Mary Blair: Everyone's Favorite Disney Concept Artist

Walt Disney has always been a leader in the animation world. From the first flickering images of his Laugh-o-Grams in the early 1920s to the creation of Micky Mouse in 1928 to the first full length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disney has been a pioneer in this unique form of entertainment (Visit this site to read a fascinating article on "The Building of the Disney Studio" from a 1939 publication of Valley Progress).

Hurter working on Pinocchio

The first Concept Artist hired by Disney was Albert Hurter. He joined the team in 1931, at the age of 48. His job was as Disney's first inspirational sketch artist, where he would design characters for the animators to then bring to life, since his talent lay in his "ability lay in humorous exaggeration and the humanizing of inanimate objects." He was the "spark that kept others inspired" (They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age - The 1930s. Didier Ghez). Other "inspirational artists" were hired to work with Hurter, including Bill Peet who stayed on for several decades, but Hurter had the final say and was the one Walt Disney went to to draw and approve the concept art for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). During his decade working at Disney, until his death in 1942, Hurter worked on many of the Silly Symphonies as well as the feature-length Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and The Reluctant Dragon. Some of his sketches would be used many years later in Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. To learn more about Hurter, there is an excellent post here. The book mentioned above is also a great source (linked below).

Sketch by Hurter

Mary Blair joined Disney in 1940, along with her husband, Lee Blair. Born Mary Browne Robinson in Oklahoma on the twenty-first of October, 1911, Mary and her family moved to San Jose. As they were poor, Mary had to work very hard to realize her dream as an artist. She earned a scholarship to the Chouinard School of Art (later the California School of Watercolor). It was there she met and married Lee Blair.

 

After graduation in 1933, the Depression was in full swing, meaning that a job as a fine art watercolorist was out of the question. She worked for a time as a barmaid and later got a job at Ub Iwerks Studio as a cell painter.

1940 found her working as a concept artist at the famous Walt Disney Studios, working on such films as Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944), both part of the U.S. "Good Neighbor" policy with South America (click here to see tons of photos from Disney's trip to South America with his artists, including Blair). It was on this trip that Blair's art took on it's distinctive look that had previously been lacking and launched her as an artist worth having at Walt Disney Studios. Before she went, Blair’s style had been "sturdy, fluid, and earthy"—lots of browns and blues and grays, but...

...the artwork that she produced on the trip–stunning, colorful, occasionally geometric, graphic, and modern–speaks for itself. She observed everyday South American life (a woman with a baby on her back, carrying a small basket of chickens; the way huts and homes made fascinating jagged patterns when aligned next to each other) and turned it into something dynamic and evocative. She didn’t emphasize the culture’s otherness or try to glamorize its exoticism. Instead, she found the inner beauty present in each passing moment. “She went inside herself to find how it felt, more than how it looked, and brilliantly communicated her emotions through imagery,” Canemaker notes. Even if you’ve never been to South America, you can look at Blair’s illustrations from the period and get a real sense of what it is like (source).

 

   

 

World War II was raging at the time and like all of the movie studios in Hollywood, Disney too did it's part, releasing an extremely diverse range of films that otherwise might never have been made. It was during this time that Blair was able to experiment and hone in on her unique style and flair for colors.

She was the first artist I knew to have different shades of red next to each other.

~ Frank Thomas

In 1950, Cinderella was released. Blair's concept drawings for the film are  "jaw-dropping without being showy" and had a "delicate, almost greeting card fashion." And while the angular characters that appeared in her sketches didn't make it into the final film, the overall feel and colors remain.

Blair's style is definitely apparent in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Lewis Carroll's whimsical tale of a little girl that dreams up a "world of her own."

Blair’s brand of colorful whimsy, upside-down conceptualizations, and angular sense of geography was not only essential to the film’s lengthy pre-production phase but much of it (in a modified sense) actually wound up in the finished movie. In a way, it was a movie made up entirely of the abandoned dream sequences she had devised for Cinderella (source).

Peter Pan (1953), Blair's last feature-length film at Disney, also ended up looking different than the artists original sketches. However, her mark can still be seen:

... her style took on an almost collage-like aesthetic; bold, chunky, with deep shadows and high contrast. While less of her work made it into the finished film, it certainly informed the way the movie looked, particularly in its color schemes and use of lighting. Mermaid Lagoon, Skull Rock, the mischievous pixie that is Tinker Bell, these are all 100% Mary Blair (source).

