The colourful and happy world of Mary Blair will give inspiration to the project.
The works of Mary Blair probably have unwittingly become part of many families lives. Anyone who has visited Walt Disney World or any other Disney Theme Park for that matter , will probably be familiar with the family friendly ride ‘It’s a Small World’, which takes riders on a trip around the world celebrating the many nations of the world highlighting culture and national dress. In this idyllic world voyagers leave the ride with an immense feeling on happiness and hope for future world peace, despite the repetitive song being stuck in your head for the rest of the day/ life! Mary Blair was the brainchild behind the design of this ride from concept design to final installation.
During Blair's long and successful career she had a close working relationship with Walt Disney, she worked with the animation studios as a concept artist for many years and is partly responsible for Walt Disney's major motion picture successes, Mary's illustrations helped bring a new expressive and abstract style to films such as Cinderella (1950), Alice In Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) to name just a few. Mary's vivid colour schemes helped make them the films they were back then and still delight audiences young and old today.
Mary's use of bright colour and pattern make her work appealing to both children and adults alike. Blair's idyllic world she created where everybody gets on without boundaries, appears twee to many people but wouldn't it be nice if our world was like this today. How better than to inspire children to be kind and tolerant of others than to use It's a Small World as an example?
Mary Blair began working for Walt Disney in 1940 and gained great influence in the use of colour and pattern on a tour to South America in 1941 for the Disney Studios South American Goodwill Tour. It is believed that as a result of this inspiration Mary developed her unique style and expressive and bold use of colour. This tour is thought to have provided initial inspiration for the early planning of 'Its a Small World' it also directly inspired Disney's 1942’s Saludos Amigos and 1944’s The Three Caballeros, as highlighted in the #OhMyDisney Blog 'A True Contemporary: The Life and Work of Mary Blair' .
In 1964 Walt Disney contacted Mary Blair to work on a pavilion project for Pepsi and UNICEF to be showcased at the World's Fair. The project was ideal for Mary's style as it focused on colour, children and gave her opportunity to explore pattern and really showcase her unique style. The pavilion was a great success and as a result the 'It's a Small World' ride was born.
Mary continued to work with Walt Disney creating other versions of 'It's a Small World' throughout various theme parks across the globe; she also worked on several mural projects throughout the Disney Parks her most famous addition being the Grand Canyon Concourse ceramic mural, which stands at an impressive 90 feet tall in the lobby of the Contemporary Resort Hotel at Walt Disney World in Florida. Along with the sheer scale its bright colours and eye-catching patterns together with the playful characters and animals depicted, there's even the addition of a 5 legged goat! create a visually stunning addition to the décor which gives the resort its iconic reputation.
Mary believed that nothing in art was perfect so she deliberately made her work 'imperfect' and used clashing colour combinations which may have been frowned upon and labelled as childish by many art circles at the time of the murals production in 1971. It is believed that this work and Mary's legacy will give inspiration to aspiring artists for many years to come to encourage them to have fun with their artwork and not to be concerned with perfection, after all what is perfect?
Further reading links if you want to find out a little more about Mary:
Adams, S (2017) 'Mary Blair: The Grand Canyon Concourse Mural', Design Observer 04.07.2017. Available at: https://designobserver.com/feature/mary-blair-the-grand-canyon-concourse-mural/39546 (accessed 11 November 2018)
Designing Disney (2012) Designing It's a Small World Mary Blair. Available at: https://www.designingdisney.com/content/designing-its-small-world-mary-blair (accessed 11 November 2018)
Digital Media Academy (2010) A Tribute to Mary Blair. Available at: http://community.digitalmediaacademy.org/14722-a-tribute-mary-blair-artist (accessed 11 November 2018)
Disney Parks (2018) Recognising the Women of Disneyland. Available at: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/04/recognizing-women-of-the-disneyland-resort-mary-blair/ (accessed 11 November 2018)
Magic of Mary Blair (2016) Mary Gallery. Available at: http://magicofmaryblair.com/mary-gallery.htm (accessed 13 November 2018)
Oh My Disney (2016) Mary Blair History. Available at: https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2016/06/11/mary-blair-history/ (accessed 09 November 2018)
Only WD World (2009) Disney World and the 5 Legged Goat. Available at: https://www.onlywdworld.com/2009/10/disney-world-and-5-legged-goat.html (accessed 12 November 2018)
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