Movie Musings: Disney and More

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.