The Art of Walt Disney_From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms

!

the

Art

of

"

IT

from Mickey

Mouse

to

the

Magic Kingdoms

n

CHRISTOPHER

FINCH

Walt Disney's rise to

fame

isa classic

Ameri-can successstory.

A

poor boy fromthe

Mid-west, he

made

his

way

to the top witha

com-bination of hard work, practical

know-how,

enterprise, and ingenuity.

What

makes

this

success storydifferent from all the rest isthe

factthat his unique imagination touchedoff a

shock of recognition in the

minds

of millions of people all over the world.

The

characters

Disney brought to the

screen— Mickey

and Minnie

Mouse, Donald

Duck, Pluto, Goofy,

the Seven Dwarfs. Jiminy Cricket,

Dumbo,

and the

others—

have a universal appeal.

Movies

as diverse in idiom as Fantasia and

Mary

Poppinsillustratetherangeofhis

inven-tions, and he has also left us,

beyond

his film

successes, two extraordinary entertainment

complexes—

Disneyland

and

Walt

Disney World.

Atthebeginningofhiscareer,Disney tooka

humble

branch of the motion picture

mdus-try—

the animated cartoon

—

and, within a

do/en years, transformed it into a

new

art

form capable of sustaining

complex

and

sub-tleideas.

The

first cartoon with synchronized sound,thefirst in fullcolor,andthe first

ani-mated

feature were all produced by

Walt

Disney. Hisgeniusandsureintuitioncreated a

framework

that supportedthetalentsof

many

gifted individuals,

many

of

whom

are

dis-cussedin these pages.

Above

all,however,this

isa record ofone man'simagination.

This account of Disney's career benefits

from free accessto the

Walt

Disney archives.

The

author conducted dozens of interviews with past and present Disney employees and

selected a great

number

of previously

unpub-lished drawings, paintings, and photographs

for inclusion in this book.

The

basic tech-niques ofanimation are explained, and

vari-ous examples of story sketches, layouts,

ani-mation drawings, and

background

paint-ings—all theelements thatgointothe

making

of an animated

film—

are illustrated.

Many

film stills and

documentary

photographs en-rich thestory, and

we

learn

how

film-making

skills were adapted to aid in the design of the parks, bringing to life unexpected

combina-tions of nostalgiaandelectronics.

ChristopherFinch, the author,

was

formerly

on the curatorial staff of the

Walker

Art

Centerin Minneapolis. Hispreviousbooks

in-clude studies of

Pop

Art and

contemporary

English painting.

251 illustrations,including170 platesin fullcolor

For Sarah

and

Justin,

for

Jenny and

Emily,

and

for Felix

and Georgia

NaiY.Chang,Vice-President,DesignandProduction

InnsI Hochmann,Executive Editor

MargaretL.Kaplan. ManagingEditor

BarbaraLyons,Director,Photo DepartmentRightsand Reproduct MichaelSonino, Abridgment

Librur\of CongressCataloginginPublicationData

Finch.Christopher

TheartofWaltDisnc\

Bibliography: p

I.Disney.Walt.1901 1966. 2.Disney(Walt)

Productions. 1.Title.

NC1766.U52D533 1975 79l\092'474-8435

Library ofCongressCatalogueCard Number:74-8435

Copyright©1988 by Walt DisneyCompany

Allrighlsreserved.Nopartofthecontents ofthis

bookmaybe reproduced without the written permission

ofWALTDISNEYCOMPANYBurbank. California

This1988 edition published by

Portland House,adivision of dilithiumPress,Ltd.,

distributed byCrownPublisher.Inc.

225ParkAvenueSouth

NewYork.NY10003

Byarrangement withHarryN.Abrams,Inc.

ProducedbyTwin Books 15SherwoodPlace

Greenwich.CT06830

Printed andboundinthe UnitedStatesofAmerica

ISBN0-517-66474-7

Contents

Introduction 11

PART

I

A

NEW

ART

FORM

1 Early Enterprises 19

2

Mickey

Mouse

and

Silly

Symphonies

27 3 Six

Cartoon

Classics

43

4

Hyperion

Days

•

54

PART

II

FEATURE

ANIMATION

5

Snow

White:

The

First Feature

69

6 Pinocchio 79

7 Fantasia:

The

Great

Experiment

92

8

Dumbo

and

Bambi

103

9 Interruptions

and

Innovations 109

10 Later

Animation

•

118

PART

III

LIVE

ACTION

FILMS

11 Actors

and

Animals

127

12

Davy

Crockett.

Other

Heroes,

and

Mary

Poppins 135

PART

IV

THE MAGIC KINGDOMS

Introduction

By

the time he

was

thirtyyears old,

Walt

Disney

had

become

a publicfigure.

As

thecreator of

Mickey Mouse,

his

remarks—

both

casual

and

considered—were translated into dozens of languages

and

his likeness could be found

on

the pages of countless

newspapers

and

magazines.

A

trim

mustache

and

a ready smile

gave

him

aClark Gable-ish

charm which was

shared by

many

other

young Americans

oftheperiod(as

was

his taste forsporty jackets

and

boldly patterned sweaters).

What

distinguished

him

fromthe

rest,

and

made

his face

memorable, was

a sense ofdetermination

and

purpose which

was

apparent evenin his

most

relaxed poses. In

lateryearshe entered ourliving

rooms and

addressedusfromthe televisionscreen.

By

thattime hisface

and

frame

had broadened

and

he

had

begun

to favor conservatively cut suits

and

sober

neckties.

The

mustache

and

thesmile remained, however, asdid the evidentpurpose

and

determination.

By

definition,public figures are

known

toeveryone;yet,even

aftertalking with

some

of Disney'sclosestassociates, itis

impos-sible toescapetheconclusionthatnobodyreally

knew

him.

Always

there

was

some

aspectofhispersonalitythat

was

justoutofreach.

He

was

a

man

who

believed absolutely in his

own

instincts

and

abilities, an artist

who

would

go to

any

lengths to ensure that a project

was

carried out exactly as he

had

conceived it.

He

surrounded himselfwith talentsof everykind,butatalltimeshe

was

in complete control.

The

master plan

was

in

Walt

Disney's

head

and remained unknowable

until,piece

by

piece,it

was

given

concreteform

and

graftedontothe

mythology

ofourcentury.

AttheoutsetofhiscareerDisney

was

oftenunderestimated by

his rivals.

They

were aware

ofthe caliber ofthe talents he

had

surrounded himselfwith

and

assumed

thatifthesetalentscouldbe

lured away, the Disney Studio

would

collapse. It soon

became

apparent that the

one

man

who made

Walt

Disney Productions uniquelysuccessful

was

not available at

any

price.

In lateryears Disneyhas

been

underestimated inotherways.

Since the valuesexpressedinhismoviesare essentially thesimple

valuesofthecartoon

and

the fairy story,

many

people have

been

tempted intopresenting simplistic picturesof Disneythe

man, and

of

what

he stoodfor.

Some

have chosentoportray

him

asanaive genius, while others— dazzled bythe success ofhis varied

prises— prefer to see

him

as just another business tycoon. These

versions of Disney bear little relationship to any aseertainable

truth.

Everyone

who

worked

closely with

him

admitsthat

money

was

importanttoDisney onlyinsofar asitenabled

him

toproduce

bettermovies,

improve

hisparks,or(in lateryears)planthecityof

the future.

He

was

a perfectionist

and

perfection did not

come

cheapin these fields.

