Mary Blair
Encyclopedia
Mary Blair born Mary Robinson, was an American artist who was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company
, drawing concept art
for such films as Alice in Wonderland
, Peter Pan, Song of the South
and Cinderella
. Blair also created character designs for enduring attractions such as Disneyland's It's a Small World, the fiesta
scene in El Rio del Tiempo
in the Mexico
pavilion in Epcot
's World Showcase, and an enormous mosaic
inside Disney's Contemporary Resort
. Several of her illustrated children's books from the 1950s remain in print, such as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss
. Blair was honored as a Disney Legend
in 1991.
, Mary Browne Robinson moved to Texas
while still a small child, and later to California
around the age of seven. After graduating from San Jose State College, Mary won a scholarship to the renowned Chouinard Art Institute
in Los Angeles
, where artists such as Pruett Carter, Morgan Russell
and Lawrence Murphy were among the teachers. In 1934, she married another artist, Lee Everett Blair
(October 1, 1911 – April 19, 1993). She was the sister-in-law
of animator
Preston Blair
(1908–94).
industry, joining the Ub Iwerks
studio. Lee went on to work at the Harman-Ising studios, before ultimately joining the Walt Disney
studio, where he was joined by his wife in 1940. Mary Blair worked briefly on art for Dumbo
, an early version of Lady and the Tramp
, and a second version of Fantasia
which was not released until the late 1990s.
After leaving the studio for a short time in 1941, Mary travelled to various South American countries with Walt
and Lillian Disney
and other artists on a research tour as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
's Good Neighbor policy
. During those trips, Mary and Lee worked on concept art for the animated feature films Saludos Amigos
and The Three Caballeros
, with Mary credited as art supervisor on those films.
After that, she worked on several package films
, including Fun and Fancy Free
, and on two partially animated features — Song of the South
and So Dear to My Heart
. The early 1950s were a busy time for the Disney
studio, with an animated feature released nearly every year. Mary Blair was credited with color styling on Cinderella
(1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan
(1953), and the artistic influence of her concept art
is strongly felt in those films, as well as in several animated shorts she designed during that period.
After the completion of Peter Pan, Mary Blair resigned from Disney and worked as a freelance graphic designer
and illustrator
, creating advertising
campaigns for companies such as Nabisco
, Pepsodent
, Maxwell House
, Beatrice Foods
and others. She also illustrated several Little Golden Books
for publisher Simon & Schuster
, some of which remain in print today, and she also designed Christmas
and Easter
sets for Radio City Music Hall
.
At the request of Walt Disney, who regarded highly her innate sense of color styling, Blair began work on Disney's new attraction, "It's a Small World". Originally a Pepsi-Cola-sponsored pavilion benefiting UNICEF at the 1964 New York World's Fair
, the attraction moved to Disneyland after the Fair closed and was later replicated at the Magic Kingdom
in Walt Disney World Resort
as well as Tokyo Disneyland
, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland
.
In 1967, Mary Blair created mural
art for the Tomorrowland
Promenade. Two similar tile murals flanked the entrance corridor. The mural over Adventure Thru Inner Space
was covered over in 1987 with the opening of Star Tours
, while the other remained in place until 1998 when the Circle-Vision 360°
was replaced by Rocket Rods
and a new mural was designed to reflect the new theme. Her design of a 90 feet (27.4 m) mural remains a focal point of the Disney's Contemporary Resort
hotel at Walt Disney World, which was completed for the resort's opening in 1971.
In 1968, Blair was credited as color designer on the film version of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
. Mary Blair died of a cerebral hemorrhage on July 26, 1978.
s. A Google
doodle was created on Friday, October 21, 2011, to commemorate the centennial of her birth. The Doodle featured an image of an illustrator as Mary might have drawn herself, surrounded by the simple patterns and shapes that made up her familiar cartoon world.
In 1991, Blair was recognized with a posthumous Disney Legend award. Also posthumously, she received the Winsor McCay
award from ASIFA-Hollywood
in 1996.
