landscape artist, died Monday of age-related complications at his home in Santa Barbara, said his son, Harrison.

Mr. Ellenshaw's more than 30-year association with Walt Disney Studios began in 1947 when he was hired in London to do matte paintings for Disney's first live-action film, "Treasure Island" (1950).

In 1953, he was brought to California to work on Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

He eventually did matte paintings and other special effects for more than 30 other films, including "The Absent-Minded Professor," "Pollyanna," "Swiss Family Robinson," "The Happiest Millionaire," "The Love Bug," and "The Black Hole." He also did matte paintings for Disney TV fare such as "Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier."

"He's one of the titans of visual effects in an era before people took visual special effects for granted," film critic and historian Leonard Maltin said Wednesday.

Unlike the digital special effects of today, Maltin explained, "a matte painter literally painted on panes of glass that, when suspended properly in front of the camera or double exposed, give a perfect illusion."

"So when you see London Harbor full of tall-masted schooners in 'Treasure Island,' that's an Ellenshaw painting. When Mary Poppins sails over the rooftops of London, that's an Ellenshaw painting. And when Davy Crocket rides down the path to Washington, that's an Ellenshaw painting."

Born in London, Mr. Ellenshaw moved to Essex with his parents and two sisters during World War I when he was 3. He recalled German zeppelins flying overhead.

"My mother put us under the kitchen table while they were overhead and gave us pencils and paper to draw with," he recalled in a 1980 interview. "After the age of 4, I learned to draw airplanes; in fact, that got me interested in art."

From 1935 to 1941, Mr. Ellenshaw worked as an uncredited assistant matte artist on a dozen films, including "The Thief of Bagdad" and "Major Barbara." After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Mr. Ellenshaw worked as a matte artist on "Black Narcissus," "Stairway to Heaven," "Quo Vadis," and other films.

After doing special effects and the production design on the 1974 Disney adventure-fantasy "The Island at the Top of the World" -- he shared an Oscar nomination for best art direction -- Mr. Ellenshaw and his wife, Bobbie, moved to Ireland, where he painted landscapes for a couple of years before returning to California.

From then on, he did film work occasionally, including the 1979 Disney space adventure "The Black Hole," for which he shared an Oscar nomination for best visual effects.

Mr. Ellenshaw, who also shared an Oscar nomination for art direction for the 1971 film "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," came out of retirement for the last time to do matte paintings for the 1990 film "Dick Tracy."

In addition to his son , who is a visual effects artist, he leaves his daughter, Lynda Ellenshaw Thompson, a visual effects producer, and two grandchildren.