The

notionthatDisney

was

a naivegeniusisequally

mislead-ing.In hismovies,rightisright

and

wrong

iswrong,

but—

givenhis

background

and

the audience he

knew

himself to be in touch

with—

thisshould not surprise

anyone

and. although he

remained

faithful to uncomplicated values, he

was

by no

means

a simple

man. There was

much

more

to hissuccess than a blind faith in intuition.

He knew

thatforintuitionto

mean

anythingit

had

tobe implemented,

and

that this

demanded

acombination ofstringent analysis

and

sheerhard work,

backed

up

bythe practicaltalentsof

the artists with

whom

he surrounded himself.

Improving

the

product

seems

to have occupied his

mind

night

and

day. After

hours

and on

weekends

he

would

prowlthe studio—familiarizing

himselfwith the

development

of everyproject.

He

subjected each

decision to intensive discussion,

drawing

upon

every available

sourceofexpertise,

and

thereis

ample

evidence tosuggestthathe

sometimes

mulled overideasforyearsbeforetheywere permitted

toreachthisstage.

Having

receivedrelativelylittleformalschooling.Disney

went

togreatlengthstoeducate himself

and

his artists (attimes,the old studio

on Hyperion

Avenue

must

have

seemed more

like the art

department of

some

progressive university than a productive

component

ofthe

motion

picture industry). Disneystarted inthe

field of

animated

filmsdeterminedtobe betterthan

anyone

else.

Achieving thisrather quickly, he

embarked on

alifelongquestto "plus*" his

own

accomplishments ("plus." used as a verb, is a

favorite

word

with old

hands

atthe Studio).

Throughout

thethirties

and

into the forties,

amazing

progress

was

made

in the

develop-ment

ofthe

animated

film.

The

Disney Studio gavetothe world

painted characters

who

notonly

moved

but

seemed

to think for

themselves.

By

the time of Pinocchio

and

Fantasia. Disney

had

broughttoaspectacularmaturityanart formthat

had

been in its

infancyjustadozenyearsearlier.

Disney himself

was

not a great draftsman,

and

he never pretended to beone.

He

was

alwaysthe first toadmit that, after

about 1926, he did not contribute asingle

drawing

to any ofhis

cartoons. His great abilities lay in the area of ideas— conceiving them, developing them,

and

seeing

them

through toa successful conclusion. Ideas

were

commodities

that he

was

nevershortof(if

heever

had

a

problem

with ideasit

was

thathe

sometimes had

too

many

togive

them

all theattentionthatthey deserved).

A

superb

storyeditor,Disney

worked

with hisartists,phrasing

and

rephras-ing the structure ofa

movie

until every

minute

action, each last

nuance

ofcharactercontributed to the

development

ofthe plot.

This

was

askillthathe acquired while

making

theshortcartoonsof

theearly

and

middlethirties,cartoons

which—

sincethey ranfrom

just six toeightminutes

each—

demanded

the greatest

economy

of

action.

When

he turned to

making

feature films, the

same

principleswereapplied, sothatnothingthat

was

not essentialtothe

telling of the story ever found its

way

onto the screen. It

was

Disney's intenseinvolvementwith plot

development and

character,

alongwithhis

uncanny

grasp oftechnicalpossibilities,thatgavehis

best movies the tightness ofstructure that has enabled

them

to

survive so wellinourcollective

memory.

He

was

not,ofcourse, infallible.

He

did produce mediocre

films

and

evenafewthat

were

outrightfailures(usually theworst

failures

were

the ones thatdid not sustain his personal interest).

The

pointisthatDisney,like

any

otherartist,deservestobe

judged

byhisbest

work and

hewas,athis best,

one

ofthe

most

vigorous

and

innovativefilm-makersinthe entire historyofthecinema.

Animated

moviesare difficult to illustrate adequately.

They

depend on

movement

to achieve their effect,

and

a single

image

taken from a cartoon will often

seem

static

and

lifeless.

Fortu-nately, thefinalsetupthatisshotbythe

camera

isnot theonlyart

work

involvedinthe

making

ofan

animated

film. Itis,infact,the

last link in an elaborate chain that includes character studies,

model

sheets,storycontinuity sketches, layouts,

background

paint-ings, animation drawings, color models,

and

the like.

The

work

producedatvariousofthese stages isoftenverylively.

The

artists

who

areconcernedwith story

and

layout,forexample,havetosell theirideasto theirdirector

and

theproducer(in

most

instancesthey

would

bedealing with

Walt

Disneyhimself)

and

attempttoget into

theirdrawings the "feel"of

what

will appear

on

screen. Thus, if

Mickey

should receive a shock that causes

him

to fall from his chair, the storyartist

must

suggestboththeshock

and

the fallina singledrawing

(much

asa

book

illustrator

would

do).

The

layout

artistwilltake the

same

scene,provide adetailed contextfor the event,

and

diagrammatically

map

out the entire action. Eitherof

theserepresentations does, in

most

cases,give

more

ofasenseof

what

iseventuallyseen

on

screenthandoesasingleframe

from

the

movie. Happily,

many

ofthesedrawingshave

been

preserved

and

we

areable touse

them

here.

Not

only

do

they effectivelyconvey

the "feel" of

what

eventually appeared

on

screen; they are often very beautiful in their

own

right.

Some

appeal because oftheir

spontaneity,othersbecause oftheirattentionto detail;and,

beyond

that,theytellus

much

aboutthe

way

in

which

ananimatedfilmis

conceived

and

executed.

Each

ofthese drawings contains

some

cluesto the secretof

Disney's success, since every

one

of

them was

touched by his

influence.

Each drawing

reflects his taste, fortheartist

was

always aware that it

was

subject to his scrutiny (which

was

far

from

uncritical).Literally

hundreds

ofartistsfigurein this story,butall

of

them

functioned within the governing structure elaboratedby

Disney'simagination. Inlateryearshe

may

perhapshaveexercised

less control over

some

aspects of the operation—his interests

became

so diversifiedthat this

was

unavoidable.Intheproductions

on

whichhisreputationrests,however,

Walt

Disney'sinvolvement

was

complete.

i m

_

*

1

Early Enterprises

WalterEliasDisney

was

borninto a

modest Chicago

household

on

December

5, 1901. His father, Elias Disney,

was Canadian

born

and

ofAnglo-Irish descent. Elias

was

abuildingcontractor,

and

we

may

judgethe successofthatoperation

by

thefactthat

Walt

later

described

how

his

mother sometimes went

outtothebuildingsite

with the

men,

sawing

and

hammering

planks.

At

thetime ofWalt's

birth, there were already three children in the family-Herbert,

Raymond,

and

Roy.

Walt was

to develop an especially close relationshipwithRoy,

who

was

nearestto

him

inage, a relationship

that

was

to be of great importance to both of them. Later a

daughter-Ruth-was added

tothe family.

"in 1906, EliasDisney decided topull

up

hisrootsonce again

and

moved

hisfamilytoa forty-eight-acre

farm

outsideMarceline, Missouri.Smallfarms,thenas now,did not offeraneasy routeto

prosperity.Herbert

and

Raymond,

both in their teens,

had

devel-oped

ataste for citylife

and

soon returnedtoChicago.

Walt and

Roy

were, ofcourse,expected tohelptheir parentswiththefarm

chores. It

was

an extremely hard life, but

one which Walt

later

remembered

withconsiderableaffection.

It

was on

thefarmthathe

began

todraw.

