page_title: Mary Blair
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Mary Blair / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Blair, Mary (1971), "Mosaic", Contemporary Resort, Disney.
context_page_description: Mary Blair 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.
context_section_description: 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 leaving the studio for a short time in 1941, Blair travelled to various South American countries with Walt Disney, Lillian Disney and other artists on a research tour. as part of the Good Neighbor policy of the President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Her watercolors impressed Disney, who appointed her as an art supervisor for the animated feature films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.
  Blair first began animation and color design on major films in 1943 and would continue to work on animated films for Disney for a full decade.  Her work with animation did not end there however as after that, she worked on several package films, excluding 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, including Susie the Little Blue Coupe and The Little House, she designed during that period.
  After the completion of Peter Pan, 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.  Blair not only worked in graphic design and animation but also as a designer for Bonwit Teller and created theatrical sets.
  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.
  Blair created murals that would be showcased in Disney parks, hotels and other Disney attractions from California to Florida.  These murals were not only painted but some would be tile decor. 
  In 1966, philanthropist Dr. Jules Stein hired Walt Disney to create a ceramic mural for his newly opened Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mary Blair designed the mural for Dr. Stein's Pediatric Surgery waiting room. The theme Walt chose for the mural was that of "It's a Small World" attraction designed by Blair.
  In 1967, 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-foot-high (27 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.
  Mary Blair would also go on to make sets of Walt Disney note cards for Hallmark.  In 1968, Blair was credited as color designer on the film version of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.  Blair would eventually move to Washington for Lee Blair's military career
caption: Blair, Mary (1971), "Mosaic", Contemporary Resort, Disney.
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