 

In 1953, Blair left Disney Studios to pursue her own career. In the following years, she illustrated Golden Books as well as "scarves and dresses for Lord & Taylor, designs for Radio City Music Hall holiday spectaculars, paper sculptures for the Bonwit Teller strorefront windows on New York's 5th Avenue, television commercials for toothpaste and ice cream, illustrations for greeting cards, and advertisements for Nabisco, Johnson & Johnson and Maxwell House Coffee" (source).

 

     

Mary Blair Golden Books

 

Walt greatly missed Blair and made a promise to himself when it came to his next concept artist:

“For years I have been hiring artists like Mary Blair to design the styling of a feature, and by the time the picture is finished, there is hardly a trace of the original styling left,” Walt said. So he made a steadfast commitment: Sleeping Beauty, the studio’s first attempt at an animated fairy tale since Cinderella (this time utilizing 70mm film projection and an exaggerated widescreen frame), would really stick to Earle’s style. And it did.

 

Blair wasn't through at Disney though. In 1963, Walt called her back to have her design the famous It's a Small World display for the United Nations Children’s Fund pavilion, part of the 1964 World's Fair.

 

 

Sadly, after Walt's death in 1966, art opportunities for Blair also ended. She was told that her art, once cutting edge, was no longer modern enough. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage on July 26, 1978, at the age of 66.

My favorite Blair sketches: Cinderella & Peter Pan

 

Mary Blair may be gone, but her artwork lives on, in the films she helped design, in her books, and in her artistic contributions to Disneyland. I could spend hours looking at her sketches which, thanks to the internet, are available by just typing her name. There are also books celebrating her contribution to the animation world.

The Art and Flair of Mary Blair

(Magic Color Flair insides video - slightly different from above book)

Cinderella

 

Alice in Wonderland

 

Peter Pan

South of the Border with Disney

              

              

Sources (click on the underlined words in the post for bonus material):

     They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age - The 1930s. Didier Ghez. 2015. Disney Enterprises.

     Animation Resources - Design: Two Disney Concept Artists

     Filmic Light - Albert Hurter - Walt Disney's First Inspirational Sketch Artist

     Animation Resources - Biography: Mary Blair

     Huffington Post - One of Disney's Most Influential Female Artists Finally Gets Her Due. 2014.

     A True Contemporary: The Life and Work of Mary Blair

     Magic of Mary Blair - Official Website

     The Walt Disney Family Museum: The Latin America Tour

     Modernist Cute: Mary Blair’s Art For ‘Dumbo,’ Golden Books, ‘It’s A Small World’

Additional Sources:

     Filmic Light - Albert Hurter "He Drew As He Pleased"

     Animation Resources - Mary Blair (links to scans of books)

     Sullivan Goss: Mary Blair

     The Woman Behind the Curtain: Mary Blair at the Walt Disney Family Museum

     California Watercolor: Mary Blair Biography

     Los Colores de Mary Blair video

     Disney Artist's Tryout Book - fascinating!

     Deja View: Dalmatian Art

     How Walt Disney Brought The Jungle Book to the Big Screen

This post is part of the Classic Movie History Project Blogathon focusing on the System (How movies are made) hosted by Movies Silently, the Films (the movies themselves) hosted by Silver Screenings, and the People (the folks who made the movies) hosted by Once Upon a Screen.

Day 1: The Studios & the Publicity Dept.

Day 2: The Production Code & the Magic of Animation

Day 3: The Groundbreakers & Before They Were Stars

Day 4: The Technical Dept. & the Wardrobe Dept.

Day 5: Movie Disasters & the Wonderful World of Color

Day 6: The Family Business & a Foreign Affair

Ten Movies on an Island: Disney

 

Yes, Disney is its own genre and an important part of Hollywood History! What would this world be like without their animated movies? Or their feel-good live action films? True, the Disney of today has its problems, but the Disney of Yore still retains it's magic after nearly 100 years.

Here are my top ten Classic Disney films, both animated and live-action:

1. Cinderella (1950)

2. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

3. Sleeping Beauty (1959)

4.  One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

5. The Parent Trap (1961) - Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith

6. The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964) - Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber

7. Mary Poppins (1964) - Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke

8. That Darn Cat! (1965) - Hayley Mills, Dean Jones

9. The Jungle Book (1967)

10. Robin Hood (1973)

Honorable Mentions: Peter Pan (1953), The Shaggy Dog (1959), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), Son of Flubber (1963), The Ugly Dachshund (1966), & Blackbeard's Ghost (1968).

Are you a big Disney fan? What films are most magical to you? Do you know all the words to The Ballad of Davy Crockett? Lol ;) Here's a complete list to refresh your memory. (Btw, anyone have any thoughts on the upcoming Mary Poppins film? If it was anyone other than Emily Blunt I would be totally against it but I think she will make a fantastic Mary Poppins! If only the script is good...)