We

may

besurethat

this

was

notencouraged

by

his parents, buthedid

make

the first

tentative steps toward his eventual career.

Meanwhile,

the farm operation

was

in trouble. In 1910, Elias sold the farmwith allits

livestock

and

moved

the family once again-this time to

Kansas

City,ninety-five miles southwest.

There

Elias

bought

a

newspaper

delivery business. Naturally,

Walt and

Roy

were

co-opted into

contributingtheirservices

and

found themselvesgetting

up

at3:30

inthe

morning

to

meet

the trucksofthe

Kansas

CityStar. Despite

this hard work, Walt's interest in

drawing

persisted, as did a

growing taste for theatrical expression. In a rare gesture of

indulgence, Elias Disney allowed

Walt

to enroll for Saturday

morning

classesatthe

Kansas

CityArtInstitute(the elderDisney

justified this

on

thegroundsthatthe classes

would

be

"education-al").Thus, at the age of fourteen,

Walt

acquired asmattering of formalart training.

In 1917, Elias decided

upon

another

move.

This time he returned to Chicago,

where

he purchased a part share ina small

factory.

Walt remained

in

Kansas

Cityto finishouthisschoolyear

WaltDisney's birthplaceat 1249TrippAvenue.

Chicago,builtbyhis father.EliasDisney

(Roy was

still there,

working

as a

bank

teller): thenhe spent the

summer

as a

news

butcher

on

theSanta

Fe

Railroad(news butchers

hawked

newspapers, fruit, candy,

and

soft drinks), ajob which enabled

him

tosee alittle

more

ofthe country while feedinghis

enthusiasm for trains—an enthusiasm

which would

provide

him

with an important outlet later in life. In the fall, he joined the familyin

Chicago

and

enrolledat

McKinley High

School.

Here

he

contributeddrawingstotheschoolpaper

and

managed

toget

some

further artinstruction from a

newspaper

cartoonist

named

Leroy

Gossett.

World

War

I

was

in progress

and on June

22, 1917.

Roy

DisneyenlistedintheNavy.

Walt had dreams

ofenlistingtoo,but he

was under

age.

He

discoveredthat

one had

tobe only seventeen

to

become

a

Red

Cross

ambulance

driverand, thoughstillsixteen,

managed

tojoin

up

(hismother,probablyrelieved thathe

would

be

drivingan

ambulance

ratherthanhandlingarifle,allowed

him

to falsifyhis birthdate

on

the application).

He

was

senttoastaging postat

Sound

Beach, Connecticut, but the Armistice

was

signed before he got

any

further.

There was

still, however, a need for

drivers in

Europe and

he eventually found himself in France,

assigned to a military canteen in Neufchateau,

where

he soon

established himselfas the unit's unofficial artist, earning a few

extra francs with such enterprises as painting fake

medals

onto

leather jackets

and

camouflaging captured

German

helmetssothat

theycould be passedoffassnipers'helmets.

Disney returnedtotheUnitedStatesin 1919. Hisfather

had

a

jobwaitingforhim. but

Walt

was

determinedto

make

acareerin

commercial

art.

He

headed

for

Kansas

City

and

found

work

at a localstudio

where

he

made

friendswithanother employee.

Ubbe

"Ub"

Iwerks, a

young

man

of

Dutch

descent

who

was

to

become

the

most

important associate of his early career. Iwerks

was

a talented draftsman,

and

it soon occurred to

them

to get into businessforthemselves.

They

acquireddesk spaceattheofficesof

a publication called Restaurant

News

and

immediately achieved

some modest

success.But then Disney

saw

a

newspaper

advertise-ment

for a job with an organization called

Kansas

City Slide

Company

(soon

changed

to

Kansas

City

Film

Ad).This

company

made

what

we

would

now

call commercials for display in local

movie

theaters.

They

were, in fact, producing crude

animated

films. This

new

medium

and

the salary offered—forty dollars a

week—

appealedtoDisney.

He

appliedforthejob

and

gotit.Iwerks

tookoverthe business they

had

started,butwithin afew

months

he, too,joined

Kansas

CityFilm Ad.

The

animation

produced

at

Kansas

City Film

Ad

consisted

mainly ofstop-action

photography

ofjointedcardboard figures-a technique that precluded

any

serious effort toward naturalism.

Nonetheless,it provided Disney,stilljusteighteen yearsold,

and

Iwerks with the basic training they needed. Before long. Disney 20

EliasandFloraDisnevin1913

Walt Disneyatninemonths

WaltDisneyattheage of twelve

borrowed

a

camera and

tried

some

animation

on

his own.

The

result

was

alittle reeloftopical

gags—

reminiscent incharacterof

newspaper

cartoons—which he

managed

to sell to the

Newman

Theater, a local

movie

house.

A

number

ofshort"commercials" and illustrated

jokes—

known

collectively as the

Newman

Laugh-o-Grams—

were

made

forthetheater.

They

dealt withsuchtopicsas

shorter skirts

and

police corruption. Technically they

were

very

competent

by the standards ofthe day, and, encouraged bythis initial success, Disney

managed

to raise

enough

capital to leave

Kansas

City Film

Ad

and

set

up on

his

own,

retaining

Laugh-o-Grams

as the

company's

name.

Itmight be

assumed

thata

young

man

just

emerging from

histeens

would

have

been

contentto stick

with familiar material, at least for a while, but Disney

was

ambitious

and

immediately started

work on

a series ofupdated

fairy tales.Sixofthese

were

made:

Cinderella,

The

Four

Musicians of Bremen, Goldie

Locks

and

the Three Bears,

Jack

and

the Beanstalk,Little

Red

RidingHood,

and

PussinBoots.

The

Disney

archiveshave printsof

The Four

Musicians of

Bremen and

Pussin

Boots,

and

they provide clear evidence that Disney

was

not

overestimating his ability

when

he entered production at this

tenderage.PussinBoots,forexample,israther wellanimated,

and

the storydisplays a nicesenseof

humor

(thefairy-taleatmosphere

is updated so that, for instance, the

King

rides

around

in a

chauffeur-drivenconvertible).

Inthecourse of producingthese short cartoons,Disney

began

to build

up

an able staff

which

soon included, besides Iwerks,

RudolfIsing,

Hugh

and Walker

Harman.

Carmen "Max"

Maxwell,

and

Red

Lyon. Unfortunately,the

Laugh-o-Grams

werenotselling

(onesale

was

made

butthepurchaser

went

bankruptafter

making

a

$100deposit),

and

theDisney production

team

was

always looking

foralternatesourcesof income.

They

worked on

alive-actionshort called

Martha

and,sponsored byalocal dentist,even

made

afilm

on

dentalhygiene which

combined

liveaction

and

animationtoget

itsdidactic

message

across.

Max

Fleischer

had been

usingthis

same

combination in his

Out

_ofthe Inkwell series,

and

it

had

the

advantagethatthe live-action sectionsofthemovies

were

relatively

inexpensive toproduce.

At

some

timein 1923, Disney decided to try to save his

Laugh-o-Grams

venture by

making

just such a

movie, in which a

human

heroine could cavort with cartoon

characters. Rather than simply imitating Fleischer's technique,

Disneyhit

on

theideaofreversing the basic principle sothatthe

liveaction

would

be introducedinto thecartoon.

The

effect of blending the real Alice with the cartoon

characters

was

achieved

by

photographing a little girl

named

VirginiaDavisagainst awhite

background

and

then

combining

this film, in the printing process, with another strip

on which

the

animation

was

shot.

