Marge Champion lived to be 101 and danced until she was 90 — a lifetime of rhythm, grace, and imagination. The former Hollywood child star was full of energy, humor, and talent, and it’s no coincidence that three of Disney’s most beloved characters were born from her movements. She was the living reference for Snow White, the Blue Fairy, and the ballerina hippo from Fantasia — three icons as different as can be, all animated through the same artist’s soul.

At just 14, Marge was called to serve as a live model for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disney’s first animated feature. Walt wanted the animators to study a real dancer’s movement — the way a hand turned, the balance of a step, the rhythm of a smile. Marge, who had studied ballet since the age of three with her father (also the dance teacher of Shirley Temple and Cyd Charisse), embodied that natural poise. Every gesture of Snow White — the way she twirls, runs, or bows — began with Marge moving in front of the camera.

In 1940, she returned to the studio to become the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio, and later that same year, lent her body and ballet training to the most unexpected of dancers: the hippopotamus Hyacinth Hippo in Fantasia’s Dance of the Hours. It was her most whimsical performance — the elegance of a prima ballerina translated into a body that should never move that way, yet somehow does, with comic brilliance and genuine grace.

Born Marjorie Celeste Belcher, Marge began performing under the name Marjorie Bell and married very young, before she was 20, to Disney animator Arthur Babbitt, the creator of Goofy. They divorced after three years, but during that time, she participated in the three Disney films that would make her immortal.

A naturally charismatic performer, she continued to work in dance and theater, achieving national fame only in 1947, when she began performing with her childhood friend Gower Champion, who soon became her husband. Together, they became one of Hollywood’s most elegant dance duos, appearing in musicals such as Mr. Music, Show Boat, and Lovely to Look At. Though they never reached the iconic fame of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Marge and Gower Champion were stars in their own right — charming, expressive, and full of joy.

Their marriage lasted 26 years before an amicable divorce in 1973. Gower went on to direct Broadway hits like Hello, Dolly! and Bye Bye Birdie, while Marge expanded her career into acting and choreography, winning an Emmy Award in 1975.

When Gower died suddenly in 1980 — just hours before the premiere of 42nd Street on Broadway — Marge channeled her grief into work. She danced professionally until the age of 82, continued taking ballet classes until 90, and often said that each decade was a gift worth celebrating.

In the early days of the pandemic, she moved in with her son and grandchildren in Los Angeles. Her family did not disclose the cause of death.

But what Marge Champion left behind was far greater than a biography — it was movement itself. Her body taught animators how to transform music into motion, life into drawing, and elegance into eternity. She was a Fairy, a Princess, and a Dancing Hippo — and through each, she never stopped dancing.