Thursday, January 10, 2008

Remembering Marc Davis

This Saturday January 12th, marks the passing of one of the greatest Imagineers and animators of all time- Marc Davis.

Marc Davis' work has withstood the test of time and his creations still hold out as the top attractions at Disneyland parks around the world. The Haunted Mansion is one of the most popular rides hands down. Only to be topped by Pirates of the Carribean, which some 40 years later inspired 3 films that are in ranks of Disney's highest grossing box office ever. Not too bad uh?

Before working for WED Enterprises/Imagineering Marc Davis was one of the "Nine Old Men," Walt's elite crew of supervising animators. He's animated a few characters you may have heard of... Maleficent, Cruella DeVille, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty??

I had the chance to meet Marc Davis and his wife Alice back in 1999 about six months before his passing. He is the only one of the Nine Old Men I have had a chance to meet, but if I had to pick, he would be my first choice. He was kind enough to sign my sketchbook. Talk about an iconic signature to go along with a rich and iconic career!

4 comments:

BlueBoy-U said...

I couldn't agree more, Marc Davis IS Disney is it's purest form. He created many of it's most iconic characters and designed most of Disneyland's biggest hits and longest running successes. I am fortunate enough to call Alice Davis my friend and she has been generous enough to have me in her home several times to see many of Marc's works I had never known about before. Bravo for singling out Mr. Davis' incredible works!

garymyers said...

Hey Drew,
Marc was definitely great. The first time I met him was in the early nineties at a Ryman Affair of the art event. I told him I wanted to be be an animator and was looking for any insight or advice he could give me. He just looked off in the distance and said matter of factly "Well, I guess there's worse things you can do..."

Was that meeting you're talking about at the Tam O'Shanter by any chance?

Mr. Lincoln said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mr. Lincoln said...

Hey Gary,

It was at the Frank G. Wells Building. He did a guest lecture over there and a few people stayed around after to talk with him and his wife afterwards. You were probably there?