Wikipedia

Wah Chang

For the metals company, seeWah Chang Corporation.

Wah Ming Chang(August 2, 1917 – December 22, 2003) was an Americandesigner,sculptor,andartist.With the encouragement of his adoptive father,James Blanding Sloan,he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven to highly favorable reviews.[1]Chang worked with Sloan on several theatre productions and in the 1940s, they briefly created their own studio to produce films. He is known later in life for his sculpture and thepropshe designed forStar Trek: The Original Series,including thetricorderandcommunicator.[2][3]

Wah Ming Chang
Born(1917-08-02)August 2, 1917
Honolulu,Territory of Hawaii
DiedDecember 22, 2003(2003-12-22)(aged 86)
Carmel, California,U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forFilm,sculpture,painting
Notable workStar Trek
SpouseGlenella Taylor
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisChang.
Wah Chang
Traditional ChineseTrịnh hoa minh
Simplified ChineseTrịnh hoa minh
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhèng Huámíng
Wade–GilesChêng Hua-ming
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJehng Wá-mìhng
Jyutpingzeng6 waa4-2 ming4

Early life

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The Chang family moved fromHonolulu,Hawaii toSan Francisco,California and about 1920 opened the Ho-Ho Tea Room on Sutter Street, which became a favorite venue for the city's Bohemian artists. Wah-Ming's mother,Fai Sue Chang,was a graduate of Berkeley's California School of Arts and Crafts (today'sCalifornia College of the Arts), where she specialized in fashion design and etching. After she died in 1927,[4]her husband persuaded Wah Ming Chang's art teacher and family friends, the highly respected printmaker, puppeteer, and theatre designer,James Blanding Sloanand his wife Mildred Taylor, to become his son's legal guardians. Sloan exhibited Wah Ming's etchings and watercolors in public exhibitions as early as 1925 to favorable reviews in theSan Francisco Bay Areaand later in the largest art colony on the Pacific Coast,Carmel-by-the-Sea.[5][6][7][8][9][10]The child became part of Sloan's family, traveled in 1926 toTaos, New Mexico,for the on-site study of American Indian culture, and in 1928 displayed his block prints in joint exhibitions with Sloan at the prestigiousPhiladelphia Print Club[11][12]and inPasadena, California.[13][14][15]

Career

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He became a valued assistant in several of Sloan's marionette theatres as well as in productions for the Hollywood Bowl Ballet and the "Cavalcade of Texas."[1][16]In the mid-1940s Chang formed a joint studio business with Sloan, The East-West Film Company, and produced such memorable films asPick a Bale of Cotton(an interview and performance with the legendary blues and folk singerLead Bellyin 1944) and the highly controversial anti-war short (1946–47),The Way of Peace,created in part with elaborate miniature sets and puppets in stop-motion.[1]

ForStar Trek,Chang built costumes for the salt vampire ( "The Man Trap"), theGorn( "Arena") and Balok's false image ("The Corbomite Maneuver"). He createdtribblesby using artificial fur stuffed with foam, theNeanderthalsin "The Galileo Seven",and theRomulanBird of Prey( "Balance of Terror"), and the Vulcan harp first seen in"Charlie X"and later seen in"The Conscience of the King","Amok Time","The Way to Eden";andStar Trek V: The Final Frontier.Chang is mistakenly credited with having designed thephaser;it was actually designed by the Art Director of the original series,Matt Jefferies.TheDesiluprop department prepared a single "hero" working model phaser, deemed unacceptable byGene Roddenberry;Wah Chang prepared additional working and dummy mockups of the phaser, as well as other principal props.[17]A Desilu invoice dated August 22, 1966, shows Chang "reworking phasers" for $520.00.[2]

Wah Chang's futuristic "communicator,"a design influence on clamshell cellular phones.

Chang's communicator design has been credited as an inspiration for modern flip-typecell phones.His Balok effigy was used in "The Corbomite Maneuver"Star Trekepisode — and at the conclusion of manyclosing creditssequences of the series.[17]

His other film credits include sculpting themaquetteofPinocchiowhich was used as the reference for the animators of the classicWalt Disneyfeature, and articulated deer models forBambi.[18]He designed the spectacular headdress worn byElizabeth Taylorin the feature filmCleopatra.Other work included building the time machine and sphinx from 1960s movieThe Time Machine,and the dragon (seen only in the English-dubbed version) ofGoliath and the Dragon(1960). Chang's firm, Project Unlimited, Inc., would winAcademy Awardrecognition for itsspecial effects,but Chang was not listed on the award, due to the way the credits were submitted to the academy.[3]Film historian Bob Burns reported that Chang did not object to this. "He was the most humble, gentle man I've ever known in my life," Burns said. "He never boasted about anything he did, and he just did remarkable stuff."[18]

In addition, Chang built the artificial creature in "The Architects of Fear"episode of the originalThe Outer Limits,some props for the originalPlanet of the Apesfilm, the frightening skeleton animated inThe Power,the flying machine inThe Master of the World,and thedinosaursinLand of the Lost.

