You might not recognize Simon Lok’s name, but you have almost certainly seen his work. If you watched any of Disney’s animated feature films in the late 1990s and early 2000s—“Mulan,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” “Brother Bear,” or “The Princess and the Frog” to name just a few—you’re familiar with his use of color, light, and landscape to create a vivid and memorable palette and setting for those films’ characters and their adventures.
Lok, who is listed in those films’ credits as Sai Ping Lok, was freshly graduated from art school at California State Long Beach when Disney hired him as a visual designer. Then in his late twenties, he had studied at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena before transferring to Cal State.
He landed at Disney at exactly the right time: the company was beginning production on “Mulan,” which was set in Lok’s native China. He was able to bring not just a painterly eye to the film’s visuals, but a deep familiarity with its landscapes, culture, history, and symbolism.
Read the full article in the July/August 2026 issue.
Overlooking the Valley
oil
18″ by 24″
Colorado River Morning
oil
24″ by 36″
