Marc Davis
Marc Davis
Marc Fraser Daviswas a prominent American artist and animator for Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, the famed core animators of Disney animated films, and was revered for his knowledge and understanding of visual aesthetics...
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth30 March 1913
CityBakersfield, CA
american-artist december joined walt
I joined Walt Disney, went to work, December 2nd 1935, so obviously, I'm not too young!
american-artist newspaper newspapers promised work
I had some connections from the newspapers that I did work with up there, so there was a newspaper publisher in Hollywood, and they promised me work and so on.
although american-artist drawing humans knowledge offer originally problem studio
It wasn't a problem for me drawing humans although I had originally come to the studio with the idea that what I had to offer them was my knowledge in the drawing of animals.
american-artist animate animating character opportunity turn understand unless
There is something I feel when I animate something; you can never really understand the character you're animating unless you've had the opportunity to turn it around. Once you've done that, you know it is a three-dimensional object.
american-artist draw human job people snow stuck studio term
Yes, the first job I had at the studio was Snow White. I don't like the term particularly, but I got stuck with the human characters. They just didn't have that many people who could draw humans.
acquainted american-artist amuse attended drawing found good high latest school time
Before I got through high school I had attended 22 different schools. In the time before I was well acquainted with the latest school, I would amuse myself by drawing and found that I was pretty good at it.
ability american-artist animated business draw guys living mostly newspaper people
At that time, the people that were in the animated film business were mostly guys who were unsuccessful newspaper cartoonists. In other words, their ability to draw living things was practically nil.
american-artist banks deal dependent disney foreign gave great money next snow three white
Disney had made such a great deal of money on Snow White that the banks gave him the go-ahead on the next three films. But he was heavily dependent on the foreign market.
ability american-artist artist drawing giving limited
Drawing is giving a performance; an artist is an actor who is not limited by the body, only by his ability and, perhaps, experience.
american-artist animation stories
Animation had been done before, but stories were never told.
american-artist everybody studio
It wasn't that you had to do these things, you wanted to do them. You were so proud. Every write-up the studio got, everybody went out and got it.
american-artist animate department develop drawing finished help later scenes throughout
Throughout my career, when I was finished with the drawing for one film I would go up to the story department and help develop sequences. Sometimes these were for scenes that I would animate later on.
american-artist boom family fields grew lived moved oil towns wild
When I was a kid, my family moved around a lot, and I lived and grew up in a lot of wild places. I lived in boom towns and oil fields and the like.
american-artist disney feeling hanging name teeth walt
His feeling was the name Walt Disney represented all of us. Walt was hanging by his teeth financially and really I think he was for most of his career. Not at all like today.