The

technique

worked

well, but Alice's

Posterforan AliceComedywith the original Alice.VirginiaDavis

Wonderland

exhausted Disney's remaining credit

and

he

was

forcedtoclose the studio.

He

was

not,however,thetypetobe putoffbyasetbackofthis

kind,

and

immediatelyplannedtorestart hiscareer. Inthe

summer

of1923

Walt

Disney,aged twenty-one, took atrain toCalifornia, carrying Alice's

Wonderland

with

him

as asample. His brother

Roy

was

alreadyintheWest, recuperatinginaVeteran'shospital

from

a

boutwith tuberculosis.

On

arriving in Los Angeles, Disney

moved

inwithhisuncle Robert Disneyat4406 Kingswell

Avenue. Walt began

tolookfora

job and, in hisspare time,usedhisuncle'sgaragetobuild astand

fortheanimation

camera

thathe

had

purchased(this

would

have

A

laterAlice,MargieGay,seen here withanimatedfriendsandwith directorWalt Disney

been

a conventional

movie camera

converted to shoot

stop-ac-tion).

Additionstothestaff

had

tobe

made

to

accommodate

thesuccess

ofsix

new

Alice films

made

in

Hollywood,

and one

new

employee

was

an Idahogirl

named

LillianBounds.

She

often

worked

nights,

and Walt would sometimes

drive her

home

in his car.

A

romance

blossomedand,in July, 1925,the pair

were

married.

Roy

Disney

had meanwhile

married

Edna

Francis, his

Kansas

City

sweet-heart.

By

1927,it

became

evidentthatthey

had

tofind areplacement

for theAlice

Comedies

ifthe Studio

was

to

remain

in a healthy

economic

state.

They

were by then approaching their sixtieth

episode intheseries,

and

evidentlycould not

keep

itgoing

much

longer. Apart

from

anything else, the use of live action placed

severerestrictions

on

them and Walt was

anxioustogetbacktofull

animation.

They began work on

a

new

series

which

was

tobe based

on

theadventures of

Oswald

the

Lucky

Rabbit.

Most

businesscrisesare brought

on

by incompetence.

The

near

catastrophe thattheDisneys facedin 1927 resulted fromthevery opposite.

The new

cartoonseriesturned outtobevery successful,

making Oswald

the

Lucky

Rabbitadesirable property.

There

was

just

one

snag. Disney

had

signed a one-year

contract with Charles Mintz,

who

had

married the distributorof DisneyFilms,Margaret Winkler,in 1924(theirdistribution outlet

now

tied in withUniversal Pictures).

The

advertising

announced

"Oswald

the

Lucky

Rabbit, created

by Walt

Disney,"

but-and

this

proved to be the fatal flaw in the contract— Oswald's

name

belongedtoMintz

(who

had,apparently,pickeditoutofahat).

As

the firstyearof theseries

moved

toasuccessful conclusion,

Walt

Disney

and

hiswife

embarked

for

New

York,

where

he expectedto

Theseriesof cartoonsDisneybuiltaroundOswaldthe

LuckyRabbitwassuccessfulenoughto attract merchandisingtie-ins.The modelsheetbelowshows

thatOswaldanticipatedsomeofthephysical characteristicsofMickey Mouse.Thepageofstory continuitysketches,ontheright,illustrateshow

cartoonstorieswereworkedoutinthisperiod

<Cfc

€*

&TJ®

ft

renegotiate the contractwith provisions fora

modest

increase of income.

He

had

keptinclosecontact withhisdistributorthrough

George

Winkler, Margaret'sbrother,

who

had

made

severalvisits toCalifornia,

and

there

was no

reasontosuspect thatanything

was

amiss.

When

Disney arrived in

New

York, however, the true reasonsforWinkler'svisits

became

painfullyobvious.

Instead of offering an

improved

contract, Mintz actually

proposed

one

which

would

entail a reduction of

income

for the Studio. This

was

clearly absurd, since

Oswald had been

very profitable.Obviously.Disney couldnotacceptsucha deal,

and

the

reality of the situation

became

apparent.

Mintz

had

decided to

repossess Oswald.

The

character's

name

belonged tohim.

and

his

brother-in-law

had

persuadedseveralof Disney'sbestanimatorsto

take over production of the

Oswald

series.

The

motive was. of

course,reductionofcoststothe distributor. Mintz

was

thefirstof

many

peopletounderestimate Disney.

He

figured thatifhe could

hire

away

Disney's best

men,

he

would

begettingthe

same

product

forareducedoutlay.

Disney

was

shocked

and

hurt by this revelation.

He

had

trusted Mintz

and

he

had

trusted hisemployees.It isnothard to

imaginethekindsof thoughtsthat

must

have run throughhishead

as he

and

Lillian waited out the long, slow train ride back to

MargieGavposeswith.

leftto right.

Ham

Hamilton.

RovDisnev.HughHarman. WaltDisney.RudyIsing.

Ub

Iwerks,

and WalkerHarman

California.

He

was

disgustedbutnot,asthenextfew

months would

prove,discouraged. His1

team was

depleted butitstillincludedhis

two

most

important associates—his brother

Roy

and

Ub

Iwerks

(who

was,bythen, apartnerinthe business).

More

importantstill.

Walt

Disney

had

faith inhis

own

abilities.

He

had

reachedtheage oftwenty-sixaftertouching

many

ofthebasesof hardshipthat

had

come

to

seem

archetypal of

America

in the first quarterofthis

century. His personal creed

must

have included the notion that

Thisphotooftheproductionstaffwas

takenin 1932, afterDisneyhadwon

anAcademyAward-hisfirst—for thecreationofMickeyMouse

2

Mickey

Mouse

and

Silly

Symphonies

It

seems

appropriatethatthe birthof

Mickey

Mouse—

a creatureof mythic stature— should be

shrouded

in legend.

What we

can be reasonablysureofisthatthe

Mickey

Mouse who

made

hisdebutin

New

York

Cityin1928 resulted

from

a collaborativeeffort

between

Disney

and

Ub

Iwerks. It

seems

probable that Iwerks. easily the

best animator of the day,

was

largely responsible for defining

Mickey'sphysicalcharacteristics.

Mickey

didbeara family resem-blance to Oswald, but

Iwerks—

either

on

his

own

initiative orat

Disney's suggestion—

made

the figure

more

compact.

He

was

constructed

from two

largecircles,

one

forthetrunk

and one

forthe head, to

which were appended

two smaller circles, representing

ears,

and

rubber-hose

arms and

legs

which

terminated in

plump

hands (unglovedat thisearly stage)

and

largefeet

which

gave

him

stability.

He

was

also

equipped

witha long, skinnytail

and

short pants decorated with buttonsfore

and

aft.

The

circular

head was

made

expressive by the addition of a mischievous snout, a

plum-shaped

nose,

and

button eyes.

He

was

designed for

max-imum

easeof animation(it

had been

discoveredthatcircularforms

were

simpler to animate effectively) but,

beyond

that, Mickey's

identity

had

adimension

which was

quite

new

incartoons.

The

giftofpersonality

was

probably Disney's

own

contribu-tion toMickey. Iwerks

made

the

whole

thing possiblethroughhis skillasadraftsman,butit

was

Disney'scontroloverthe situations in

which

the

Mouse

found himselfthatallowedthispersonalityto

develop.

