Walt Disney

by Neal Gabler

  “My, how the day flew!” Huemer, Recollections.

  “all day, every day…” Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  Roy Williams. Amy Boothe Green and Howard E. Green, Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney (New York: Hyperion, 1999).

  “Walt struck me…” Sharpsteen interview by Peri.

  “whatever we did…” John Canemaker, “Grim Natwick,” Film Comment, Jan.-Feb. 1975.

  Speeding production schedule. George Morris to Roy, Nov. 11, 1930, Roy O. Disney—NY Trip—Nov. 1930 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  “showdown.” Roy to Irving Lesser, Mar. 16, 1931, Irving Lesser Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., G-Lo (1930-41), A2996, WDA.

  “It worked into a very unfair…” Quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “they aren’t overburdened…” Roy to Walt, Apr. 26, 1930, Walt & Roy Disney Corr., 1929-1930, Walt Disney Early Corr., WDA.

  Awed. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 7.

  United Artists negotiations. George Morris to Roy, Nov. 17, 1930; Tel. Morris to Roy, Nov. 17, 1930; Morris to Roy, Nov. 20, 1930, Roy O. Disney—NY Trip—Nov. 1930 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  Meeting with Laemmle. Roy to Irving Lesser, Apr. 3, 1931, Irving Lesser Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., G-Lo (1930-41), A2996, WDA.

  “sucker.” Irving Lesser to Roy, Apr. 10, 1931, ibid.

  “We have been approached…” “Mickey Mouse Publicity Items,” Oct. 29, 1931, Mo, D.V.’s letters, Walt Disney Corr., A1504, WDA.

  “Very frankly…” Roy to Elias and Flora, May 8, 1931, quoted in Thomas, Building a Company.

  Cost of cartoons. Walt Disney, “Growing Pains,” American Cinematographer, Mar. 1941.

  $25,000 loan. Roy to Irving Lesser, May 14, 1931, Irving Lesser Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr, G-Lo, (1930-41), A2996, WDA.

  “too much.” Tel. Lessing to Roy, Jun. 1, 1931, Roy O. Disney—1931 file, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  Delivering more rapidly. Roy to Walt, Jun. 5, 1931, D, D.V.’s letters, 1931-1933, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, D-I, A1503, WDA.

  “[U]nless something very drastic…” Memo, George [Morris] to Walt, Re: Studio Finance, Jun. 27, 1931, Mo, D.V.’s letters, 1934, Walt’s Corr., A1504, WDA.

  “The business has become too big…” Lessing to Roy, Jun. 27, 1931, Roy O. Disney Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  “If you want to know the real secret…” Ward Kimball, “The Wonderful World of Walt Disney,” in You Must Remember This, ed. Walter Wagner (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975).

  Walt’s meeting with Morris. Morris to Roy, Jun. 29, 1931, Roy O. Disney Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  In the end… Lessing to Roy, Jul. 6, 1931, ibid.

  Walt never left… Bill Cottrell, interview by Jay Horan, Aug.-Oct. 1983, WDA.

  Wandering the studio at night. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 2.

  Traffic Troubles. Sharpsteen interview by Peri.

  Walt telling story to Sharpsteen. Sharpsteen interview by Smith.

  “His hobby is his work…” GM [George Morris] to Fenn Sherie, Pearson’s, May 23, 1930, Sherie, Fenn, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, P-U, A1505, WDA.

  “mouse widow.” “Profound Mouse,” Time, May 15, 1933.

  Socializing with Roy. Greene and Greene, Man Behind the Magic.

  Best pal. GM [George Morris] to Fenn Sherie, May 23, 1930.

  Free time with Lillian. Lillian quoted in Green and Green, Remembering Walt.

  Turning back clock. Jamison, “Of Mouse and Man.”

  “I think I’ve got it licked.” Lillian Disney, interview by Pete Martin, Disc 16.

  “I want to have ten kids…” Diane Disney Miller interview by author.

  Lillian’s attitude to children. Miller quoted in Greene and Greene, Inside the Dream.

  Intercourse in doctor’s office. Thomas, Building a Company.

  “Walt and Lilly are both crazy…” Roy to Flora Disney, Aug. 15, 1930, Roy O. Disney—1930 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  “He’d be at the top of the stairs…” Quoted in Greene and Greene, Inside the Dream.

  New homesite. H. F. Elliot (sales manager: Frank Malins Co.) to Walt, Mar. 18, 1931, M, D.V.’s letters, 1930-33 Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, J-O, A1504; Leonard A. Hardie (sales manager, Santa Monica Land & Water Co. Ltd.) to Walt, Mar. 20, 1931, H, D.V.’s letters, 1931-33 Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, D-I, A1503, WDA.

  “It was very sad.” Quoted in Katherine Greene and Richard Greene, Inside the Dream: The Personal Story of Walt Disney (New York: Roundtable Press, 2001).

  “I am married…” Walt to Cousin Lena, Aug. 6, 1931, Misc. File, WDA.

  Roy suggested trip. Roy to Walt, Jun. 18, 1931, Misc. File, WDA.

  “No matter how good a picture…” Disney, Autobiography, 1934.

