Mary Blair

Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson; October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978) was an American artist, animator, and designer. She 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 inducted into the group of Disney Legends in 1991. Early life Born on October 21, 1911, in McAlester, Oklahoma, Mary Browne Robinson moved to Texas while still a small child, and later to the city of Morgan Hill, California, in the early 1920s. After graduating from San José State University which she attended from 1929 to 1931, Mary won a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, where artists such as Pruett Carter, Morgan Russell and Lawrence Murphy were among the teachers. She graduated from Chouinard in 1933. In 1934 shortly after college, she married another artist, Lee Everett Blair (October 1, 1911 – April 19, 1993). She was the sister-in-law of animator Preston Blair (1908–1995). Along with her husband Lee, she became a member of the California School of Watercolor and quickly became known for being an imaginative colorist and designer. Career Blair's first professional job in the animation industry was as an animator with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She would soon leave and join Lee Blair at the Ub Iwerks studio before moving to Disney. In the 1930s she was also a part of the innovative California Water-Color Society. Blair joined Walt Disney Animation Studios—initially with some reluctance— in 1940, and worked briefly on art for Dumbo, an early version of Lady and the Tramp, and a second version of Fantasia titled "Baby Ballet" which was not released until the late 1990s. After some time, Blair decided to leave the studio in 1941, feeling artistically restrained and unsatisfied with the work given to her.