Even

at thisearly date,Disney

had

graspedthenotionthat

cartoon characters should

seem

to think for themselves. In

some

ways

he

may

even have viewed

Mickey

ashis alterego. Certainlyhe always maintainedaspecial affectionforthe

Mouse,

afactwhich

suggeststhat he

was

intimately involvedin everystageofits cre-ation.

The

Disneybrothers

had

managed

tosave

enough

money

togo

ahead

with the first

Mickey

Mouse

cartoons even without a

distributor,

and work began

almostatonce.This

was

carried outin

secret at first, since the

Oswald

contract

had

not yet completely

expired.

On

October 23, 1927, a bombshell

had

hit the motion

picture industry.

Warner

Brothers released

The

Jazz Singer

and

the

sound era

became

a reality.

Lee

DeForest

had

developed a

practical

sound

system at least four years earlier, but the

InSteamboat Willie, 1928,thefirstcartoon tofeatureafull) synchronizedsound

track.Micke) and Minnietransformt he-cargoofariverboat- includinglivestock intoan orchestra

lywood productionchiefshad foughtsin ofthisnew development.

Now

they

had

toconfrontit.

As

thefirst

Mouse

cartoons

went

intoproduction,theindustry

was

still in chaos.

One

Disney cartoon. Plane Crazy, had been completed,

and

another Gallopin^ Gaucho,

was on

the

drawing

boardsbefore the decision

was

made—

perhapsthemost important

decision that Disneyever

made.

He

wanted

Mickey

tohave real

impact,

and

he saw thatthefuturelaywithsound.

What

hehadin

mind was

acartoonin

which

music,effects,

and

action

would

allbe synchronized.

Wedding

sound

to

animated

drawings

was

not. he realized,

something that could be

approached

casually.

Where

liveactors

were

concerned,itmight be

enough

fortheaudiencetohear

them

speak—

that

seemed

likeamiracleafterthedecades ofsilence(the fact that

sound

pictures

were

quickly labeled "talkies" indicates

just

where

the public'sinterest lay)—but

Disney

did nothave the

ready-made

starsto

whom

he couldreturn thegift ofspeech.

He

hadto

come

up

witha

more

imaginativesolution.

LesClark,

who

was

partytothese earlyexperiments,describes thesystem that

was

devisedas follows:

"We

worked

withanexposuresheet

on which

everyline

was

a singleframe ofaction.

We

couldbreak

down

the

sound

effectsso

that every eight frames we'd have an accent, or every sixteen frames, or every twelve frames.

[Sound

film runs through the projector at twenty-four frames a second.]

And

on that twelfth

drawing,say, we'd accent whatever

was happening—

a hit

on

the

heador a footstep orwhateverit

would

be. tosynchronize tothe

sound

effector themusic."

By

setting a

metronome

tocorrespond with the accents thus establishedinthe action, a rough

sound accompaniment

could be improvisedtotheanimation.

One

legendaryevening. Disney

and

his co-workers presented a shortsequence from Steamboat

Wil-lie—such

was

thetitleofthe

new

cartoon—

toan audience of wives

and

girlfriends.

Roy

Disney projected the film from outside a

window

(to eliminate

motor

noise), whilehisbrother, alongwith Iwcrks. Jackson, Clark,

and

a fewothers, improvised their

sound

accompaniment,

live, in another

room-all

of

them

working

carefully to the beat of the

metronome.

Jackson played his

harmonica

(the tune

was

probably

"Steamboat

Bill") while the others provided sound effects with cowbells, slide whistles, tin

pans,

and

the like. This

accompaniment was

transmitted to the

audience by

way

ofacrude loudspeaker system set

up

byIwerks.

The

wives

and

girlfriends were only mildly impressed, but the

performerswere convinced thatthey

had

now

found theanswer. Disney

went

to

New

York.

He

hired Carl

Edouwards,

who

had

led thepitorchestra at the

Broadway

Strand

and worked

for the

Roxy

chain,toprovidea

band and

conductthe recordingsession.

Thefirstpage oftheSteamboat Willie continuityscript.Disneykeptthis souvenir ofhisfirstmajorbreakthrough in

his office 1 11 ', D.M90a I t fsiloi sat. •HIBlo •nl of th»lltlo •oiMan "flr»t . cono 1. Toot of blue vcoloil . • ';.' -; Iloxithli ; . 1 on hit

On

September

14,

Walt

wrote to

Roy

and Ub:

"'We are using a

seventeen-pieceorchestra

and

threeofthe best trap

drummers

and

effect

men

intown.

They

get ten dollarsan

hour

for this work.It

willtake threehoursto

do

it, plus thetime the effect

men

put in

today." Laterinthe

same

letterhesays that there

would

beabout

thirty-five

men

on

the job.butthis

may

have includedtechnicians.

Atall events, the first recording session

was

a disaster. Disney's

team

had

developedasystem of indicating-probably byflashes

on

thescreen—the

tempo

towhichtheorchestrashouldplay.

Thus

the film could be projected

and

serve the

same

functionas a

metro-nome.

Unfortunatelythissystem

was

alittlecrude,

and

Edouwards

did notfeelinclinedtohavehis

tempo

determined by suchacoarse

mechanicaldevice.Disney

was

forcedtocable Californiafor

more

money

and

to tryagain.

Roy

sentout

enough

money

to proceed

with asecondsession.

One

improvement was

thatinsteadofstickingwith thecrude

flashing device that

had been

usedatthefirstsession,Disney

had

had

the filmreprinted with the additionofa

bouncing

ballsystem,

toindicate the accentsaswellasthe beat,

making

it

much

easierfor

Edouwards

to follow.

Fewer

musicians were used at the second

A

scenefromTheKarnivalKid. 1929

A

scenefrom TheFire Fighters, 1930

session,

and

everything

went

oft"withoutahitch.Steamboat Willie

now

had

a

sound

traek

and

Mickey

Mouse

was

ready tor his

debut.

Findingadistributor

was

not easy,however.Stillin

New

York. Disney took his

sound

cartoon

from

screening

room

to screening room, but the industry

remained

in a state ofconfusion

and

the

responsehe

met was

discouraging.Eventually,

Harry

Reichenbach.

then

managing

Manhattan's

Colony

Theater,

saw

Steamboat Willie

and

offeredDisneya

two-week

run.

The

Mickey

Mouse who

hitthe

movie

housesinthe latetwenties

was

not quite the well-behaved character

most

ofus are familiar with today.

He

was

mischievous, to say the least,

and

even displayeda streak ofcruelty (whichsoon disappeared), but from

the very beginning he

had

that little

germ

ofreal personality

we

have

remarked

on,

and

thisprevented

him

from

seeming

tobejust

anothercallously cruelcartoon animal.

At times—

when

confronted by Pegleg Pete (the perennial villain

who

co-starred in both Steamboat Willie

and

Gallopin'Gauclw).or

when

forcedtodefend Minnie's

honor—

he

was

even capable of heroic behavior. His heroism, however,

was

usually the heroism ofthe little

man;

it

resembled the intermittent nobility of Charlie Chaplin's tramp. Chaplin undoubtedly provided Disney with

one

of his

most

important models,

and

we

may

say that

Mickey and

his

gang

providedforthe

sound

era thekind of entertainmentthatChaplin

and

the

Mack

Sennett

comedians had

provided for an earlier

generation. Since this was the

sound

era.

Mickey had

to have a

voice. Several people, mostly

from

the Studio,

had

a shot at

immortalityastheMouse'svoice,but Disney

was

notsatisfiedwith

any

of them.

