By Hal Kataoka (Director at Career Valor)

For too long, many Japanese Americans have remained silent about their experiences in internment camps during World War II. One brave soul, Willie Ito, refused to surrender his dignity, his love for his ancestry, or his dream of becoming an animator. Growing up in San Francisco, Willie attended Fremont Elementary—a school later renamed Rosa Parks Elementary. When war broke out, he was wrongfully interned at Topaz War Relocation Camp, Utah, along with 110,000 others of Japanese ancestry. Rather than becoming bitter, he spent his time drawing cartoons and dreaming of freedom.

In late February 2026, Willie returned to his alma mater for the first time in 84 years. Before speaking at a film festival to showcase his new movie, Hello Maggie—the story of a young Japanese American boy imprisoned at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, who befriends a magpie. He walked the halls of the school as part of his "reminiscence therapy."

Willie’s career is the stuff of legends. Recruited at 19 by Disney’s "Old Men" and mentored by the great Iwao Takamoto, he became a pioneer for Japanese Americans in animation. Over a career spanning decades at Disney, Warner Bros., and Hanna-Barbera, he helped bring icons to life: The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, and Yosemite Sam. He even worked on the legendary spaghetti-slurping scene in Lady and the Tramp. He shared that "Lady" was his favorite character because she reminded him of a cocker spaniel he lost as a child.

When asked for advice, Willie remarked, "Don’t just chase a degree. Pursue what you love and find people who share your passion—people who are colorblind to race, age, and gender. Try to meet your heroes. When I was dog-tired and taking a nap, I heard a knock at my office door. When I looked up, I said. OMG, it's Miyazaki. He came to see me, just as I had envisioned meeting Walt Disney. That is how you stay young forever. At 90, I’ve never 'worked' a day in my life because I love making children happy."

Willie, Hayao Miyazaki, and Walt Disney all shared a spark of serendipity that altered the world of animation. While Walt struggled with technical drawing, he was a genius at finding artists who could capture true emotion. Miyazaki, who once dreamed of being a pilot but was held back by poor eyesight, eventually gave his characters life through the magic of flight. Willie, without a formal education, broke through by sending three rough sketchbooks to Disney.

"Too many of us have been silent for too long about what happened in the camps," Willie stated during a panel. "It is never too late to find your voice. It took me 20 years, but that is why I produced Hello Maggie."