Marvin Davis

Marvin Aubrey Davis was a master planner, art director, and scenic designer. He was remembered by Disney fans for turning Walt Disney's idea for Walt Disney World and Epcot into workable site plans as well various buildings in Disneyland.
Born in Clovis, New Mexico; Davis attended UCLA for two years before transferring to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in architecture and, as top student in the class of 1935, he also received the prestigious American Institute of Architects medal. Two years later, Marvin won a job at 20th Century Fox, where he worked as an art director on films, such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Asphalt Jungle. In 1953, he was invited by his friend, former Fox art director Dick Irvine, to join WED Enterprises. Today, WED is known as Walt Disney Imagineering.
Davis was instrumental in helping Walt bring his idea of "Disneyland" to life, exactly as he envisioned it. He developed the first diagrammatic plan for Disneyland. On the morning of August 8, 1953, Walt reviewed the site map that Davis was working on and picked up a No. 1 carbon pencil and drew a triangle around the plot of land to indicate where he wanted his railroad to run. That historic drawing still exists today. For two years, Davis worked on more than 100 different versions of the master plan for Disneyland. He designed the exterior of The Haunted Mansion, Sleeping Beauty Castle, and the buildings on Main Street, U.S.A.
After the theme park's successful opening in the summer of 1955, Marvin returned to art directing, as well as scenic design for motion pictures, which included Moon Pilot, Babes in Toyland, and Big Red, and television series as |Zorro and Mickey Mouse Club. In 1962, he received an Emmy Award® for art direction and scenic design on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. Outside of Disney, he worked on shows, like Father of the Bride and Corky and White Shadow.
In 1965, Davis returned to WED as a project designer for Walt Disney World in Florida, at time was known as The Florida Project. He devised the master plan for the Magic Kingdom theme park and Walt’s futuristic city of EPCOT. Following Walt's death in 1966, Davis continued to work on the project under Roy O. Disney when it was decided to make a resort instead. He contributed to the design of resort hotels, including the Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Resort, and the Golf Resort. The resort opened in 1971 and, after 22 years with the company, Davis retired in 1975. In 1994, he was inducted as a Disney Legend alongside Adriana Caselotti, William Cottrell, and fellow Imagineer Bill Martin.
Davis passed away on March 8, 1998 in Santa Monica, California.
==Filmography==
Year 	Film 	Position
1955-1958	Mickey Mouse Club 	Art director
1955 	Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier	Art director
1955-1965	The Magical World of Disney 	Art director
1956 	Westward Ho, the Wagons! 	Art director
1957-1961	Zorro 	Art directorProduction Designer: "Presenting Señor Zorro" - uncredited
1961 	Babes in Toyland 	Art director
1962 	Moon Pilot 	Art director
1962 	Bon Voyage! 	Art director
1962 	Big Red 	Art director
1962 	The Mooncussers 	Art director
1963 	Savage Sam 	Art director
1964 	A Tiger Walks 	Art director
1966 	The Ugly Dachshund 	Art director
1966 	Follow Me, Boys! 	Art director
==Gallery==
Disneyland rough design.jpg|Davis' rough diagrammatic of Disneyland
Marvin Davis final design of Disneyland.png|The final result
Marvin-davis-full.jpg|Marvin Davis with Walt Disney in Florida, working on the plans for Walt Disney World.
Marvin Davis handprints.jpg
==Trivia==
*His wife, Marjorie, the daughter of Hazel Sewell, Lillian Disney's sister, and William Cottrell's step-daughter, was one of the first live-action Disney stars appearing in "Clara Cleans Her Teeth" in 1926 and was Walt's favorite niece.
*When Walt was visiting Florida anonymously to check out a property, he borrowed Davis' last name as part of the pseudonym, "Walter E. Davis." the initials "WED" matched the initials on Walt's luggage.
==External links==
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*Marvin Davis - Walt's Folly
Category:Walt Disney World Resort
Category:1990s deaths
Category:1910s births
Category:Deceased
Category:Males
Category:American people
Category:People from New Mexico
Category:Directors
Category:Disney Legends
Category:Zorro
Category:The Haunted Mansion
Category:Epcot
Category:Sleeping Beauty
Category:Davy Crockett
Category:Westward Ho, the Wagons!
Category:Babes in Toyland
Category:The Ugly Dachshund
Category:Old Yeller
Category:Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
Category:A Tiger Walks
Category:Moon Pilot