He knew

just the kind of

squeaky

falsetto

Mickey

shouldhave,

and

itsoon

became

clear thatonlyhe could speakfor

the

Mouse

(hecontinuedtofillthisrole fortwentyyears).

Minnie was

with

Mickey

from the very first. In Steamboat

Willie, after Pete has chased

Mickey

from the bridge of the riverboat on which he is

employed

as a deck hand.

Minnie

is

discovered

on

shore, about to miss the boat.

The

ship is already

moving downstream

when

Mickey

manages

to snag Minnie's patchedpantieswithaboat

hook and

haulheraboard.Later,

on

the deck, they cavort with the cargo of livestock, using the various

animalsas musical instruments

on which

toimprovise

"Turkey

in

theStraw."

Thissequenceisbyfarthe

most

interestinginthe

movie

inthat itcontains the seedsof

much

that

was

to

come.

It isalso

marked

by

akindof

humor

Disney

was

later to

abandon on

grounds oftaste.

Mickey, for example, stretches a cat's tail so that it

becomes

a stringedinstrument; thecatgivesvocalexpressiontoitsdispleasure

atthismisuse ofitsanatomy.

A

good

dealof music

and

laughteris

AnearlyMickeyMousemodelsheet s~^8sff~;

^^9

,^^

whichshowsthebasicsimplicity

ofhisdesign

CH^>~^

_g,.

^

—

m-*1

4>

tj^3»1tf

*£*£l

Mickey

Mouse

model n?i

T-Js*

^.

vlT'

milkedoutofacow'sudder(later,the

Hays

Office

was

to insistthat

Disney

cows

be udderless and, indeed, it

was

actively suggested

that they find

some

suitable

form

of apparel).

Minnie

cranks a goat'stail,transformingtheunfortunatebeast into ahurdy-gurdy, while

Mickey

playsxylophoneriffs

on

acow'steeth (thexylophone

was

a

much-used

instrument in the

sound

tracks ofthese early

shorts, providing

good

opportunities forvisual puns; almost

any

more

or less regular group of solid objects—the rib cage of a skeleton,for

example—

coulddoubleasaxylophone).

A

number

of

new

Mickey

Mouse

cartoons appeared in 1929, sportingtitlessuchas

The

Karniva!Kid,Mickey's

Choo

Choo,

and

The

JazzFool(thislastatake-off

on

AlJolson).

Mickey

acquired, within the space of a few months, gloves, shoes,

and

a

more

endearingmanner.

There were

other

developments

too.

The

sound

tracks

became

increasingly sophisticated,

and

in

most

cases they

were

now

recordedbefore theanimators

began

work.

That

istosay,

once astoryline

was

established, a score

was

prepared tofit the action; it

was

recorded

and

the animators

worked

totherhythms

and

accentscontained inthe

sound

track.Thissystem allowedfor

greaterflexibility.

To

handlethemusicsideofthebusiness,Disneycalledinan

oldacquaintancefrom

Kansas

City,CarlStalling.Stallinghadhad

yearsof experience in the theaterpit, providingmusic for silent

In hisearly filmsMickeyoftenappeared

asanentertainer. Thesceneshownhereis

fromBlueRhythm, 1931

' ||

.poloon. 'ilwstatu*

•ahead and ahouldoru.

aonoutof sceneulth tur

ThisstorysketchforTheGroceryBoy showshowthesceneistobelaid out. Differentstagesoftheactionareindicatedina singledrawing

movies—

a

background which

left

him

well

equipped

for his

new

career.AlreadytheDisney

team was becoming

extremelyadeptat

synchronizing

sound and

action,

and

severaloftheearliest

Mickey

Mouse

pictures—

The

Opry

House, for instance,

and

The Jazz

Fool—

tookmusicasthe

main

substanceoftheplot.

Thisemphasis on musicled inthe

same

year, 1929,toquitea

new

kind ofanimated film-theSilly

Symphonies. These were

tobe

not merely illustrated songs, but films in which music

and

animation

were

combined

toprovideatotally

new

experience.

The

name

Silly

Symphonies was

selectedfortheseries,

and work

began

on

thefirstof them. The Skeleton Dance.

The

Skeleton

Dance

opensascats,howlinginacemetery,are disturbed at midnight by four skeletons

who

emerge from

their

graves.

The

skeletons go through

some

fairly elaborate dance sequences

and

then, at

dawn,

scurry back to their resting places.

The whole

thingisset tosuitable sepulchral music, acomposition ofStalling's which utilizedelements from Grieg's

"March

ofthe

Dwarfs"

(many

film historianshave erroneouslyreportedthat the

ofthe

Mickey

Mouse

shorts,theater

owners were

alittlenervous of

the reception that

would

be accorded this

new

kind of cartoon

entertainment,

and

so

The

Skeleton

Dance and

itssuccessorswere

released underthebyline

"Mickey

Mouse

Presentsa

Walt

Disney

Silly

Symphony."

These first

Symphonies were

received well

enough

for the

series tocontinue. Certainly they

were

originalinconcept,but they

now

seem

rather less interesting than the early

Mouse

shorts.

Mickey

gavehis pictures a central core

around

which the action

coulddevelop.

The Symphonies had no

such core.

Each

of

them

•»

_yf->

In1929.Disnevlaunchedanewseriesof cartoonswhich

hecalled SillySymphonies.Thefirstofthesewas The

SkeletonDance

Fromtheveryfirst,the SillySymphoniestouchedawide

varietyofsubjectsand moods. Examplesillustratedhere arefromThe MerryDwarfs,1929,and Winter.1930

Thiscamera—adaptedinthe late I

twentiestoshootanimation—isstill inusetoday

was

constructed

around

a rather generalized

theme—

The Merrv

Dwarfs, Winter,

and

Springare typical earlytitles—

which

had

tobe

statedbeforeitcouldbe explored;with thetechniquesavailablein

1929

and

1930. this

was

quite a challenge. In a

Mouse

cartoon,

however,

you had

only to catch

one

glimpse of

Mickey

to

know

exactly

what

toexpect,

and

thisallowedtheanimatorstotake

much

more

forgranted.

For

thefirstyearor

two

oftheirexistence,the

Symphonies had

no

realfocus. But

we

must emphasize

just

how

significantitisthat

Disneyinstituted

them and

thenpersistedwith

them

when

it

would

have

been

fareasiertoexploit

Mickey

forallhe

was

worth. Before

long,the

Symphonies would

have an invaluablerole toplayinthe

development

oftheartof animation.

We

shouldlay torest,too,the idea that the classical music content of these cartoons

showed

Disneydisplayingpretensionstoward highculturein thisseries.All theevidencesuggeststhathe

saw

himselfas

making

motionpicture

entertainmentforthegeneral public.

By

the

end

of 1930,

Mickey had

become

an international

celebrity.

Known

inItalyas

Topolino

and

asMiki

Kuchi

inJapan,

the

Mouse

continuedhisadventures,saving

Minnie

from

immola-tionbyfire

and

worse,confrontingPeteinvarious exoticsituations,

and

performingtoaudiences ofexuberant animals

whose

tastein

music ranged from ragtimeto violinconcertos.

A

simple-minded

bloodhound

made

an appearance in a 1930 picture called

The

Chain

Gang

and

developed, before long, into Mickey's faithful

companion

Pluto.

As

Mickey'scareerunfoldedinthethirties,other characterssuch as

Horace

Horsecollar

and

Clarabelle

Cow

began

to enjoy the status of co-stars, but their personalities offered

relativelylittlefortheanimatorsto

work

with and. asthepictures

mas

^

SillySymphonyposters, 1932

became more

sophisticated, theirroles

became

lesssignificant

and

eventuallyvanishedentirely.

