Gibson…Blaine Gibson

Gibson…Blaine Gibson. You might not know who Blaine Gibson was, but as one of Walt Disney’s greatest animators, his name is known among animators as well as James Bond was among the world’s greatest spies. Blaine Gibson was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios who passed away earlier this month, on, July 5th, 2015, at 97 years of age. He was not one of Walt’s Nine Old Men, but his body of work for Disney can stand it’s own two feet. He worked on many projects for Walt Disney that are treasured by all Disney lovers even now, not just for the studios, but for the theme parks as well. 

  Walt Disney hired Blaine Gibson to be an assistant animator in 1939, and he worked on several of the studios most popular animated movies. He worked on “Song of the South,” “Fantasia,” “101 Dalmatians,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Lady and the Tramp,” and many others. However, after studying sculpture at Pasadena City College, Walt, in 1954, promoted Gibson to WED (Walter Elias Disney) Enterprises (which today is currently referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering) to put his unique talents to use in Disneyland. If you’ve ever been to Disneyland or Walt Disney World, you’ve enjoyed Gibson’s work already.  

His unique contributions consist of the pirates of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction, the ghosts of the “Haunted Mansion,” the birds of “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room,” the children of “It’s a Small World,” and the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln (the first Audio-Animatronic figure) for “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” Besides all of that, he also designed the statues of all 44 U.S.A. presidents for the “Hall of Presidents” at Walt Disney World.

Not all of Walt Disney’s animators were fortunate enough to work on the theme park attractions in addition to the movies the studio produced. Those who were did have difficult work schedules, but I’m sure we can all agree that they’re hard work paid off immensely, especially Blaine Gibson’s. When we look at any of Blaine Gibson’s work, it’s difficult to imagine it any other way. His audio-animatronic figures are all very special because they create the illusion of real life live in front of your very eyes, instead of just on a movie and/or television screen. He truly was one of the most unique people who helped Walt Disney create his unforgettable and everlasting legacy of magical storytelling.         

Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men

Have you ever wondered where we would be today if Disney had never brought any stories to life with such beautiful characters like Snow White, Dumbo, Bambi, and Jiminy Cricket? Walt Disney hired many extremely talented people to work at his studio from animators, to musicians, to cinematographers, to directors, etc. Together, under Walt’s supervision, they all created the magical motion pictures, animated and live-action, that we know and love today. Of all of the animators that he hired, he had nine men whom he nicknamed “The Nine Old Men,” because they were the core animators for the studio. He named them that after the same nickname that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt named the nine members of the United States Supreme Court at the time. Those men were nine gritty old men that FDR disliked, but Walt’s Nine Old Men were very young, and he loved them dearly.

Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men consisted of Les Clark, Ward Kimball, Marc Davis, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery, Milt Kahl, Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman, and Eric Larson (Animator of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear in Song of the South (1946)). Each of these men had their own unique body of work for the studio. Because they were the immediate animators for the studio, their work was primarily character animation. Today, these men are all deceased, but their work continues to stand the test of time. They all also served as mentors for the new animators who would come to work at the Disney studios in the 1970s and 1980s.

Les Clark was an animator of Mickey Mouse, and he was the only member of the “Nine Old Men,” to work on that character. Ward Kimball’s work was mostly non-human supporting characters, i.e. Jiminy Cricket, Lucifer, Gus and Jaq in Cinderella (1950), and the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland (1951). Marc Davis started out for the studio animating the Princesses like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and also Tinker Bell, but his best known work for the studio is the villains, including Maleficent and Cruella De Vill. Marc Davis also designed the characters for the “Haunted Mansion” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” attractions at Disneyland. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, who were very close in real life, animated characters that always played opposite of each other, for example, Frank Thomas animated Captain Hook, while Ollie Johnston animated Mr. Smee, and Frank Thomas also animated Cinderella’s Stepmother, while Ollie Johnston animated the Stepsisters. One might think that these characters relationships with one another were parodies of the real friendship that these two men had with one another. 

John Lounsbery’s best known Disney work can be seen on Mr. Darling in Peter Pan (1953), the Kings in Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Tony and Joe in Lady and the Tramp (1955). Milt Kahl began his career at Disney in 1934, but he really didn’t get up to the top of his game until after Walt’s passing in 1966, animating the villains of the movies that came out after that time, including Shere Kahn in The Jungle Book (1967), Edgar the Butler in The Aristocats (1970), the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood (1973), and Madame Medusa in The Rescuers (1977). Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman animated characters such as the Crocodile in Peter Pan (1953) the Dragon in Sleeping Beauty (1959), and the rat in Lady and the Tramp (1955). He and John Lounsbery both, however, were promoted to directing the all of the animated films after Walt’s passing, and their directing work includes Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974) and The Rescuers (1977). Reitherman also had 3 sons (Robert, Richard, and Bruce) that were all fortunate enough to be cast in Disney animated features. Richard and Robert shared the role of Wart in The Sword in the Stone (1963) with another actor named Rickie Sorenson, while Bruce voiced Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) and Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1967). And last but not least, Eric Larson worked on Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear in The Song of the South (1946), Peg in Lady and the Tramp (1955), and the Vultures in The Jungle Book (1967). He was one of the studio’s top mentors for the talent at the studio today.    

