Who was Alice Davis? Tributes pour in as Disney legend dies aged 93

On Friday, November 4, 2022, popular costume designer Alice Davis passed away at the age of 93. She gained recognition for her work with Walt Disney and created costumes for their films, television, and theme parks.

Alice Davis gained recognition for her work with Disney

Born on March 26, 1929, Alice Estes Davis received a scholarship from the Long Beach Art Association to enroll at the Chouinard Art Institute. Although she wanted to study animation at the institute, there was a two-year waiting list, and Chouinard helped her get into the only opening they had for the next semester, which was costume design.

She graduated and started her career by designing women’s lingerie for the Beverly Vogue & Lingerie House in Los Angeles. Alice was the designer of two lines of fashion lingerie. Moreover, being an expert in various exotic fabrics, she was known for her pattern-making skills.

Alice met her future husband, Marc Davis, when he was a teacher in a night class in animation. Marc called her in the mid-1950s when he was searching for a costume for Helene Stanley for the latter’s live-action performance as Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. While he and Alice collaborated on this project, they developed a close relationship and tied the knot in June 1956.

Walt Disney spotted the pair at a restaurant in Los Angeles and loved Alice’s work. She was then hired as a costume designer for the 1960 drama film Toby Tyler. Walt Disney asked Alice to assist Mary Blair in designing costumes for the Audio-Animatronic children of Disney’s 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair attraction “it’s a small world”.

While working on the “small world” project, Alice developed an AA figure costume manufacturing area, quality control system, and refurbishing techniques at WED Enterprises. Moreover, they continued to be used by the Imagineers and the maintenance staff of the Disney theme parks. She also created costumes for the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and the revamped Flight to the Moon attraction.

Alice Davis retired from WED in 1978 but continued to consult on other projects at The Walt Disney Company. She also appeared at Disney-related events and fan meet-and-greets. The costume designer was a recipient of the Disneyana Fan Club Disney Legend award in 1997 and was inducted as a legend at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, in 2004.

Alice was also honored with a window at Disneyland next to her husband’s window in May 2012. Moreover, she was a recipient of the June Forey Award in 2014.

Netizens on Twitter pay tribute to the late costume designer

Alice Davis became a popular name in the entertainment industry in recent years for her work with Disney. However, following her recent demise, Twitterattis took to the platform to pay tributes to her.

Alice was married to Marc Davis, who passed away in 2000. She is survived by her family members.

About the author

Anupal is a pop culture writer at Sportskeeda with a degree in Political Science. He developed a keen interest in the lives of celebrities, films, TV shows, and box office collections since an early age. After accumulating significant experience as a content writer across varied fields at companies such as The Indian Wire, DigiStatement, and QuirkyByte Media, he eventually settled on writing about his favorite genre - pop culture.

Anupal believes in conducting in-depth research while writing about any topic and relies on varied sources to ensure he produces holistic articles. He also often glances through content that was published in the 80s and 90s to gain a better understanding of the subject he is covering.

Anupal admires Robert Downey Jr., who played one of his favorite Marvel superheroes, Iron Man. He is inspired by the actor's resilience and the determination in overcoming past struggles to building a successful Hollywood career and admires the way he articulates his thoughts while speaking in interviews.

If Anupal could travel back in time, he would love to experience James Cameron's 2009 film 'Avatar' in a theatre full of fans. When he's not busy working, he binges on the latest OTT titles across languages.

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