  Tonsils removed. Roy to Walt, Jun. 30, 1931, Roy O. Disney—1931 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  “Frankly, I am worried…” Roy to Walt, Gunther [Lessing], and George [Morris], Jul. 2, 1931, ibid.

  “I guess I was working…” Miller, Story of Disney.

  Visiting doctor. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 2.

  “I was in an emotional flap.” Miller, Story of Disney.

  FIVE || The Cult

  “Anything that we had saved…” Roy to Flora and Elias, Jun. 15, 1932, quoted in Bob Thomas, Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire (New York: Hyperion, 1998).

  Vacation plans. Carolyn Kay Shafer to Archie B. Sharp, Honolulu Advertiser, Jun. 18, 1931, Misc. Folder, WDA; George Morris to Roy, Jun. 30, 1931, Roy O. Disney 1931 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA; Walt Disney, interview by Pete Martin, Reel 2, A2361, WDA.

  Washington trip. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 2.

  “very much rested.” George Morris to Roy, Sept. 9, 1931, Roy O. Disney 1931 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA.

  “woke me up…” Walt Disney, Autobiography, unpub. ms., 1934, WDA.

  “get down there…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 2.

  “full of pep.” Ibid..

  “Walt would fly into such a rage…” Mrs. Walt Disney, as told to Isabella Taves, “I Live With a Genius,” McCall’s, Feb. 1953.

  “new man.” Walt Disney, interview by Martin, Reel 2.

  “Walt is feeling much better…” Roy to Elias and Flora, Dec. 30, 1931, quoted in Thomas, Building a Company.

  United Artists revision. Roy to George Morris, Jan. 22, 1932, Roy O. Disney 1932 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA.

  “our first good contract.” Quoted in Richard G. Hubler, Walt Disney, unpub. ms., 1968, RHC.

  Diverting animators from Symphonies. George Morris to Roy, Jan. 22, 1932, Roy O. Disney 1932 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA.

  “Practically every tool…” Quoted in Mike Barrier, “‘Building a Better Mouse’: Fifty Years of Disney Animation,” Funnyworld, no. 20 (Summer 1979); Greg Ford and Richard Thompson, “Chuck Jones,” Film Comment, Jan.-Feb. 1975.

  “because of Walt’s insistence and supervision.” Quoted in Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (New York: Hyperion, 1981).

  “The exhilaration of breaking through barriers…” Ibid..

  “Walt would not—repeat would not—OK…” David Dodd Hand, Memoirs (Cambria, Calif.: Lighthouse Litho, 1990).

  “analyzing and reanalyzing…” Dick Huemer, “Thumbnail Sketches,” Funnyworld, no. 21 (Fall 1979).

  “You were paid to bat out…” Sha
mus Culhane, Talking Animals and Other People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986).

  Origins of pencil tests. Dick Lundy cited in Michael Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

  “I think it is astounding…” Walt Disney, “Growing Pains,” American Cinematographer, Mar. 1941.

  “Leica reels.” Ben Sharpsteen, Answers to Questions Submitted by Dave Smith, Sept. 1964, WDA.

  After a cartoon was finished… George Morris to Roy, Oct. 19, 1933, Disney, Roy O.—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.

  “Old animation was done…” Joe Adamson, “A Talk with Dick Huemer,” in The American Animated Cartoon: A Critical Anthology, ed. Gerald Peary and Daniel Peary (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1981).

  “Your character goes dead…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “The hardest job…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 10.

  Frolicking Fish. John Canemaker, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (New York: Disney Editions, 2001).

  “Soon everybody started drawing looser…” Jack Kinney, Walt Disney and Other Animated Characters: An-Unauthorized Account of the Early Years at Disney’s (New York: Harmony Books, 1988).

  “Overlapping action was an invention…” Adamson, “Talk with Huemer.”

  “So let’s all hop to it…” Cited in Richard Schickel, The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney, 3rd ed. (1968; repr., Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks, 1997).

  Gag prizes. Gag Prizes Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, D-I, A1503, WDA.

  “You must sharpen…” Memo, Walt to Dick Huemer, Jun. 1, 1935, Inter-Office Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, He-R, A1509, WDA.

  “understanding of the proper portrayal…” Walt to Bob Wickersham, Jun. 1, 1935, ibid.

  “they were staged better…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “Our mistake…” Quoted in Charles Solomon, Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989).

  “density.” Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  “defrocked priest.” Bill Tytla, interview by George Sherman, in Walt’s People, ed. Didier Ghez (Xlibris, 2005).

  “I came back in two days…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 11.

  Story department room. Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  Invention of “storyboard.” Schickel, Disney Version; Richard Shale, Donald Duck Joins Up: The Walt Disney Studio During World War II (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1982). One employee dated the storyboard to Babes in the Woods in 1933: see Don Graham, The Art of Animation, unpub. ms., n.d., WDA.

  “You get the feeling…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “The big reason nobody remembers…” Anonymous animator quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “little bits of personality.” Frank Thomas quoted in John Canemaker, Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World’s Most Famous Cat (1991; reprint New York: Da Capo Press, 1996).

