Mary Blair's Unique Flair

August 5, 2019
Art imitates art-driven life in this uneven tribute to an iconic illustrator who climbed to admirable creative heights at Walt Disney Studios. Following a childhood in which her family had little money for paint supplies, Mary Blair trains as an artist and is hired by Disney to paint “a dog named Lady... and a little elephant named Dumbo.” A work trip to South America inspires her to create paint color variations and applications as she works on classic animated films and helps design the It’s a Small World attraction at Disneyland. Though an airy narrative by Novesky echoes the whimsy of Blair’s art, captured in Disney animation artist Lee’s stylized cut-paper and gouache pictures, the book problematically distills South America to a place of “bright and happy colors” (of which Blair’s favorite is, inexplicably, “blanco—the color... of possibility”) and fails to contextualize, or even address, myriad criticisms of It’s a Small World. Ages 6–8.

June 15, 2019
A girl grows up to be an instrumental Disney artist. Mary Blair, nee Mary Browne Robinson, enjoys colors and painting in childhood. She dreams of being an artist and earns a spot at an art school. Later, she accepts a job at Walt Disney Studios. Over the course of her career, she paints Dumbo, creates concept art for iconic animated films (Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan), and helps create and design the world-famous Disney park attraction "It's a small world." Novesky's plotline and prose about Blair's massively influential achievements are oddly lackluster, reporting facts without spirit. Likewise, Lee's cut-paper and gouache media have a flatness--neither cut paper nor gouache is recognizable on most spreads--and a lack of vitality. Blair's a generic, tiny-waisted blonde white lady; characters smile almost unceasingly, even when the subject is poverty. This art is styled similarly to Disney art, but it lacks pizzazz. "It's a small world" is glorified, with no examination of how it stereotypes and exoticizes race, nationality, and ethnicity; Lee's illustrations reinscribe that very problem while Novesky romantically calls "small world" a celebration of "unity, goodwill, and global peace" leading to "colorful happily ever afters" (for whom?). Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Brigette Barrager's Pocket Full of Colors (2017) is a far livelier Blair biography, although it also ignores racism concerns. Watch a Disney film instead. (illustrator's note, note from Mary Blair's niece, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)

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June 1, 2019
Grades 1-3 This vibrant, cheery picture book traces the exceptional career of Disney artist Mary Blair. At Walt Disney Studios, Blair painted famous animals (Dumbo, for one), quit, and then returned for the opportunity to lead new, exciting projects. Influenced by her trip to South America, Blair changed animation with her radical ideas and unprecedented color palettes, which included moonlit dresses, fuchsia seas, and iris skies. Like Mary Blair, Lee's cut-paper illustrations emphasize color and shape, especially the gorgeous two-page spreads. A smiling, button-eyed Blair is pictured alongside Cinderella's silver carriage, Alice's upside-down mirror, and Wendy's nursery room window?all projects Blair created concept art for. Lee's art also imitates the bold, blocky figures that Blair designed for It's a Small World, her magnum opus, a ride that fosters goodwill and worldwide peace. This wonderful biography not only shows how Blair has influenced Walt Disney Studios, but it also captures her verve for life and bountiful imagination. Share this one with young, aspiring artists, especially those willing to break the rules.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)