From the eloquent palette of Mary Blair, capturing the Headless Horseman for Ichabod... Truly a Treat!

Happiest 104th Birthday to the legendary animator and early champion of women animators, Don Lusk! The artist behind Cleo the goldfish from Pinocchio and the mesmerizing fish dance from the "Nutcracker Suite" in Fantasia, Don worked with Retta Scott on her first lead animator sequence in Bambi. "She was doing the dogs that were chasing Bambi," Don recalled, "No doubt about it, she knew how to draw dogs!" Don's animation career began in 1938 on Ferdinand the Bull and he later

10/21/1911 - Mary Robinson-Blair was born! One of the many remarkable women of Animation, Mary is perhaps best remembered by another Disney Legend, Alice Davis... "Mary Blair was an extraordinary artist and my very dear friend. Mary could put colors together that no one would think to combine, and when mixed within Mary’s brush, they worked beautifully. She was a very hard worker and a talented artist, but few people realize Mary wrote clever poetry, played poker and had a m

To keep the Studio going during the challenging rebuilding years of the late 1940s, Walt and his artists utilized their experience producing training films during the war to create instructional films and materials with an entertaining appeal. Delivered on 10/18/46, "The Story of Menstruation" was one of the earliest projects from the newly formed "Educational Films" division created at Disney Studios. Produced with the Kotex Corporation, this classroom classic has been seen

On October 16th, 1923, contracts were signed between a young unknown animator in Hollywood named Walter Disney and M.J. Winkler, the successful distributor/promoter of the early animated novelties 'Out of the Inkwell' and 'Felix the Cat.' M.J. Winkler was in fact, Margaret Winkler — the only women in film distribution, and the first women in the Producer's Guild. Adding a fictitious 'J' to her name, Margaret operated as M.J. Winkler. In addition to her distribution prowess,

Meet the extraordinary Mindy O'Brien! Artist, entrepreneur and part of a multi-generational family of Disney artistry. Mindy's Grandmother — Mary Ellison-Allen — was a premium inker at the Disney Hyperion Studios in the 1930s. While there, she worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. Miss Mindy's mother, sister and husband are also master artists, and the rich legacy of artistry in Mindy's life is wonderfully apparent in the timeless style, masterful lines an

Ink & Paint — finally in the hands of RUTHIE TOMPSON!! This remarkable lady dedicated nearly 40 years to the Walt Disney Company — from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to The Rescuers (1977) -— as a Painter, Final Checker, Animation Checker and, with her mathematical mind, Ruthie worked her way into Scene Planning where she developed camera moves and mechanics suited for animation. Ruthie is not only a true trailblazer as one of the first women in the International Pho

Remembering the spark of legendary Ink & Paint artist — Carmen de la Torre-Sanderson! "I started in Traffic in 1945 and my run was the Ink & Paint building," Carmen shared with me. "I used to watch the gals paint...and I became fascinated. My first big production was Song of the South." I just took to it like a duck takes to water, and I was on production after the third day of training." Painter, Shadow Painter, Inker, Final Checker, Ink Supervisor, Xerox Supervisor, this le