Grace Bailey was an American ink artist and supervisor, who worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios and was the head of the Ink and Paint Department from 1954 to 1972. Bob Broughton, former Disney supervisor of special photographic effects once recalled, "Grace was quite a professional lady. She was class."
Born Elizabeth Grace Randall, she attended the Cleveland School of Art in 1922. After school, she left her home in Lake County found work with animator Max Fleischer for his Out of Inkwell series in New York. The studio went bankrupt in 1928 and she later moved to California hoping to advance her career. In 1932, after working as a custom lampshader in Beverly Hills, Bailey decided to apply for a job at the nearby Walt Disney Studios and won a position in the Ink and Paint department, which was supervised by Walt's sister-in-law Hazel Sewell, and worked primarily with the Silly Symphonies crew.
As time went on, she grew in stature and worked alongside Walt and Roy O. Disney adding color to the cels and animators' drawings. Her real contribution to the Disney Studios came following the success of Flowers and Trees when she began to formulate the palette of colors for the paint department, expanding the studio's inventory of colors beyond black, white and gray. She created many of the colors audiences and critics came to know and expect in Disney films.
Upon becoming Department head, Baily would train new artists to in the drawings as well as supervise the inkers. Former Studio painter Betty Kimball once recalled, "Everything was so unscientific back then. We were just creating, and it was fun. I remember Grace was head of Paint, and she had developed a new blue color. She tried to describe it to me: 'It's the same color as your dress, Betty. What color is your dress?' I had dyed my dress and I told her that the name on the package of dye was 'sky blue'. So she right there and then named the new blue after the color of my dress." Bailey also demanded outstanding work from her staff.
Bailey retired in 1972 and lived out the remainder of her years quietly until her death on August 23, 1983. She was awarded posthumously as a Disney Legend in 2000.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Melody Time | Ink and paint artist - uncredited |
| 1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | Ink and paint artist - uncredited |
| 1950 | Cinderella | Ink and paint - uncredited |
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | Ink and paint - uncredited |
| 1953 | Peter Pan | Ink and paint - uncredited |
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1957 | The Truth About Mother Goose | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1958 | Paul Bunyan | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1959 | Sleeping Beauty | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1959 | Donald in Mathmagic Land | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1960 | Goliath II | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1961 | The Saga of Windwagon Smith | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1962 | A Symposium on Popular Songs | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1963 | The Sword in the Stone | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1966 | Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1967 | Scrooge McDuck and Money | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1968 | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day | Ink and paint supervisor |
| 1970 | Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
| 1973 | Robin Hood | Ink and paint supervisor - uncredited |
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