The Colors of Mary Blair at Disneyland- Part One: The Films

My bald spot and I actually wept when we saw this. 

I don't know if I've ever told you this, but I am a bonafide Mary Blair fanatic. Oh, wait. I told you here. And here. Oh, yes, and here. And last but not least, here. Tom and I planned our visit to Disneyland a few weeks back, which was my second, specifically so that we would be able to see the "Colors of Mary Blair" exhibit in the Disneyland Gallery which was in residence all summer and will apparently be closing quite soon. On my first trip to the park, I was so overwhelmed with things that I wanted to see, I didn't even make it inside the doors of the Gallery. This time it was the centerpiece of our trip.

Before we made it out to California, I combed the interwebs trying to find a somewhat comprehensive look at what was happening behind the doors, but came up pretty empty-handed. I took copious pictures of this absolutely amazing exhibit and want to share them with you, since I know a lot of people were not lucky enough to make it to Anaheim. I know that if I hadn't, I would have wanted someone to put up the pics. So I am being the someone that I wish that I was if I wasn't me, which I am. In simple terms, I want all the other geeks to be able to get their fix, too!

Today I will post photos of the inspirational art from the films. Later I will share photos of Mary's inspirational art from the parks. I will probably throw an extra post in at some point and share other Mary Blair-y pics from the trip not related to the exhibit specifically. For the most part, I'm going to let the art itself do the talking. Come on, y'all! Let's get our Mary Blair on!

Sign outside the Gallery as you enter the park.

The sign above the Gallery.

Once you pass through the gift shop area, the first room was dedicated to the art that Mary did for Disney films. (The Gallery itself is so gorgeous, by the way.)

Sign with a brief bio in the first room.

Above the sign was a picture of Mary.

We'll start with her art for Alice in Wonderland, which is probably the feature film where her influence is most powerfully felt.

Next is her work from Cinderella. It is quite fascinating to see the completely different, more subdued (though no less striking) color palette of these right next to the bright hues of the Alice art. Her use of color is completely genius.

Now are pieces from shorter works. 

So Dear To My Heart and "Las Posadas" from
The Three Caballeros.

"The Little House" and "Once Upon a Wintertime".

You may be asking where the Peter Pan art is. I am pretty sure that I got a shot of everything on the walls and I don't have a single piece of art from the film. What's crazy is that I was on such a Mary Blair high while I was actually within the Gallery, and so busy being in love with my life in the moment, that I didn't notice that there wasn't any. It wasn't until I was putting together this entry that I realized that art from one of Mary's big three for the studio wasn't included. I just walked out and asked Tom if he remembered any and he said no. It seems rather odd. If anybody knows why this is the case, or knows that the art was in fact there and I was just temporarily too stunned by the embarrassment of riches in front of me to notice, please holla atcha boy!

Coming soon will be all of the exhibited inspirational art that she did for the parks, including pieces for "it's a small world", the unrealized "Western River Expedition", and the Contemporary murals. Here's a peek inside the next room to whet your appetite!

Friday will be our DATE Night this week. If you'd like to follow along with the series, we'll be taking a look at Make Mine Music, the first of the Disney package films to take place outside of Latin America. It's a bit of a blessing, honestly. A man can only take so many tequila-indiced hallucinations in one lifetime.