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, drawing concept art
Concept art
Concept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design...
for such films as Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
, Peter Pan, Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
and Cinderella
Cinderella (1950 film)
Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
. Blair also created character designs for enduring attractions such as Disneyland's It's a Small World, the fiesta
Fiesta
Fiesta, a Spanish word that means "party", "feast" or "festival", may refer to:-Film:*Fiesta , a 1941 American film directed by LeRoy Prinz*Fiesta , a 1947 MGM film starring Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán-Music:...
scene in El Rio del Tiempo
El Rio del Tiempo
El Rio del Tiempo was a dark ride housed within the pyramid-shaped Mexico pavilion, in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The ride carried passengers on a slow boat ride through various scenes from Mexico's history...
in the Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
pavilion in Epcot
Epcot
Epcot is a theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort, located near Orlando, Florida. The park is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation. The second park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1982 and was initially named...
's World Showcase, and an enormous mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
inside Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Contemporary Resort is a deluxe resort at the Walt Disney World Resort. It opened on October 1, 1971...
. Several of her illustrated children's books from the 1950s remain in print, such as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss
Ruth Krauss
Ruth Krauss was an author of children's books, one of the most well known being The Carrot Seed, and an author of theatrical poems for an adult audience. Many of her books are still in print....
. Blair was honored as a Disney Legend
Disney Legends
Established in 1987, the Disney Legends program recognizes people who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. The honor is awarded annually during a special ceremony....
in 1991.
Early life
Born on October 21, 1911, in McAlester, OklahomaMcAlester, Oklahoma
McAlester is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 17,783 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pittsburg County. It is currently the largest city in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, followed by Durant....
, Mary Browne Robinson moved to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
while still a small child, and later to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
around the age of seven. After graduating from San Jose State College, Mary won a scholarship to the renowned Chouinard Art Institute
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where artists such as Pruett Carter, Morgan Russell
Morgan Russell
Morgan Russell was a U.S. abstract painter. He was born and raised in New York City in 1886. He was, along with artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright, the founder of Synchromism an important modernist movement in early 20th century art.-Biography:Initially he studied architecture and after 1903 he...
and Lawrence Murphy were among the teachers. In 1934, she married another artist, Lee Everett Blair
Lee Blair (artist)
Lee Everett Blair was an American artist.He was born in Los Angeles, California and died in Soquel, California. He was the younger brother of Preston Blair and the husband of Mary Blair....
(October 1, 1911 – April 19, 1993). She was the sister-in-law
Sister-in-law
A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...
of animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
Preston Blair
Preston Blair
Preston Blair was an American character animator, most noted for his work at Walt Disney Productions and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation department...
(1908–94).
Career
Mary and Lee Blair both soon began to work in the animationAnimation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
industry, joining the Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks, A.S.C. was a two-time Academy Award winning American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, creator of Mickey Mouse, and special effects technician, who was famous for his work for Walt Disney....
studio. Lee went on to work at the Harman-Ising studios, before ultimately joining the Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
studio, where he was joined by his wife in 1940. Mary Blair worked briefly on art for Dumbo
Dumbo
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
, an early version of Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
, and a second version of Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
which was not released until the late 1990s.
After leaving the studio for a short time in 1941, Mary travelled to various South American countries with Walt
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
and Lillian Disney
Lillian Disney
Lillian Disney was the wife of Walt Disney. She was married to him from 1925 until his death in 1966.-Early years:...
and other artists on a research tour as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's Good Neighbor policy
Good Neighbor policy
The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. Its main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America...
. During those trips, Mary and Lee worked on concept art for the animated feature films Saludos Amigos
Saludos Amigos
Saludos Amigos is a 1942 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the 6th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It is the first of six package films made by the Disney studio in the 1940s...
and The Three Caballeros
The Three Caballeros
The Three Caballeros is a 1944 American animated feature film, produced by Walt Disney and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on February 3, 1945...
, with Mary credited as art supervisor on those films.
After that, she worked on several package films
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
, including Fun and Fancy Free
Fun and Fancy Free
Fun and Fancy Free is a 1947 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures on September 27, 1947. It was one of the "package films" that the studio produced in the 1940s...
, and on two partially animated features — Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
and So Dear to My Heart
So Dear to My Heart
So Dear to My Heart is a 1948 feature film produced by Walt Disney, released in Chicago on November 29, 1948 and nationwide on January 19, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. Like 1946's Song of the South, the film combines animation and live action...