And

in 1931,

Mickey was

important

enough

for

Time magazine

todevotea featurearticle to him.

By

the

end

of 1931, Disney's

demand

forconstant

improve-ment had

driventhecostofa singlecartoontoabout$13,000.

The

Studio

was

barelybreakingeven

and

in 1932another innovation drove costs still higher. In that year, Disney released a Silly

Symphony

called Flowers

and

Trees. This cartoon caused a sensationinthe industry.It

was

infullcolor.

Technicolor

had

introduced a two-color system as early as

1929, but it

had been

usedsparinglybythe

major

studioswhich,

with

good

reason,thoughtit

had

little

more

thannoveltyvalue(its

chief limitation

was

thatthecolor values

were

somewhat

distorted).

By

1932, however, Technicolor

had

a three-strip system ready whichofferedfar

more

accurate color reproduction,

and

Disneyat

once

saw

itsadvantages.Flowers

and

Trees

had been

partly

made

as

ablack-and-whitefdm. Thisfootage

was

scrapped

and

thewhole

thing

was

done

again in color. It

was

premiered at

Grauman's

Chinese Theater in

Hollywood

along with Irving Thalberg's production of StrangeInterlude.

Flowers

and

Trees

X

_-J?^

This 1932 cartoon hasa specialplacein

Ihe historyof animationasthefirsttohe

madein fullcolor.Fromthispointon.all

SillvSymphonies were producedin

By

today's standards.Flowers

and

Treesisastrangemixture of

charm and

absurdity.

A

romance

between

two

young

trees is

disruptedbyacrabbytree

stump

who

initiatesafirethatthreatens the

whole

forest.Birdspuncture cloudssothatrainfalls

and

douses

the fire.

The

stump

is destroyed

and

the two

young

lovers are married, with a

glowworm

for a

wedding

ring, while neighboring

flowers celebratetheirnuptials.

Whatever

weaknessesor strengths

thiscartoon

may

have

had

were

overshadowed

bythe fact thatit

was

incolor.Color

made

itavaluable propertyand,fromthatpoint on, all Silly

Symphonies were

fully chromatic. Disney

made

an advantageous deal with Technicolor

which

gave

him

exclusive

rights tothethree-color process, asfarasanimation

was

concerned,

for the next

two

years.

For

the time being, the

Mickey

Mouse

cartoonscontinuedtobeinblack

and

white—

they

were

successful

enough

nottoneedthe extra

boost—

butthe

Symphonies

tookfull

advantage ofthe

new

possibilities.

Almost

atonce they

became

more

inventive.Flowers

and

Trees

was

followed by

King Neptune

and

BabesintheWoods, both of

which

displaytighterstructure

and

livelieractionthananythingpreviouslyseenin this series.

One

factor

which

contributed to theirinventiveness

was

the additiontothestaff,in 1932,of AlbertHurter.

A

Swiss-bornartist,

hehadlearned the artofanimationatthe Barre studioin

New

York.

From

the very beginning ofthis association Hurter

had

a very special positionatthe Studio,Disneyrealizing thathisgift

was

for

producing

what became

known

as"inspirationaldrawings." Thisis

to say that he spent his time developing visual ideas for future projects

and

improvising

on

themes

which might trigger the

imaginations ofstory

men

oranimators.Neptune'scourt in

King

Neptune

and

thegingerbread houseinBabes inthe

Woods

reflect his influence.

He

was

trained in

Europe and

his drawings were

imbued

with thespiritofthe gothicfairytale.This

added

another dimensiontothenative

American

vigoroftheDisneyproduct.

As

the Studiocontinued to evolve. Hurter's influence

was

felt

more

and

more

strongly.

In 1933,Hurter designedthesettings

and

main

charactersfor

what

turned out to be the greatest Disney success

up

to that

time—

the

famous

Three Little Pigs. It is hardly necessary to

recapitulatehere either the plot or the successof

Frank

Churchill's

hittune.

"Who's

Afraidofthe Big

Bad Wolf?" The movie was

a

smash. Theatersretainedit

week

after

week and

itsimpactreflects

the factthat it

went

far

beyond any

oftheearlier

Symphonies

in

termsofplot

and

characterdevelopment.

The

following year. 1934.

saw

the production of several excellent Silly

Symphonies

including

The

Tortoise

and

theHare,

The

Grasshopper

and

the Ants,

and The

Wise Little

Hen—

all of which were moralfables

and

showed

just

how

proficient theStudio

had

become

atstructuring a story

and

establishing character.

The

Three

Little

Pigs

In 1932,Walt Disney produced TheThreeLittle

Pigs—acartoonwhich hadan extraordinaryimpactonthe

Americanpublic.Itshittune.

"Who'sAfraidoftheBigBad

^x\\;

/i

1

It*

111

, : f i

₁

?y IV

a-if

*,;'-* t

X

*

From 1932to 1934. the SillySymphonies

evolvedanewrangeofsubtleties.Shown

herearescenes from,lefttoptobottom. FatherNoah's Ark.TheTortoiseandthe Hare,and TheGrasshopperandtheAnts.

Lullaby Land, 1933.topright,presentsa child'sdreamadventuresinalandscape

metamorphosed fromthepatchworkquilt thatcovershisbed.Below:TheGoddess of Spring,fromthefollowing year

Tortoise

and

the

Hare

put

Aesop

into

modern

dressas the rakish

hareloses hisracetothetortoiseagainst amilky landscapethatis

typicalofthose early color cartoons.Thismilkiness resulted from

thefactthatEmilFlohri, the Studio's top

background

artist,

mixed

agreat dealof white

pigment

withhiscolors,lightening tonesthis

way

ratherthanbythinninghispaintwithwater. In

The

Grasshop-per

and

theAnts, thegrasshopperisaparticularly well-established character(his

theme

songis

"The

World

Owes

Me

aLiving")keyed

to the voice talent of Pinto Colvig.

Colvig—

a former circus

clown—was

a musician

and

a

member

of the gag team, but his

greatestclaimto

fame

isthathe providedthevoiceofGoofy,

who

had

had

his first supporting role in a 1932 cartoon, Mickey's

Rente.

Jk

This layoutdrawingforThe WiseLittle Hen. 1934, illustratesthesceneinwhich DonaldDuckmadehisdebut.Heis discovereddancingahornpipeonthe deck ofasomewhatdecrepit barge,right.

When

theWiseLittleHenasksafavorof

him,left,hefeignsatummyache,

establishinghimselfas asomewhat

unreliableanddisreputable characterfrom

theveryoutsetofhiscareer

The

Wise Little

Hen

introduced another voice talent

and

a

new

character

who

was,within a year,tochallenge

Mickey

asDisney's

star attraction.Thischaracterwas,ofcourse,

Donald

Duck,

and

the

man who

provided

him

withavoice

was

Clarence

"Ducky"

Nash.

Until Disney discovered him.

Nash

had

worked

for a milk

company,

entertainingchildren withhisanimal imitations.

One

of

these imitations evolved into Donald's ill-tempered

quack and

made

hisvoice

known

allovertheworld.

Donald

Duck

had

a relatively

modest

role in his firstscreen

appearance.

