Disney’s Magic Makers: Marc Davis

Posted by Daniel
May 10, 2009

Welcome to the ninth, and last, Magic Makers post about Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. An important note to make: there will be more posts in this series, but we’ll focus on other important people that have worked (or still work) at the Walt Disney Studios. This time, we’ll be focusing on Marc Davis.

Marc Davis was born on March 30, 1913, in Bakersfield, California. His father, an oil field developer, traveled frequently to sites across the country where oil fields popped up. So wherever a new oil field was found, Harry (Marc’s father) would pick up and move to the site, bringing his family with him. This caused Marc to attend over 20 schools nationwide before graduating high school.

Upon graduation, Davis first enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute, then the California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco), and, finally, the Otis Art Institute (Los Angeles). The common denominator between all three schools is the fact that he could focus on his drawing and painting skills. While in college, March honed in his animal drawing skills (and would spend countless hours at the zoo just sketching).

Davis signed on with The Walt Disney Studios in 1935 as an apprentice animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After Snow White, Davis worked on story sketch and character design in Bambi (his drawings still stand as the best animal characters ever created at the Studios) and Victory Through Air Power. After these, Davis worked on Song of the South (Br’er Rabbit), Cinderella (Cinderella), Alice in Wonderland (Alice), Peter Pan (Tinker Bell), Sleeping Beauty (Maleficent and Aurora)“African Diary”, “Duck Pimples”, “Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom“, and 101 Dalmatians (Cruella de Vil).

Side Note: While working on Sleeping Beauty, Davis called up a costume designer to create a dress for the live-action model for Aurora. He called up the latest and greatest designer in Burbank, Alice Estes, and the two grew close during the project-eventually marrying each other.

After 101 Dalmatians, Davis moved to the newborn department of WED Enterprises. He contributed to story and character developments for a number of Disneyland attractions including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Ford’s Magic Skyway, The Carousel of Progress, America Sings, The Jungle Cruise, The Enchanted Tiki Room, Western River Expedition, The Country Bear Jamboree, and it’s a small world.

In 1978, after 43 years, Davis retired from the Studios, but eventually acted as a consultant for EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland. He and his wife, Alice, also financially supported the California Institute of the Arts (founded by Walt). In 1989, he was named a Disney Legend.

Marc Davis died on January 12, 2000, in Glendale, California (the Marc Frasier Davis Scholarship Fund was announced that same month at the California Institute of the Arts).