January 26, 2006
ASIFA-Hollywood is featuring Mary Blair’s paintings from her Golden Book series, called “A Golden Book of Little Verses in their ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Mary Blair. I’ve heard it said that the 9 Old Men should have been titled, The 9 Old Men and One Woman because of her contribution to the Disney classics. In the days where women were shamefully sent to the Ink and Paint department if they wanted to get into Animation, it is a testement to her talent and vision she was allowed to contribute as much as she did. Her work has always been a huge inspiration for me.
And no. I don’t think I’ll comment on the Disney/Pixar merger. Especially now. But thanks for playing!
I’m all for women animators! I mean they’re so cute working behind a desk, it makes the day go by so much faster watching them struggling away.
But weren’t the 9 old men animators,and wasn’t Mary Blair a designer? I know she established Disney’s style but there’s a lot of good people who worked at Disney that aren’t included in the 9 old men. It wasn’t like the 9 old men were the main driving force of the studio, they were just the most talented animators who did not get fired from the strike.
Reply to Someone You KnowThe 9 Old men weren’t just animators. Frank was a story man 6-8 months out of the year. Marc Davis was an incredible designer who not only worked in development but designed some of the most memorable rides at Disneyland. Eric Larson directed and more noteably, trained a generation of Disney Artists.
While it’s true that many artists besides these old guys established the “look” of Disney, (Bill Peet, Eyvind Earle, and Ken Anderson are some of my favorites) I don’t think you can downplay their contribution. But name me one other woman who contributed as much as Mary Blair? You’d be hard pressed, i think. I’m not saying she contributed more or less then other artists of the time.. but considering how much her paintings influenced the look… and how women artists were viewed there at the time…(And if you are who I think you are, you’ve seen the infamous “ink and paint” letter) i’m shocked she’s mentioned at all.
Reply to melanie