Preston Blair (1910-1995) was a California native who studied art at Otis Art Institute and illustration at Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts) under Pruett Carter. He showed his work all throughout the country as a member of the California Watercolor Society and the American Watercolor Society in New York. During the early days of full-length movie animation, Preston worked as a fine artist. He conceived and animated the hippos in The Dance of the Hours for the Disney film Fantasia. He also worked on Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Pinocchio, and the iconic sequence in Bambi where the owl talks about love in his twitterpated speech.

Preston was best known as the designer and animator of one of Tex Avery's epic shorts, Red Hot Riding Hood, which he directed at MGM. Preston eventually relocated to Connecticut, where he created commercials, educational videos, and cartoons, notably The Flintstones. He worked as an creator of interactive television shows, such as teaching reading through animation and virtual reality games with full-sized animated opponents, before passing away.