Born on October 21, 1911, in McAlester, Oklahoma, Mary Browne Robinson moved to Texas while still a small child, and later to the city of Morgan Hill, California, in the early 1920s.

[2] After graduating from San José State University which she attended from 1929 to 1931,[2] Mary won a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute[3] in Los Angeles, where artists such as Pruett Carter, Morgan Russell and Lawrence Murphy were among the teachers.

[8] Her use of color and shape impressed Disney, who appointed her as an art supervisor for the animated feature films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.

Mary Blair was credited with color styling on Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), and the artistic influence of her concept art is strongly felt in those films, as well as in several animated shorts, including Susie the Little Blue Coupe and The Little House, she designed during that period.

"[15] After the completion of Peter Pan, Blair resigned from Disney and worked as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, creating advertising campaigns for companies such as Nabisco, Pepsodent, Maxwell House,[16] Beatrice Foods and others.

She also illustrated several Little Golden Books for publisher Simon & Schuster, some of which remain in print today, and she also designed Christmas and Easter sets for Radio City Music Hall.

Although this attraction has received both criticisms and embrace, Blair's bold use of shape, color, and cultural motifs continue to be recognized and celebrated.

[5] In 1966, philanthropist Dr. Jules Stein hired Walt Disney to create a ceramic mural for his newly opened Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Doodle featured an image of an illustrator as Mary might have drawn herself, surrounded by the simple patterns and shapes that made up her familiar cartoon world.

From March 13 to September 7, 2014, the Magic, Color, Flair: The World of Mary Blair exhibition was on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco Presidio, California.

Painted by local artist Carmen Taylor, the mural depicts Blair surrounded by fantastical vines and a gold stopwatch, references to Cinderella (1950) and Alice in Wonderland (1951), respectively.

[23] There is a visual representation of Blair in Disneyland's It's A Small World ride; she is rendered as a little girl halfway up the Eiffel Tower, holding a balloon.