Tomorrow, my top ten (dramatic pause)

. . .

 

Dramas.

The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) - A GOOD Scientist

 

Today's post for the Movie Scientist Blogathon is a classic Disney film starring Fred MacMurray: The Absent-Minded Professor (1961).

 

 

If you are a fan of Disney and a fan of Classic Film you have probably seen this movie (and likely more than once). You have also then probably seen the sequal Son of Flubber (1963).

 

 

The Absent-Minded Professor is based on the short story "A Situation of Gravity" by Samuel W. Taylor. The film stars Fred MacMurray as Prof. Ned Brainard of Medfield College. He is a lovable but forgetful guy (he's forgotten to attend his wedding to his secretary Betsy Carlisle, played by Nancy Olsen, three times!) who has invented a gravity-defying formula for flying rubber, which he calls "Flubber."

 

Even his note doesn't help.

 

Fun Fact: Time Magazine published the formula for the mixture they used in the film. The recipe called for  "To one pound of salt water taffy add one heaping tablespoon polyurethane foam, one cake crumbled yeast. Mix till smooth, allow to rise. Then pour into saucepan over one cup cracked rice with one cup water. Add topping of molasses. Boil till lid lifts and says 'Qurlp'."

The Prof. has applied this mixture to his old Model-T, enabling it to fly.

 

 

 

Scheming Alonzo Hawk (Keenyn Wynn) is out to close the school so Prof. Brainard tries to show his invention to the government in order to raise funds. Hawk and his son Biff (Tommy Kirk) do all they can to spoil the deal for him, making him look ridiculous in front of everyone so that no one will believe in his Flubber.

Fun Fact: Three generations of the Wynn family appear in the film: Ed Wynn (Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland) is the bumbling Fire Chief, his son Keenyn Wynn is the bad guy, Alonzo Hawk, and Keenyn's son Ned Wynn. 

 

Tommy Kirk with Keenyn Wynn as Biff and Alonzo Hawk

 

The basketball scene is sure to have you rolling with laughter as the Medfield team soars above the heads of the other team (including the basketball goals!) with the help of a little Flubber on their shoes.

 

 

This film is hilarious and fun for the entire family. If you have never seen it then you are in for a treat.

 

 

This post is part of the Movie Scientist Blogathon hosted by Christina Wehner and Silver Screenings. Click here for my "Mad Scientist" post on earlier MacMurray film Murder, He Says (1945). Check out the links to the other entries below.

 

The Good | The Mad | The Lonely

 

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Genre

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Director

John Lee Hancock

Country

UK | Australia | USA

Cast

Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B. J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Kathy Baker, Melanie Paxson, Rachel Griffiths, Ronan Vibert, Kristopher Kyer, Victoria Summer

Storyline

After 20 years, when she's financially strapped, author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) finally considers Walt Disney's (Tom Hanks) offer to make a film of her book, Mary Poppins, but won't approve unless Disney does it as she wants. So she goes to California, and while working on bringing the character of Mary Poppins to life, she starts reflecting on her childhood, upon which the book is based.

Opinion

Although this film has been on my watch-list for a while, I was reluctant because of some negative reviews I've heard and read. People complaining about Walt Disney being nothing like the man portrayed by Tom Hanks, others complaining about this being not a biopic worthy of such a man. Well, I'm not sure those people have quite understood what the film is really about.

Saving Mr. Banks actually tells the story of the making of the Mary Poppins film, and if it has to be considered a biography, it is surely not Walt Disney's but P.L. Travers's. Now, the fact that the story is more or less accurate, and that maybe there is a spoonful of sugar too much to make the film suitable for families is another thing.

Having said that, Saving Mr. Banks is a feel-good dramatic comedy, both witty and sentimental, that draws you in.

The film praises imagination and its power to help some grow, by lighting up childhood and its natural path towards adulthood. It also praises those people that, even though they have grown, are still capable of dreaming, like P.L. Travers or Walt Disney.

There are some outstanding performances too. Emma Thompson play P.L. Travers beautifully. Cold and definitely not likable in the first part (as required), she brings out all the emotions, and the serious aspects of her character. Tom Hanks does a nice job as Walt Disney and seems to be enjoying himself but this is not one of his best achievements. The supporting cast offers strong performances, especially Colin Farrell, who brings vitality and interest in the parallel story about Travers's childhood. 