He

debuts as a miserable creature, living

on

a

ramshackle houseboat,

who

feignsabellyache every timethe

Wise

Little

Hen

asks

him

forassistance (in thisfirst incarnation he

was

drawn

byArt Babbitt

and

by Dick

Huemer.

who

had

joined the

Disneystaffofanimators).Donald'sbill

was

alittlelongerthanitis

today,buthe

had

the

same

voice,the

same

sailorsuit,

and

the

same

irascible temperament.

He

quickly

made

the

jump

toco-starring

rulesin

Mickey

Mouse

picturessuch asOrphan'sBenefit, irritating

everyone

on

thescreen butendearing himselftoaudiences.

Many

animators found the

Duck

difficult to

work

with, but two in

particular—

Dick

Lundy

and

Fred

Spencer—

had a

way

with

him

and

they

must

begiven

much

ofthe creditfordeveloping

him

intoa

star.

WaltlooksonasMaryModer.Pinto Colvig.and DorothyComptonrehearse

"Who'sAfraidoftheBigBad Wolf?"

ComposerFrankChurchillisatthepiano

-TT

r

i

h

mm

M

-•^»iii

A

group photographtakenattheStudioin

the mid-thirties,aboutthetimethat staff expansionwaspickingup

momentum

A

theatermarqueeadvertisingMickeyMouse

InOrphan'sBenefit, 1934,DonaldDuck

cameinto hisown.Hisefforts toentertain agroupof children arefrustratedbythe malicious behavioroftheaudience,which

causeshimto dissolveinto helplessrage

jt

Mickey, meanwhile,

had

become

virtuallya nationalsymbol, andassuch he

was

expectedto

behave

properlyat all times.Ifhe

occasionallysteppedoutofline,

any

number

ofletters

would

arrive

at the Studio from citizens

and

organizations

who

felt that the nation's moral well-being

was

in their hands. It

was

becoming

harder

and

harder tofind

comic

situationsfor

Mickey

that

would

not give offensein

some

quarter.Eventuallyhe

would

be pressured

into the roleofstraight

man.

but thegradual

change had

not yet

erodedthe core ofhispersonality, andthe

Mouse

cartoons ofthe mid-thirties were consistently inventive while

becoming

increas-inglysophisticated.

3

Six

Cartoon

Classics

Once

Hollywood had

come

totermswith thechallenge of sound,

theindustry

began

toexplore theavenuesthat

had been opened

up.

The

filmedmusical,forinstance, offeredpossibilities that

had been

totally

beyond

the grasp of silent cinema,

and

this

new

genre presented the theater-goer with varied

and

novel experiences.

There

were,forexample,the

Warner

Brothers' musicals—tinseled epics like Forty-SecondStreet

and

Footlight

Parade—

with

Busby

Berkeley's spectacularchoreographic symmetries punctuating the

fictionalshow-businesscareersof suchstarsas

James

Cagney,

Joan

Blondell,DickPowell,

and

Ruby

Keeler.

Maurice

Chevaliersang

his

way

into

French

highsociety in

Rouben

Mamoulian's

quasi-operatic

Love

Me

Tonight; the

movie

fan could also indulge

himself,byproxy, inthesilk-hatsophisticationofFredAstaire.It allhelped

keep

theDepressionatbay.

What

isincredibleisthat, in thistime ofplentyinthe

motion

picture industry,

Walt

Disney

was

abletoreacha positionof high

eminence—

matchingthatofthegreateststars

and producers—

with

a

modest

output of

animated

films,

none

of

which

ranfor longer

thaneightminutes!

Nowhere

is Disney's talent as a great story editor

more

apparent thaninthe shortsofthe mid-thirties.

He knew how

totake asimple gagsituation

and

squeeze everylast

drop

of

humor

outof

it.

And

then he

would

find a

way

oftopping thatwithasituation

even funnierthanthe

one

precedingit.

Forpractical reasons,an

animated

cartoonisusuallybroken

down

intovery shortsegments(differentanimators beingassigned

toeach ofthese),so that the effect,

on

the screen,isof veryrapid

cuts

from one

character toanother. Disney learned

how

to take

advantage ofthis as a storytelling device.

He

badgered his story

men,

hislayout

men,

and

hisanimationdirectors into the realiza-tionthateverycut

had

tobe meaningful,thateachshort

segment

of

the film

must

contribute to its overall pace.

No

decision

was

implemented

withouthisapproval,

and

he

was

constantly

on hand

with fresh ideas tospurflagging imaginations.

Each

cartoon

was

planned

down

tothelastdetail.

Dozens

of people might be involved in this, but the entire process

was

controlledby Disneyhimself.

By

thetime segments of

actionwereassignedtoindividualanimators, Disney

had

an almost 43

complete

knowledge

of

how

the final product

would

lookon the screen.

The

one

factorthathe couldnot control

was

theanimation

itself.

Here

he

had

to rely

on

the talentshe

had

gathered

around

him

and,by 1935,they

were

quiteconsiderable.

During

1935. Disneyreleasedeighteencartoons.

At

leasthalf

of

them

are gems.

A

good

deal of valuable visual material has survivedfromthisperiod,

and

thischapterisillustratedwith story continuity drawings

and

other art

work

relating to six of these

movies.

Four

of

them

(The Cookie Carnival,

Music

Land,

Who

Killed

Cock

Robin?

and

Broken

Toys) are Silly

Symphonies.

Mickey'sService Station

was

thelast

Mouse

cartoontobe

produced

inblack

and

white;

The

Band

Concert

was

thefirst tobe

made

in color.

WIio

Killed

Cock

Robin?

Disneygivestheold nurseryrhymeanew

twist.Robin,itturns out.isnotdead, but

hasmerelybeenwoundedbv Cupid's arrow.

ThetriumphofthecartoonisJenny

Wren,theobjectof Robin's passion,who

isa thinlydisguised caricatureof

Mae

West

I 1

Broken

Toys

^sSL

—

£2.

r

The mainplotofthiscartoon involvesa sailordollwhoperforms anemergency

operationto restore the sightofadainty

littlecreaturewhohaslosthereyes.

A

neatly constructedlittlefilm,itistypica of Disney productions duringthe mid-thirties

Music

Land

Inthistwistonthe

Romeo

andJuliet story,thesonoftheKingof theIsle

of Jazzfallsinlovewiththedaughter oftheQueenoftheLandof

Symphony. Thereisbadfeelingbetweenthetwo monarchs. andwhileona clandestinevisittohissweetheart,thePrinceof Jazziscapturedand

imprisoned.

War

breaks outandthePrinceescapesandtakestotheSea of Discord,accompaniedbyhis love.

When

bothmonarchsrealizethat their offspringare indangerofdrowning, thevcallacease-fireandsetofftothe rescue.Allendshappily.ThePrinceandPrincessaresoon joinedina double wedding.

A

BridgeofHarmonyunites thereconciledkingdoms.

Inthiscartoonthecharactersspeak withthe voicesof musical instruments.The LandofSymphonyblastsitsrivalwith Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture,blowingholesintherococosaxophoneskyscrapers(seealsooverleaf)

A

-V

Music

Land

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Mickey's

Service

Station

ThiswasthelastMickeyMousecartoonto bemadeinblack-and-white.PeglegPete, theperennialvillain,bringshiscarinfora

check-upbecause he hasbeenhearinga squeak.Mickey.Donald,andGoofyrip the car apart lookingfor thesourceofthe offendingnoise.Itturnsouttobea cricket

whichhasconcealeditself inthe vehicle, butour heroesdonotdiscoverthisuntil thecarhasbeenreducedtowreckage

r