Mary Blair

Mary Blair (born Mary Robinson) was an American visual development artist, best remembered today for work done for The Walt Disney Company. She was also the wife of another Disney artist, Lee Blair.
Blair produced concept art for many of Disney's post-war releases, such as Alice in Wonderland, The Three Caballeros, Peter Pan, Song of the South, and Cinderella. She also 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.
Her style also lives on through the designs for the Disney attraction It's a Small World, to which the attraction is primarily modeled after her art style. Her work at Disney Parks can also be seen on an enormous mosaic inside Disney's Contemporary Resort. 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.
Outside of Disney, she also illustrated several Little Golden Books for publisher Simon & Schuster and designed Christmas and Easter sets for Radio City Music Hall. She also worked as a designer for Bonwit Teller and created theatrical sets. Blair would also go on to make sets of Walt Disney note cards for Hallmark, and, in 1968, she was credited as color designer on the film How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.
==Filmography==
Year 	Film 	Position
1940 	Fantasia 	preliminary artwork (uncredited)
1941 	Dumbo (1941 film) 	preliminary artwork (uncredited)
1942 	South of the Border with Disney 	Herself
1942 	Saludos Amigos 	Art Supervision"Donald Duck Visits Lake Titicaca" color and stylingHerself (uncredited)
1942 	Arabian Nights 	artist: credits sequence
1944 	The Three Caballeros 	Art Supervisor
1945 	Cleanliness Brings Health 	color and styling
1946 	Make Mine Music 	color and stylingArt Supervisor
1946 	Song of the South 	background and color stylistStoryboard artist (uncredited)
1948 	Melody Time 	color and styling"Once Upon a Wintertime" - Story
1948 	So Dear to My Heart 	cartoon art treatment
1949 	The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad	color and styling
1950 	Cinderella 	color and styling
1951 	Alice in Wonderland 	color and styling
1952 	Susie the Little Blue Coupe 	color and styling (uncredited)
1952 	The Little House 	color and styling (uncredited)
1953 	Peter Pan 	color and styling
1953 	Rugged Bear 	color and styling (uncredited)
1955 	Lady and the Tramp 	preliminary artwork (uncredited)
1958-1965	The Magical World of Disney 	Story: "Magic and Music" Herself: "Disneyland 10th Anniversary""Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow"
==Legacy==
*Blair was posthumously honored as a Disney Legend in 1991, one of the first women to be given the honor. The Mickey Mouse episodes "Yodelberg" and "O Sole Minnie" are patterned after Blair's distinctive art style.
*In most versions of It's a Small World, there is a visual tribute representation of her. She is rendered as a little girl doll halfway up the Eiffel Tower, holding a balloon.
*In 2014, The Walt Disney Family Museum hosted the comprehensive exhibition: MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair.https://waltdisney.org/exhibitions/magic-color-flair-world-mary-blair
==Gallery==
===Artwork===
Mary Blair Alice.jpg
mary blair tribute doll its a small world.jpg|Tribute to Mary Blair, inside It's a Small World
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Mary blair-2011-hp.jpg|The Google logo decorated for Mary Blair's 100th birthday
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Cinderella Concept Mary Blair.jpg
Cinderella - Concept Art - Mary Blair - 1950.JPG
Mary Blair Ichabod.jpg
Ichabod and Mr Toad Concept Mary Blair.jpg
===Miscellaneous===
WEDCrew.0.jpg|A 1965 group photograph of Disney artists in the WED parking lot in Glendale, California, from left to right: Herbert Ryman, Ken O'Brien, Collin Campbell, Marc Davis, Al Bertino, Wathel Rogers, Blair, T. Hee, Blaine Gibson, X. Atencio, Claude Coats, and Yale Gracey.
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El Grupo photo from newspaper.jpg|L-R John P. Miller, Webb Smith, Mary Blair, and Herbert Ryman.
Larry lansburgh mary blair fred moore.jpg|Blair with Larry Lansburgh (left) and Fred Moore (right) at The Three Caballeros after party.
John hench with claude coats, walt disney and mary blair.jpg|Blair with Walt, John Hench and Claude Coats
Small world preview.png|Blair shows Walt and Julie Reihm plans for It's a Small World
==References==
==External links==
*
*MagicofMaryBlair.com - official site presented by the nieces of Mary Blair
pt-br:Mary Blair
Category:Females
Category:1910s births
Category:1970s deaths
Category:Deceased
Category:People from Oklahoma
Category:American people
Category:Animators
Category:Imagineers
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Category:Illustrators
Category:Disney Legends
Category:Fantasia
Category:Dumbo
Category:Saludos Amigos
Category:The Three Caballeros
Category:Song of the South
Category:Make Mine Music
Category:Melody Time
Category:So Dear to My Heart
Category:The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Category:Cinderella
Category:Alice in Wonderland
Category:Peter Pan
Category:Lady and the Tramp
Category:Walt Disney Imagineering
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios
Category:It's a Small World
Category:Annie Award Winner
Category:Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
Category:Visual development artists