Who were Disney's Nine Old Men? I run down the careers of the influential animators. This installment honours Marc Davis (March 30, 1913 - January 12, 2000).

Walt Disney called his top animators "The Nine Old Men." It was a riff on Franklin D. Roosevelt's term for his Supreme Court judges, but behind the joke was a fierce respect for those who changed the course of animation during their lifetime. Though well-known as a control freak, Walt suppressed these tendencies around the Nine Old Men, knowing that it was best if he stayed out of their way.

Walt's trust was not misplaced. These animators turned his story concepts into cinematic art, making movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmations into classic films which appeal to all ages. Their influence on Walt Disney Studios and the development of cinematic animation cannot be overstated.

Marc Davis' genius not only flourished in animation, but in designing rides and exhibits for Disneyland and EPCOT Centre. Known as Disney's "ladies man," due to his skill at drawing females like Cruella De Vil, Maleficient, and Cinderella, Davis' work helped make those classic characters as lifelike as possible.

Marc Davis: Created Bambi, Cinderella and Cruella De Vil

Marc Davis (March 30, 1913 - January 12, 2000) never intended to become an animator; he wanted to be a artist. However, it was his bad luck to start his career in the middle of the Great Depression, when people were lucky to even find a job.

He was born in Bakersfield, California, the only child of Harry and Mildred Davis. After graduating high school, Marc received his first formal art training at the Kansas City Art Institute. After that, he attended the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles.

He joined Disney in 1935 and was tossed into the deep end: assisting veteran animator Myron “Grim” Natwick (who created Betty Boop) in developing the central character of Snow White. It was a rough assignment for a rookie, but Davis' skill at drawing human anatomy served him well.

Recognizing that Davis was a rare talent, Walt Disney not only apprenticed him to animator Frank Thomas but also put him to work on the upcoming Bambi. Davis spent the next six years designing characters and drawing storyboards for the film, and was directly responsible for the look of the title character, the skunk Flower, and the rabbit Thumper.

In 1946, Davis jumped to Directing Animator for Song of the South. He also designed characters for 1947's Fun & Fancy Free, 1949's The Wind in the Willows and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

However, it was 1950's Cinderella that made Marc Davis a legend. He not only designed the title character but assembled Walt Disney's favourite animated sequence: the scene where Cinderella descends the staircase wearing her new dress.

Davis cemented his reputation as Disney's "ladies man" by designing Alice, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare for Alice in Wonderland, Wendy and Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, Briar Rose and Maleficient in Sleeping Beauty, and his ultimate accomplishment, Cruella De Vil for 101 Dalmations, arguably Disney's most memorable villain.

101 Dalmations was Davis' last job as one of the Nine Old Men. Afterwards, Walt gave him a new gig: developing story and character concepts for a proposed theme park called Disneyland.

Marc Davis designed Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion

Davis joined Disney Imagineering in 1961, and made his presence felt on countless attractions, including Country Bear Jamboree, Haunted Mansion, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Jungle Cruise, Nature's Wonderland, The Enchanted Tiki Room, and America Sings.

He made his work on the original Pirates of the Caribbean a family affair, as his second wife Alice also designed costumes for the attraction. Alice Davis designed costumes for many other Disneyland rides, including It's a Small World.

Davis retired in 1978, but Imagineering lured him back as a consultant on "World of Motion" for EPCOT Center and for several attractions at Tokyo Disneyland. He also taught advanced drawing classes at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, lectured around the world, and exhibited paintings in galleries such as the Larry Smith in Los Angeles.

In 1996, a Davis-rendered animation cel of Cinderella receiving her gown from her fairy godmother earned over $36,000 at auction. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured him by sponsoring the annual Marc Davis Animation Lecture Series, which featured a world-famous animator discussing their craft.

Marc Davis died after a stroke on January 14, 2000.

(Thanks to IMDb, BCDb, and Business Wire for research material on this article)

Next up: Ollie Johnston, legendary character animator, author and educator.