  “It was the uppermost thing…” Wilfred Jackson, interview by Steve Hulett, Jul. 25, 1978, WDA.

  “[Y]our characters…” Eric Larson, interview by Mica Prods., n.d., WDA.

  “The most important aim…” Walt to John Culhane, Aug. 26, 1951, quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.

  “believable in motion…” Mel Shaw quoted in Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “Everything in his cartoons…” Ward Kimball, “The Wonderful World of Walt Disney,” in You Must Remember This, ed. Walter Wagner (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975).

  “How would a piano feel…” Henry F. Pringle, “Mickey Mouse’s Father,” McCall’s, Aug. 1932.

  “You have to portray…” Official Report of the Proceedings Before the NLRB, In the Matter of Walt Disney and Arthur Babbitt, Oct. 8, 1942.

  “one big one.” Quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  “It was a blockbuster…” Ward Kimball, interview by Rick Shale, Jan. 29, 1976, WDA.

  “Fergy, you’re a great actor…” Dick Huemer, “Thumbnail Sketches,” Funnyworld, no. 21 (Fall 1979).

  “plausible impossible.” Graham, Art of Animation.

  “As Walt began to bear down…” Quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  “[n]o one thought…” Adamson, “Talk with Dick Huemer.”

  “Does your drawing have…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “I definitely feel that we cannot…” Quoted in Katherine Greene and Richard Greene, The Man Behind the Magic: The Story of Walt Disney (New York: Viking, 1991).

  Chouinard classes. Les Clark quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  Inception of classes. Culhane, Talking Animals; Christopher Finch, The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom (New York: Harry Abrams, 1975); Charles Solomon, Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989); John Canemaker, “Art Babbitt: The Animator as Firebrand,” Millimeter, Sept. 1975.

  Dividing the class. Finch, Art of Disney.

  “you’d better go!” John Canemaker, “Disney Design: 1928-1979: How the Disney Studio Changed the Look of the Animated Cartoon,” Millimeter, Feb. 1979.

  Graham’s cigarette. Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “necessarily impossible.” Chuck Jones, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist (New York: Avon Books, 1989).

  “he was single-handedly…” Culhane, Talking Animals.

  “to analyze.” Quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  “greatest impact…” Culhane, Talking Animals.

  “Having problems?” Jones, Chuck Amuck.

  Graham joining staff. Canemaker, “Disney Design.”

  “glass breaking…” Diane Disney Miller, as told to Pete Martin, The Story of Walt Disney (New York: Holt, 1956); Janet Martin, “Librarian to Walt Disney,” Wilson Library Bulletin, Dec. 1939; Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “[T[hey said anyone who goes to art school…” John Canemaker, “Vlad Tytla: Animation’s Michelangelo,” in The American Animated Cartoon: A Crticial Anthology, ed. Gerald Peary and Danny Peary (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980).

  “They could never accept…” Culhane, Talking Animals.

  “Most people think…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “We invest them with life.” Douglas W. Churchill, “Disney’s Philosophy,” NYT Magazine, Mar. 6, 1938.

  “caricature of life.” Ibid.

  “Our actors must be…” Ham Luske, “Character Handling,” Oct. 6, 1938, quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.

  Positive film stock. Tel. Roy to Walt, Jan. 29, 1930, Walt & Roy Disney Corr., 1929-1930, Walt Disney Early Corr., WDA.

  “I guess he was hoping…” Bill Cottrell, interview by Jay Horan, Aug.-Oct. 1983, WDA; Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “I am convinced…” Walt to L. P. Wright (Colorcraft Corp.), Sept. 18, 1931, C, D.V.’s letters, 1931-1933, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, A-C, A1502, WDA.

  “At last!…” John Culhane, Walt Disney’s Fantasia (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1983).

  Costs of color. Disney, Autobiography.

  “I found out the people…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 10.

  Lost $235,000. Richard Neupert, “Painting a Plausible World: Disney’s Color Prototypes,” in Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom, ed. Eric Smoodin (New York: Routledge, 1994).

  Repainting the cels. William Cottrell quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  “creation of genius…” Grauman to Walt, July 27, 1932, RHC, Box 27, Folder 107.

  “an avalanche of orders…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 10.

  “A black and white print…” Walt Disney, “Growing Pains.”

  Lobbying for color. George Morris to Roy, May 9, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA.

  “Walt is ve
ry hot…” Memorandum on United Artists Extension from G.R. Lessing, May 24, 1933, ibid.

  Feared that if he didn’t close a deal… Tel. George Morris to Roy, May 24, 1933, ibid.

  Roy met with Kalmus. Roy to Walt, May 15, 1933, ibid.

  Technicolor loaning money. Lessing to Roy, Jun. 5, 1933, ibid. In fact, had the studio gone entirely to color, it would have relied on a substantial loan from Technicolor to do so.

  “We’ve got to quit spending…” Cottrell interview by Horan.

  “continually (without letup in the least)…” Roy to Flora and Elias, Apr. 14, 1933, quoted in Thomas, Building a Company.

  Rosenbaum. George Morris to Roy, May 6, 1933; Morris to Roy, May 8, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA; