Mary Blair: Painting Disney’s Colorful History

In honor of Women’s History Month we’re producing a two-part series about two artists who were visionaries and trailblazers. In part 2, we look at the career of Mary Blair. She changed the way Walt Disney wanted to make animation and brought modernist sophistication to his style. But not everyone at the studio was on board with Walt’s dream to “get Mary in the picture.” I talk with animation historians John Canemaker and Mindy Johnson about the influence of Mary Blair, and how we’ve experienced her work more than we’ve actually seen it. And I talk with author Gabrielle Stecher about the more complicated aspects of Blair’s legacy. Mindy Johnson’s book is Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney Animation. John Canemaker’s book is Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair. Gabrielle Stecher’s article is “Examining The Legacy of Mary Blair.” This episode is sponsored by Audible and Remi. Go to audible.com/sunrise and listen to the highly anticipated new audiobook in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins Go to shopremi.com/imaginary and use the code IMAGINARY to save up to 50% your first mouthguard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices