So today on the podcast, we continue our story of Disney legend Mary Blair, the person who many people believe was Walt's favorite artist.

When we last left off, Mary along with Roli Crump and others, had just finished installing and opening It's a Small World at the 1964 New York World's Fair, with ceremonies attended by Mary,

her husband Lee, one of her sons, and of course, Walt himself. This was a high point in Mary's

career, a high point that happened while her marriage slowly moved toward its low point. Today we'll continue

with the summer after the attraction opened. But before I get to all that, I need to thank

another round of band camp subscribers. We're an ad-free listener-supported podcast. Our Bandcamp subscribers are the people who keep this whole enterprise going.

Without them, we would literally need to close up shop.

I am grateful for each person who supports us over on Bandcamp, but today,

a special note of thanks is going out to a few new

subscribers, Orion Orion, Wolveran, Neil, and Jay Farmer. Thanks to you and to everyone over on

Bandcamp.

And now let's kick over to today's show.

By the summer of 1964, after her only one project with WED, Mary was viewed as a lead designer.

Her illustrations of children, now arranged into It's a Small World, expressed more than her own vision of joy and innocence.

Mary's style was an artistic departure from the work of other lead designers at Disney. In one corner of

the wed organization were Disney artists interested in historical accuracy and believable realism.

These artists included John Hanch and Claude Coates, with great moments with Mr. Lincoln being a good example

of Disney realism at the World's Fair.

In another corner where Disney artists focused on caricature and comedic presentations.

These artists included Mark Davis, with the caveman section of the Ford Magic Skyway being a good example of Disney

caricature at the World's Fair. But Mary, and to a lesser extent Rolly Crump, occupied artistic

space far from the other leads. Mary's work for Small World featured simplified forms of children, a repetition of symbols

...