Mary Blair née. Mary Browne Robinson (1911-1978) was an artist and animator for the Walt Disney Company. She made artwork for various Disney movies and attractions but is probably best known in the parks for her work on the attraction It's a Small World.
History[]
Biography[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Mary Blair was a socialite in the early 1930s and who lived in some jungle region. By the December 9th of 1932, Mary was interviewed for her, "Glamorous" life-style by the Daily Colonial Journal newspaper.
Jungle Cruise appearances[]
Jungle River Cruise: Curse of the Emerald Trinity[]
Mary Blair was name-dropped in this overlay of Jungle River Cruise. In the Daily Colonial Journal, there were mentions of releasing an interview with, "Glamorous socialite Mary Blair" on the December 9 of 1932. Mary would have been 21 years old at the time of said interview.
Other connections[]
It's a Small World[]
It's a Small World has several connections and parallels with the Jungle Cruise. The least of these being that much of Mary's art for the jungle sections of It's a Small World resemble the jungles of the Jungle Cruise.
- In an edition of The Daily Gnus, Alberta Falls uses the expression, "It's a small world after all" in regards to a chance meeting with Dr. Kon Chunosuke.
- A common gag used by skippers in the temple scene of the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise is singing a creepy rendition of, "It's a Small World after all".
- In the Skipper Canteen's library there is a book titled A Small World of Traditional Wardrobe by A. Davis. This is a tribute to imagineer and costume-designer Alice Estes Davis (1929-present) who created the clothing for attractions such as It's a Small World. Alice Davis was also the wife of Marc Davis, an animator who developed the Jungle Cruise.
- Certain crossover characters in the Jungle Cruise and its properties also appear in It's a Small World. This includes Simba, Santa Claus, Cinderella, Donald Duck, the Nautilus submarine, the Kimballum Horriblus, and Jungle Book characters such as Baloo and Mowgli.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
A photograph in this bar identifies Trader Sam as having lead Walt Disney's 1941 vacation in South America. While Mary is not amongst those pictured, she was a historic member of Walt's group and it was on this vacation where she was promoted to art-supervisor for her water-colours.
Trivia[]
- Mary's reference in Jungle River Cruise is somewhat anachronistic as she married Lee Everett Blair in 1934, two years after Jungle River Cruise takes place. Due to this, Mary would have been going by Mary Browne Robinson during the attraction's setting.