. The early 1950s were a busy time for the Disney
Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios is an American animation studio headquartered in Burbank, California. The studio, founded in 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio by brothers Walt and Roy Disney, is the oldest subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
studio, with an animated feature released nearly every year. Mary Blair was credited with color styling on Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
(1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
(1953), and the artistic influence of her concept art
Concept art
Concept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design...
is strongly felt in those films, as well as in several animated shorts she designed during that period.
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, creating advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
campaigns for companies such as Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
, Pepsodent
Pepsodent
Pepsodent is a brand of toothpaste with a minty flavour derived from Sassafras. The brand is owned by Unilever, but in 2003 the rights to the brand in the United States and Canada were bought by Church and Dwight....
, Maxwell House
Maxwell House
Maxwell House is a brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Foods. Introduced in 1892, it is named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. For many years until the late 1980s it was the largest-selling coffee in the U.S. and is currently second behind...
, Beatrice Foods
Beatrice Foods
Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company. In 1987, its smaller international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of its domestic brands and assets were acquired by Kohlberg,...
and others. She also illustrated several Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books is a popular series of children's books. The first 12 titles were published on October 1, 1942:#Three Little Kittens#Bedtime Stories#Mother Goose#Prayers for Children#The Little Red Hen#Nursery Songs...
for publisher Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, some of which remain in print today, and she also designed Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
sets for Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
.
At the request of Walt Disney, who regarded highly her innate sense of color styling, Blair began work on Disney's new attraction, "It's a Small World". Originally a Pepsi-Cola-sponsored pavilion benefiting UNICEF at the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
, the attraction moved to Disneyland after the Fair closed and was later replicated at the Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
in Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
as well as Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland
is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is the first theme park located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks. The park opened to visitors on 12 September 2005...
.
In 1967, Mary Blair created mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
art for the Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland 1955–1967 :The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 18, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. The construction of the park was rushed, so Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase,...
Promenade. Two similar tile murals flanked the entrance corridor. The mural over Adventure Thru Inner Space
Adventure Thru Inner Space
Adventure Thru Inner Space, presented by Monsanto Company, was an attraction in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. It was the first attraction to utilize Disney's Omnimover system....
was covered over in 1987 with the opening of Star Tours
Star Tours
Star Tours is a motion simulator attraction currently operating at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris. The ride is based on the successful Star Wars film series created by George Lucas, making it the first Disney attraction based on a non-Disney produced film.The first...
, while the other remained in place until 1998 when the Circle-Vision 360°
Circle-Vision 360°
Circle-Vision 360° is a film technique, refined by The Walt Disney Company, that uses nine cameras for nine huge screens arranged in a circle. The cameras are usually mounted on top of an automobile for scenes through cities and highways, while films such as The Timekeeper use a static camera and...
was replaced by Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods was an attraction in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.-The Ride:Opening on May 22, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland, this high-speed attraction ran on the former PeopleMover track...
and a new mural was designed to reflect the new theme. Her design of a 90 feet (27.4 m) mural remains a focal point of the Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Contemporary Resort is a deluxe resort at the Walt Disney World Resort. It opened on October 1, 1971...
hotel at Walt Disney World, which was completed for the resort's opening in 1971.
In 1968, Blair was credited as color designer on the film version of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
. Mary Blair died of a cerebral hemorrhage on July 26, 1978.
Legacy
While the fine art she created outside of her association with Disney and her work as an illustrator is not widely known, Blair's bold and ground-breaking color design still inspires many of today's contemporary designers and animatorAnimator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
s. A Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
doodle was created on Friday, October 21, 2011, to commemorate the centennial of her birth. The Doodle featured an image of an illustrator as Mary might have drawn herself, surrounded by the simple patterns and shapes that made up her familiar cartoon world.
In 1991, Blair was recognized with a posthumous Disney Legend award. Also posthumously, she received the Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay was an American cartoonist and animator.A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades...
award from ASIFA-Hollywood
ASIFA-Hollywood
ASIFA-Hollywood, a non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, USA, which is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA"...
in 1996.