All Disney lovers really need to tip their hats off to these nine guys for their incredible talent. It is because of their talent that we get to see Disney characters cavort about the screen, communicate with each other, and ultimately find an extraordinarily beautiful happily ever after. Although Walt did have other animators in addition to these men, it was this group of men who served as the foundation for the term “animated motion picture.”                

Hollywood Ghost Voices

Don’t you just love Audrey Hepburn singing “I Could Have Danced All Night,” in My Fair Lady (1964)? Or Christopher Plummer’s rendition of “Edelweiss,” in The Sound of Music (1965)? Well, too bad, because neither one of those actors actually sung the songs, or any of the other songs in those movies. Shocking, right? 

Whenever Hollywood makes a Movie-musical, animated or live-action, if the filmmakers cast an actor in one of the major roles, and if the actor can’t sing the part, or if their singing voice just isn’t conspicuously good, then the creative team has to hire another actor who can sing the part, and the latter’s voice is dubbed in for the former’s. The filmmakers have to make a completely flawless transition onscreen between the two different voices. You might be surprised to know how many actors who have been in the greatest movie-musicals of all time have had their singing voices dubbed in by other actors. 

Marni Nixon is an actress who is best known throughout the world for “ghosting” the singing voices of many Hollywood leading ladies who starred in movie-musicals. Her singing voice was dubbed in for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964), Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961), and Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956). Although Betty Wand’s singing voice was dubbed in for Rita Moreno’s singing voice in West Side Story (1961), Marni Nixon’s singing voice was also dubbed in for Rita Moreno during the “Tonight,” sequence in the movie, and she dubbed in for Deborah Kerr again in An Affair to Remember (1957). You can also hear her singing voice in a number of Walt Disney films. She is the main title soloist in Cinderella (1950). She voiced the singing flowers in Alice in Wonderland (1951), and she portrayed the singing geese in the “Jolly Holliday” sequence in Mary Poppins (1964). And, her singing voice was dubbed in for June Foray’s singing voice for the role of Grandmother Fa in Mulan (1998). In addition to all of this, Marni Nixon can also be seen live in The Sound of Music (1965) as Sister Sophia.

Bill Lee was another actor who also lent his singing voice to blockbuster movie-musicals, including Disney. His singing voice was dubbed in for Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music (1965), Russ Tamblyn in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and John Kerr in South Pacific (1958). For Disney, he was one of the Card Painters in Alice in Wonderland (1951), he did the pirates in Peter Pan (1953), one of the dogs in Lady and the Tramp (1955), and he was the ram in the “Jolly Holliday,” sequence in Mary Poppins (1964). His most popular role for Disney, however, was the singing voice of Roger in 101 Dalmatians (1961). He also made a brief live appearance as one of the village people in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1965), that starred Lesley Ann Warren in the title role. He played the father of one of the girls swooning over Prince Charming in the “The Prince is Giving a Ball Sequence.” One could easily characterize Marni Nixon and Bill Lee as the king and queen of “Hollywood Ghost Voices.”     

I can understand how one might find it disappointing that some movie stars didn’t sing for themselves, but in my point of view, that doesn’t necessarily make the movies any less- entertaining. That has no impact on how the story is told. It’s just a substitution for the performance of the live actor that is still equally enjoyable. If none of these people had lent their singing voices to these movies they wouldn’t be the treasured classics that they are. They all have terrific voices and their renditions of the songs from these musicals are absolutely unforgettable! We should never be judgmental of anyone who can’t sing, including movie stars, because not everyone shares the exact same talent as one another, and the fact that they can’t sing doesn’t mean that they’re not good actors. Occasionally, our favorite actors and/or filmmakers will do something in a movie that will disappoint us, but we should never expect the people we love as an actor/singer to live up to literally everyone of our standards, just like we should never expect the people we love personally to live up to every one of our standards, because that isn’t how life works. So next time you watch My Fair Lady (1964) or South Pacific (1958) and you’re enjoying the live performances of Audrey Hepburn or John Kerr, remember you’re enjoying the voice-over performances Marni Nixon and Bill Lee too!