Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Disney Legend Marc Davis

Disney Legend and One of Walt’s Nine Old Men

º ~ Marc Davis ~ º

March 30th, 1913 ~ January 12th, 2000

Worked for Disney

1935 ~ 1978


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       Marc Davis was born in Bakersfield California. His family moved often due to his father’s work in the Oilfield Development Industry. He went to twenty different schools across the country before graduation High School. He then attended Kansas City Art Institute, followed by the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. While attending art school he would spend hours at the zoo sketching animals.

In 1935 Marc Davis was hired as an apprentice animator at the Disney Studio. He started by working on Snow White. After Snow White he moved onto story sketch and character design for Bambi and Victory Through Air Power.

In 1961 Marc moved over to what is now called Walt Disney Imagineering. He was one of the original Disney Imagineers. He contributed whimsical story concept and character design for rides at Disneyland. His work can still be seen in rides such as such Disneyland attractions as the Enchanted Tiki Room, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and The Jungle Cruise.

After 43 years with the Studio, Marc retired in 1978, but continued to lend his expertise to the development of EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland. He and his wife, Alice, who designed costumes for Audio-Animatronics characters featured in Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World, have been long-time supporters of California Institute of the Arts, which was founded by Walt Disney.

He died in Glendale January, 12, 2000.

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