Blanding eventually became Senior Manager of Disneyland Resort merchandise special events and was a founding producer of the Official Disneyana Convention. That event would eventually snowball into D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. She also co-founded People United to Lead, Serve and Excel (PULSE), which is a resource group for Cast Members of African and Caribbean descent or background and allies. Upon her being named a Disney Legend, Blanding was the first Black Disney Parks Cast Member to get the honor. She also published a memoir, Groundbreaking Magic: A Black Woman’s Journey Through The Happiest Place on Earth, after retiring in 2022.

When Harriet Burns was hired at Disney in 1955, she was hired to paint sets and props for the Mickey Mouse Club television series. Not only was she responsible for much of the show’s color styling, but she also designed and built the Mouse Clubhouse. Later, Burns became the first female Imagineer with Walt Disney Imagineering. She worked on Sleeping Beauty Castle, The Haunted Mansion, Storybook Land, and more. She even designed the birds in the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Burns was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2000. To learn more about her work and life, check out the book by her daughter, Pam Burns-Clair and Disney historian Don Peri: Walt Disney’s First Lady of Imagineering Harriet Burns. If you spot a tombstone for “Harriet” outside The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World Resort, it is dedicated to Burns.

Charita Carter – First Black Woman Executive Producer of Imagineering

In 1997, Charita Carter was hired by Disney as an accounting team leader for Walt Disney Imagineering. Since then, she rose through different areas, becoming finance manager of the creative division, show producer, creative producer, and eventually the first African-American female executive creative producer of Imagineering. In that role, she works on various Disney Parks experiences with her teams.

One of those roles can be difficult as there is enormous pressure for creating new attractions, she said in an interview in 2022 about the then-upcoming Princess and the Frog attraction at Walt Disney World Resort.

“People saw things in me that I didn’t even see in myself,” she explained of being given creative opportunities in the 2022 interview with Essence. “And there were opportunities that were opened up where I was just constantly thrown into things. And I had just made the decision, ‘I’m here for a reason, and there’s no need for me to hold back.’ So I would just lean into it and give it my all. And I discovered that I had not only a passion for creativity, but the talent for creativity.”

Marge Champion – Walt Disney Animation Live Reference Model

In the early days of Disney animation, the animators used live reference models to guide their work. One such model was Marge Champion, who was a dancer, choreographer, and actress, later known for roles in films and television such as Show Boat in 1951. For Disney fans, she may be best known as the live reference model for Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at 14-years-old. She was also used for other characters, including the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio, Hyacinth Hippo in Fantasia, and even Mr. Stork in Dumbo.

Champion was inducted as a Disney Legend in the Animation category in 2007. Of her time working with Walt Disney, she told D23: “The atmosphere was like a giant high school or college, as far as I was concerned. Mr. Disney, for me, was like a very friendly head principal. Now, that’s a 14-year-old’s point of view. I later on learned that he was probably one of the most important men, certainly in animation, and probably in the movie industry.” She received a star on the Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.

Retta Scott – First Credited Female Disney Animator

Long before her posthumous induction as a Disney Legend in the Animation category in 2000, Retta Scott became the first credited Disney animator for her work on Bambi in 1942 after being hired in 1938. However, she also worked on films before that, including Dumbo, Fantasia, and Pinocchio, and was not credited. Of her animation style, supervising animator for Bambi, Frank Thomas, said, “Retta had an astounding ability to draw powerful animals. She seemed to have a keen understanding of their moods and attitudes” (via D23).

Scott actually lived with fellow artist and best friend Mary Blair while Blair’s husband Lee Blair was in military service. Despite leaving the studio, she did freelance work for Disney, including illustrations for the Big Golden Book of both Cinderella and the Cinderella Puppet Show. You can learn more about Scott and the other women of Ink & Paint in Mindy Johnson’s Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney’s Animation.

Hazel Sewell – First Head of Disney’s Ink & Paint Department

Known partly because she was the sister of Lillian Disney (Bounds), Hazel Sewell was hired at the Walt Disney Company shortly after her sister was in 1924. From there, she rose to become the first head of the Ink and Paint Department and is often credited as the first woman to develop and lead an animation department. During her 11 years working in ink and paint, Sewell worked on projects including Plane Crazy and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

She went on to marry Bill Cottrell, the first president of Walt Disney Imagineering, in 1938. Sewell’s final project on the animation side of the company was as an animator on Bambi. She stayed involved with Disney as part of the family.

Bea Tamargo – Inker and Assistant Animator

Born in Havana, Cuba, Bea Tamargo’s time at The Walt Disney Studios was multi-faceted. She worked as an Inker starting in 1946, but she was promoted to assistant animator at a time when few women worked in animation. But, because of her multi-language skills, she also served to interpret and translate Spanish-speaking visitors and assisted with dubbing cartoons and sometimes even acted as a reference model for the animation team.

Among the projects Tamargo worked on were Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp. She also had a few uncredited roles in Disney shorts For Whom the Bulls Toil, Father’s Day Off, and Two Weeks Vacation.

Leota Toombs Thomas – Disney Artist and Imagineer

Disney Parks fans will immediately recognize the name Leota Toombs Thomas, as she is the likeness and inspiration for Madame Leota at The Haunted Mansion. Before she became the mansion’s iconic figure, however, she was hired in The Walt Disney Studios’ ink and paint department in 1940. Later in her career she joined Walt Disney Imagineering and helped curate some of Disney’s most iconic attractions including “it’s a small world,” Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.

Her models remain some of the most memorable elements of classic Disney Parks attractions. She was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2009 in the Attractions and Imagineering categories. One of Toombs Thomas’ children, Kim Irvine, also became an Imagineer and announced her retirement in June 2025.