Women in Disney History

When people think of the Walt Disney company, they probably think of Michael Eisner, the Nine Old Men, or Walt and Roy themselves. These men may be the most famous in Disney history, but a lot of women have also helped paved the path towards success for the company. Here are some Disney women that deserve to be recognized: 

Unnamed Ink and Painters

Due to stereotypes about women, originally they could only be found in secretarial roles or in the ink and paint department at the Walt Disney Studios. Women were believed to be detail-oriented (but not smart or creative enough for animating jobs) which is why they seemed like a perfect fit for ink and paint. Animators would draw the characters, but the ink and paint girls will fill in the colors. It was a very methodical job. The company even hired other employees to stand over the shoulders of the painters and time them to keep track of their progress. Even though the ink and paint ladies were often overlooked, they deserve credit for helping to create Snow White. The ladies noticed that Snow looked very pale and wanted to add some rouge to her cheeks. But when they tried to paint red circles on her face, she needed up looking like a clown. They were stumped over what to do until one woman literally pulled some rouge out of her purse and applied it to drawing! Unfortunately, the names of the women who helped bring Snow White to life are lost to history.

 

Retta Scott

Retta Scott was the first women to receive credit as an animator. She was originally hired as a storyboarder for Bambi. Walt was so impressed by her sketches that she was assigned to animate the hunting dogs chasing Faline in the climax scene of the movie. Her male coworkers were surprised a woman could animate such a terrifying scene with great technical skill. Retta Scott later went on to work on Fantasia and Dumbo. Her work helped pave the way for other women animators. 

 

Mary Blair

Mary Blair is the most well-known female Disney animator. Her whimsical concept work for Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland are legendary. Mary Blair also designed It’s A Small World. Unjustly, after Walt died the company tossed her aside despite her long list of accomplishments. Today she is highly recognized amongst Disney fans. Her work continues to inspire Disney animators to this day.

 

Alice Davis

More than just animator Marc Davis’ wife, Alice was a key costumer for Disneyland. Alice Davis designed all of the costume for the animatronics on Pirates of the Caribbean. She wanted to make duplicates of all the costumes, but the financial department would not let her due to budgeting. She smartly ordered twice the amount of fabric anyways and worked day and night to finish them all in time. A few months into the ride’s opening, a fire broke out and destroyed half the animatronics. Coworkers came to Alice, worrying that the new ride would have to be closed for months while she worked on new costumes. Instead, Alice pulled out the backups she had along and saved the day. Alice Davis is honored with a window on Main Street at Disneyland that proudly declares her “Seamstress to the Stars”. 

 

Brenda Chapman

Brenda Chapman worked in developing story for classic Disney movies such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. She was the first female head of story for an animated feature film when she was assigned to The Lion King. Later, Chapman wrote and directed Brave, which she based on some of her own experiences. Unfortunately, being Pixar’s first woman director came with downsides. After disagreeing with John Lasseter about the movie, she was replaced as director with a man. She still received the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2012 for her work on Brave.