Chang's work as astop-motion animatorthrough the effects companyCentaur Productions,operated with fellow artistGene Warren,has been enjoyed for years in the cartoonsHardrock, Coco and JoeandSuzy Snowflake.[citation needed]

Later life

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Chang moved with his wife, Glenella Taylor, toCarmel Valley, California,in 1970, where he joined theCarmel Art Associationand began producing bronze sculptures of wildlife and endangered species.[3][18]

In 1941, Wah Ming was diagnosed with polio following flu-like symptoms. After an extended stay at the Twin Oaks Sanitarium hospital inSan Gabriel, California,and treatments that included confinement in an iron lung. He eventually would walk again, but for the rest of his life, never had enough strength in his lungs to be able to blow up a balloon.[citation needed]

While his earlier creative efforts were concerned with special effects and film related wonders, his more mature artistic creations were delightful bronze sculptures and whimsical statuary. The latter ranged from a life-sized 3.5 foot tallDennis the Menace,[19]commissioned by creatorHank Ketchamand displayed in Dennis Park inMonterey, California,to the smaller statues such asGirl and Frog,which is owned by a private collector inLos Angeles.[20]

Death

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Chang died on December 22, 2003, in Carmel Valley at age 86. A public memorial service was held at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel.[21]

Documentaries

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Chang produced the educational 1970 short filmDinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards,astop-motionfeature which discussed life in theMesozoic Era.It would later gain a "Revised Edition" in 1986.

Chang appeared in the documentaryThe Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal(1985) (Produced and directed byArnold Leibovit).

Mr. Chang was featured in the documentaryTime Machine: The Journey Back(1993), produced and directed by Clyde Lucas.

Sculptures

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Chang produced bronze sculptures in collaboration with Henry "Bob" Jones after meeting at Disney.[22]

Publications

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  • Riley, Gail Blasser (1995).Wah Ming Chang: Artist and Master of Special Effects.Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.ISBN978-0-89490-639-8.
  • Barrow, David; Glen Chang (1989).The Life and Sculpture of Wah Ming Chang.Carmel, CA: Wah Ming Chang.ISBN978-0-9625293-1-3.

References

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  1. ^abcEdwards, Robert W. (2012).Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, Vol. 1.Oakland, Calif.: East Bay Heritage Project. pp. 629–635.ISBN9781467545679.An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website ("Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, vol. One, East Bay Heritage Project, Oakland, 2012; by Robert W. Edwards".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-04-29.Retrieved2016-06-07.).
  2. ^abSolow, Herbert F.;Solow, Yvonne Fern (1997).The Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series.Pocket Books,a division ofSimon & Schuster, Inc.pp. 238–239.ISBN0-671-00219-8.
  3. ^abc"Creative Staff: Wah Ming Chang".StarTrek.com. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2010.Retrieved10 July2009.
  4. ^"4 Nov 1927".Oakland Tribune.1927-11-04. p. 2.Retrieved2024-07-04.
  5. ^The Oakland Tribune: April 26, 1925, p.6-S; November 27, 1927, p.S-5; July 22, 1928, p.5-S; July 29, 1928, p.6-S.
  6. ^The Argonaut (San Francisco): November 6, 1926, p.15; August 11, 1928, p.169.
  7. ^Carmel Pine Cone: December 9, 1927, p.4; June 28, 1929, p.14; July 5, 1929, p.13.
  8. ^San Francisco Chronicle, July 29, 1928, p.D-7.
  9. ^Carmelite (Carmel, CA), June 26, 1929, p.3.
  10. ^Barrow, David and Glen Chang (1989).Life and Sculpture of Wah Ming Chang.Carmel, CA.: Wah Ming Chang. pp. 1–87.OCLC23468160.
  11. ^Grafly, Dorothy (1930)."The Philadelphia Print Club".The American Magazine of Art.21(4): 203–207.ISSN2151-254X.JSTOR23931334.
  12. ^Grafly, Dorothy."A history of the Philadelphia Print Club".National Gallery of Art Library.Retrieved2022-10-02.
  13. ^San Francisco Chronicle: August 8, 1926, p.8-F; April 22, 1928, p.D-7.
  14. ^The Christian Science Monitor, August 30, 1926, p. 6.
  15. ^Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1928, p.III-18.
  16. ^Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1932, p.III-16.
  17. ^abSolow, Herbert;Justman, Robert(1996).Inside Star Trek: The Real Story.Pocket Books,a division ofSimon & Schuster, Inc.pp. 118–119.ISBN0-671-89628-8.p. 119:I struck a deal and gave them Matt's detailed working drawings, and they departed, with Wah already planning how he would execute Matt's phaser pistol design, in addition to building the other two props. He finished everything perfectly and made several beautiful hero models of all three props, and all the dummy mockups that I knew the show would require.
  18. ^abc"Wah Ming Chang, 86; Special-Effects Master Worked on 'Time Machine'".Los Angeles Times.30 December 2003.Retrieved20 July2009.
  19. ^Coury, Nic (24 June 2016)."Dennis the Menace statue finds permanent home in Monterey".Monterey County Weekly.Retrieved2022-05-16.
  20. ^Neal Hotelling (13 Jan 2023)."His work animated famous tales"(PDF).Carmel Pine Cone.Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. p. 19.Retrieved2023-01-13.
  21. ^"Wah Ming Chang, 86; Special-Effects Master Worked on 'Time Machine'".The Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2003. p. 57.Retrieved2023-01-13.
  22. ^"Models, Miniatures, and Movie Magic".The Walt Disney Family Museum.2011-07-08.Retrieved2016-12-23.
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