Blaine Gibson

After animating all day at The Walt Disney Studios Blaine Gibson would go home at night and sculpt it had been a favorite hobby of his since childhood Then in 1954 Walt Disney happened to see one of Blaines art exhibits which featured several animal sculptures and recruited him to work on special projects for his new theme park Disneyland Blaine was somewhat ambivalent about being diverted from his goal to establish himself as one of the Studios foremost animators As he recalled in 1995 I didnt think it was that important but then I was told Walt was expecting me to work on these projects So I said to myself what the heck and went to Walt Disney Imagineering I was never sorry after that Born February 11 1918 in Rocky Ford Colorado Blaine attended Colorado University but left school to join The Walt Disney Studios in 1939 While working as an inbetween artist and assistant animator he took evening classes in sculpture at Pasadena City College and studied with a private instructor Among his animation credits are Fantasia Bambi Song of the South Alice in Wonderland Peter Pan Sleeping Beauty and One Hundred and One Dalmatians When first assigned by Walt to the Disneyland project Blaine divided his time between sculpting and animating for the Company In 1961 he transferred fulltime to WED Enterprises joining the design and development division to supervise the newly created sculpture department Ultimately Blaine went on to make a name for himself in 3D animation creating hundreds of sculptures from which AudioAnimatronics figures and bronzes were produced for exhibits at the 196465 New York Worlds Fair and Disney theme parks around the world Among his credits are contributions to such attractions as Great Moments with Mr Lincoln Pirates of the Caribbean Haunted Mansion and the Enchanted Tiki Room After nearly 45 years with The Walt Disney Company Blaine retired in 1983 He continued to consult on such projects as The Great Movie Ride at Disneys Hollywood Studios in Florida In 1993 the same year he was named a Disney Legend Blaine created a lifesize bronze of Walt and Mickey Mouse standing handinhand The statue called Partners is located at the Central Hub in Disneyland and at Disney parks around the world Blaine subsequently created a lifesize bronze of Roy O DisneyCompany cofounder and brother of Waltfor display in Disney theme parks httpsd23comwaltdisneylegendblainegibson