If you know anything about Disneyland history, then you are familiar with the name of Mary Blair. And if you are familiar with her name, then you’ll know that she had a hand in many Disney films as well as a number of murals at Disneyland, EPCOT and the Contemporary resort in Florida.
Tonight I stumbled across a couple of cards that highlight her work on “It’s a Small World”. One shows the actual interior of the ride and is a common Disneyland card (NT0985). The other shows the concept work for this same scene and is found on one of the “Colors of Mary Blair” cards that I picked up at the Disney Family Museum.
As someone who has designed a lot of things as an engineer, seeing these two cards side by side is a real treat. Concept and reality frequently differ in many, often compromised, ways. But here, you really get the sense that Mary was able to work with the engineers and technicians to make her vision become reality without having to sacrifice too much in the process.
Of course, Disney engineers continue to do this today…60 years after the founding of WED Enterprises. Here’s hoping for many more years to come!
Until next time…
