Alice Davis 1929-2022

[blackcauldron85]

The lovely Disney Legend Alice Davis has passed away at age 93:

https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... way-at-93/

I was lucky enough to interview her for this site, and she was incredibly nice. She and Marc made such huge impacts on the Walt Disney Company. RIP.

[carolinakid]

Marc Davis is my favorite of the nine old men.... and I will always associate Alice with It’s A Small World.

[Patricier21]

RIP indeed I was just re-watching the defrosted Featurette from frozen 1 Recently which featured her in it. Man, what’s with 2022 wanting to take away so many notable people eH?

[D82]

That's sad news. She had a long life, though. I've watched the video on the link you posted, blackcauldron85, and it's so nice to hear she enjoyed her job so much that she even arrived to work early.

I was lucky enough to interview her for this site, and she was incredibly nice.

Oh, I didn't know that! That's so cool you got to interview her! Do you have a link to that interview?

She and Marc made such huge impacts on the Walt Disney Company. RIP.

That's true, and she was one of the few women working in an important position at the studio back then, right?

Man, what’s with 2022 wanting to take away so many notable people eH?

Yeah, what a year.

[Disney Duster]

I remember she designed that beautiful costume for Briar Rose (or did she just sew it?), and she thought Cruella's costume was good when asked about it. She was a Disney legend indeed. RIP, Alice.

[blackcauldron85]

I was lucky enough to interview her for this site, and she was incredibly nice.

Oh, I didn't know that! That's so cool you got to interview her! Do you have a link to that interview?

She and Marc made such huge impacts on the Walt Disney Company. RIP.

That's true, and she was one of the few women working in an important position at the studio back then, right?

The link is here:
https://dvdizzy.com/alicedavis-interview.html

Yes, I think since Walt asked her to work on projects, she must have been one of the few women working in a creative role at the studio at the time.

[carolinakid]

I remember she designed that beautiful costume for Briar Rose (or did she just sew it?), and she thought Cruella's costume was good when asked about it. She was a Disney legend indeed. RIP, Alice.

All the articles I referenced say she DESIGNED and CREATED Briar Rose’s costume for Helene Stanley to wear in the live action reference film. I also loved the way the dress flowed and bunched when Aurora was dancing and twirling with the animals as the “dream prince” and with Prince Philip.

[Disney Duster]

Yes but it's peculiar there's so many drawings that show different but similar dresses for Briar Rose until even an exact same looking one, so I thought the artists designed the look and she just created it.

It also sounded like she just made the costume in Amy's interview. By the way, great interview Ames! I loved it!

[D82]

Thanks for the link, blackcauldron85! Your interview was really well written and I found it very interesting. I was honestly impressed with your work. I'll have to read more of the interviews on this site. I think I knew this section existed, but I hadn't really explored it. I've mainly just read Luke's reviews, especially the ones for DVD/Blu-ray releases, which I've always found very useful when deciding whether to buy some editions or not, since they detail every bonus feature and specify which are ported over from previous editions and which aren't.

Yes, I think since Walt asked her to work on projects, she must have been one of the few women working in a creative role at the studio at the time.

Yes, that's what I actually meant; that she had creative role. The women working in the ink and paint department, of course, also had an important role and were very talented, but it wasn't a very creative job. I guess Alice Davies didn't work at the studio for a long time, though, but she managed to leave her mark.

[blackcauldron85]

Thanks, guys! I have to give props to Luke- it's been so long since we did interviews but I'm pretty sure he edited them. I think once we became DVDizzy the interviews stopped; I know that Disney gave us free DVDs for them, to do our research, so I'm not sure if they stopped doing that so interviews stopped? No idea. If Luke ever wants to start those back up, I had a blast doing them.

It's interesting that Alice Davis, Mary Blair, Retta Scott...I could pull out my "Ink + Paint: The Women of Disney..." book and name more...Walt just really respected these women's work, made special concessions for them when he wouldn't for most women. Just how the times were then I guess. In that way, they are definitely pioneers.

[D82]

It would be great if the interviews started again. And you're right about Walt respecting these women's work. It's great that he saw and valued their talent and gave them opportunities despite them being women. At the same time, it's a shame only a few got that chance, but they were pioneers as you said and helped pave the way for other women.

By the way, Disney has released an article about Alice:

Remembering Disney Legend Alice Davis
https://d23.com/about-legends/rememberi ... ice-davis/

[Disney Duster]

What Alice said about having friends and being rich or poor was so wise and beautiful.