Scarlett Stahl: Mary Blair's World of Color
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California presented Mary Blair’s World of Color program in their annual Marc Davis Celebration of Animation series on Thursday, October 20 to a sold out audience. Prior to the panel discussion and event, there was a private reception for the hostess of the event, Alice Davis, widow of Marc Davis and sponsor of the event. Among the luminaries of the animation world were seen the following: June Foray, first lady of animation voices…ie Rocky of Rocky and Bullwinkle; Charles Solomon, well known author and animation critic; Andreas Deja, one of the foremost animators in the world today (Jafar, Scar, Lilo, etc) Eric Goldberg, another star animator and director (the Genie from Aladdin, Pocahontas) and Susan Goldberg, art director (Rhapsody in Blue and Carnival of the Animals segments from Fantasia 2000.) Pete Docter, animator, writer and director (Toy Story, Up); Jerry Beck, animation expert and author; Tom Sito, author, ASIFA board member and animator; Howard Green, VP of Communications for the Walt Disney Animation Studios and his wife, Steinunn; Tim O’Day, well known Disney moderator; Becky Cline, Manager of Walt Disney Archives; Stacia Martin, Disney artist and historian; and Tony Anselmo, the official Voice of Donald Duck ….the list could go on and on but this is a sampling of the talents present. The guests enjoyed unlimited hors d’oeuvres and drinks while visiting with old friends and meeting new ones for an hour prior to the panel discussion, which was open to the general public for a small fee.

The guests were ushered into reserved seating, while the general public filled in all the remaining empty spaces as it was a sold out event. The Academy governor, Bill Kroyer, welcomed the audience and turned the evening over to Charles Solomon, the moderator of the event, who ensured that everything proceeded smoothly. Alice Davis, who worked closely with Mary Blair on the designs for Small World, and Maggie Richardson, Mary’s niece and executer of her estate, were the first set of panelists. Alice told the audience that her mother had admired Mary Blair’s work immensely and that when she received a call from the Walt Disney Studios asking if she would like to do the costumes for Small World, she was delighted. “The thrill of my life was that I got to work with Mary Blair.” She said that Mary was God given the eye for color and would take colors to make them sing together. Maggie recalled that her aunt was a very modest woman, who usually gave family members a piece of her art work for holidays, always signed. Maggie thought sometimes it would have been nice to have received a doll and said to her mother that she didn’t know why Aunt Mary signed her art work as they all knew their aunt’s name. Now of course, she knows the value of those signed pieces. And Alice added that Walt Disney never allowed anyone to sign their names to their pieces, except for Mary Blair!!!!

Parts of Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros were shown as Mary Blair and her husband accompanied Walt Disney and other animators to South America and had worked on those films. Walt saw the trip as an opportunity to look for new songs, dances, plots and personalities for his films, while serving a purpose as a good will tour for the US government prior to World War II. The vivid colors of South America influenced his artists greatly, including Mary.

Next shown were post war and Features of Melody Time, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Then short films of Susie The Little Blue Coupe and The Little House were viewed. All had the influence of Mary Blair’s artistry.