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Disney Legend Alice Davis Passes Away at 93

We are sad to share the news that Disney Legend, and renowned costume designer, Alice Davis, has passed away at 93 years of age.

Alice Davis is perhaps most known for her work in costuming, in which she created over 150 individual costumes for Audio-Animatronics dolls on “its a small world.” Throughout her career with Disney she worked on several of the company’s most beloved projects ranging from films like Sleeping Beauty (1959) to costuming in Disney Parks, eventually leading to her being named a Disney Legend in 2004.

Alice Davis

Credit: Disney

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Prior to her work with Disney, Davis was an accomplished fashion designer working for Beverly Vogue & Lingerie House in Los Angeles, CA. During her time as head designer of the firm, she created her own lingerie fashion lines and gained extensive expertise on pattern-making and fabrics.

She began working with the Walt Disney Company alongside art designer Mary Blair when “it’s a small world,” was in design phases prior to the opening of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. Davis eventually lent her talents to the creation of over 150 costumes for the attraction, making her a major contributor in an iconic Disney experience that Guests from around the world continue to enjoy to this day.

Alice Davis working on "it's a small world"

Credit: Disney

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In 1956, she married Imagineer Marc Davis, whose designs she translated into real-life costumes fitted to Audio Animatronics for favorite Disney attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean. The couple remained married for 44 years until Marc Davis passed in 2000.

Alice Davis was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2004, and the “seamstress to the stars,” was given her very own window on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland Park in 2012. If you visit Disneyland today, be sure to look out for her window, which is located right beside the nod to her late husband, Marc Davis.

Alice Davis with Mickey Mouse

Credit: Disney

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When asked about her inspiration and teachers in creating he art, Davis once recalled:

I had lots of good teachers, but I also had people who saw that I wanted to be an artist, and they liked helping people. I always say that good friends are the jewelry of your heart. They’re your riches. The jewels of your heart are your friends. If you don’t have friends, you can have all the money in the world, but you’re not happy. You can be poor and have lots of friends, and if nothing else, you can sit on the side of a hill and enjoy the sunset with a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread and be happier than any rich person. Because you have all these riches around you.

We at Disney Tips are saddened to learn of Alice’s passing, and are keeping her family and friends in our thoughts during this difficult time.

About Brittany DiCologero

Brittany is a New England-based writer focused on the history of the Walt Disney World Resort. She is the author of "Red, White, and Disney: The Myths and Reality of American History at the Walt Disney World Resort," and "Brittany Earns Her Ears."