Marilee Heyer was born in 1942 in Long Beach, California. Her parents Esther and Arthur Heyer were talented, self-taught artists who encouraged her early scribbles, framing her first recognizable figure at age 2 ½.

Heyer’s interest in art continued through high school. In junior college, her art teacher showed her how to turn art into a career. She attended Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, graduating in 1965.

Heyer’s first art job was at Format Productions Animation Studio doing layouts for the television cartoon The Lone Ranger. Animators who had worked for Walt Disney in the 1940s mentored her during this job, teaching Heyer the dramatics of cinematic scene design. Some of her other television screen ...