Don’t you ever stop dreaming. You can be anyone you want to be. - Travers Goff

Walt Before Mickey (2015)

Genre

Biography | Drama

Director

Khoa Le

Country

USA

Cast

Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jon Heder, David Henrie, Taylor Gray, Jodie Sweetin, Sheena Colette, Hunter Gomez, Ayla Kell, Armando Gutierrez, Arthur L. Bernstein, Kate Katzman, Timothy Neil Williams, Conor Dubin, Flora Bonfanti, Briana Colman, Beatrice Taveras, Maralee Thompson, Natasha Sherritt, Frank Licari, Randy Molnar, Donn Lamkin, Nancy J. Barber, Owen Teague, Demitri Vardoulias, Noah Forgione

Storyline

Walt before Mickey takes viewers on a journey through the passion, ambition, and dreams of a man who would go on to capture millions of hearts across the world, and inspire dreams for generations to come.

Opinion

Walt Disney is the icon that has given birth to many icons, and that has entertained entire generations. But what's the story - and struggles - behind this great man? This film, based on Timothy Susanin's book, answered that question. In unflattering way.

Uninspired and unable to hold the attention of the viewer, Walt Before Mickey is the proof that dreams don't always come true.

The story is pretty solid, but the screenplay is a real mess. I did not read the book by Timothy Susanin - also approved by Diane Disney Miller, Walt's daughter, very misleading considering the quality of the film - so I cannot comment how closely the film sticks to the book, but I can say that it seems more like an adaptation of a student's paper rather than anything else.

Some parts don't make much sense either. For instance Walt Disney hiring Friz Freleng because he has been told Friz is great at voices - later demonstrated - years before the advent of sound. I have been wondering why hiring him when you can't even afford to pay the animators salaries, and what was he even doing in the studio. Also Freleng has not a single voice credit on IMDb.

The way Walt Disney's character is conceived is no better. Besides the accurate portrayal of a chain smoker, it's hard to believe that he is an actual person. 

The acting isn't better than some I've seen in junior high plays. Thomas Ian Nicholas - American Pie's Kevin - really makes you cringe in those moments when he seems to be rehearsing instead of acting, and does not bring neither personality nor soul into the role. Jon Heder looks completely lost as Roy Disney, but at least he looks a bit like his character. The supporting cast goes from decent - Armando Gutierrez as Ub Iwerks and Timothy Neil Williams as Fred Harman - to uninspired and overacting.

If there's something I know for sure is that Walt Disney never would have approved anything like this.

Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933)

Cartoons, those short, animated sequences of pure entertainment, hold a special place in classic movie history. In the Golden Age of Hollywood, going to the movies was a much longer affair than it is nowadays (though technically modern films are much longer in length than the majority of older films). You would buy your ticket and for a mere 20 cents or so be treated to a trailer for an upcoming film featuring your favorite stars, a newsreel, a short, and a cartoon.

 

 

Mickey Mouse debuted in 1928 in the short Steamboat Willy (incidentally, Mickey turns 87 on the 17th this month). It was "named after Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. and inspired by the very first “talkie” The Jazz Singer, it was the first cartoon with synchronized sound, and became an instant hit" (biography.com). In fact, Mickey became so popular that movie goers would "would often sit through a movie twice to see him again, or would check before buying their tickets to make sure that 'a Mickey' was going to play at the beginning" (biography.com). In 1932, Walt Disney was awarded an Honorary Oscar for his creation of Mickey. Therefore, it is no surprise that in 1933, all of the biggest movie stars of the time turned out for Mickey's Gala Premiere. 

 

Mickey Mouse's Place in Hollywood

 



This particular clip has each star identified. If you want to try and guess them for yourself, click here.

 

Screenshots of each caricature with photo of real star.

The cartoon opens with everyone arriving at Grauman's Chinese Theatre to see the premiere of "Galloping Romance," a cartoon made exclusively for Mickey's Gala Premiere. All of the biggest stars are in attendance.

 

As you can see, it's a packed house.

 

The fun part about this cartoon, and the reason it is "one" of my favorites, is trying to see how many stars you can recognize. With nearly 50 Stars caricatured, you are bound to spot some of your favorites. Another fun aspect of this cartoon, is the opportunity to see what the premiere of a film at that time would have been like. You can also see what characters the stars were most identified with, as some stars arrive dressed as one of their characters (Frankenstein, Rasputin, etc.). Also, don't miss Walt Disney's cameo near the end (right before Garbo comes on stage). Learn more about the Garbo caricature and the man who drew her here.

Want to see more cartoons featuring Hollywood stars? Click here to see a list.

I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.

- Walt Disney 

This post is part of the 'One' of my All-Time Favorite Cartoons Blogathon hosted by Steve over at Movie Movie Blog Blog. Be sure and read all of the other great entries!