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Marc Davis, Disney Animator
Topics: Marc Davis, Disney, Bakersfield locals
Posted by admin Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments One of the finest draftsmen ever to work at the Walt Disney Studio, Marc Davis has become a legend in our time. Born in 1913 in Bakersfield, California, he was one of the "Nine Old Men" whom Walt Disney gathered around him in the 1930s to develop the new art of animation. Mr. Davis passed away January 12, 2000.

 

Mr. Davis was a key animator at Disney for forty-two years. For seventeen of those years, he taught advanced classes in drawing at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. His work has delighted audiences and influenced two generations of animators.

At Disney, Marc Davis gave life to Disney heroines such as Snow White, Alice of Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. Noted for his brilliant female characters, he created Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent, and Cruella DeVil of 101 Dalmatians . He also helped to design Disney theme park attractions, including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Small World.

Less well-known, but equally impressive, are his paintings and drawings of bulls and bullfighters, dancers and harlequins, and the warriors and jungle life of Papua New Guinea. His evocative New Guinea paintings are represented in his book project, The Bite of the Crocodile, left unfinished at his death. A second book, The Anatomy of Motion , was also in progress.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has honored Mr. Davis by sponsoring the annual Marc Davis Animation Lecture Series, which each year features a world-famous animator.

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