LOS ANGELES (AP) - Xavier "X'' Atencio, an animator behind Disney movies including "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia," has died.
Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown confirmed a company statement saying Atencio died Sunday at age 98. No cause or place of death were given.
He was born Francis Xavier Atencio in Colorado. But friends called him just "X," a name he adopted.
He was still a teenager with a gift for drawing when he began working for Disney, a company that was also very young.
Atencio first saw his work on screen in 1940's "Pinocchio," which was just the second feature film from Disney. He worked on "Fantasia" later that year.
When the company's work started including theme parks in the 1950s, so did Atencio's. He helped design the "Pirates of the Carribbean" and "Haunted Mansion" rides.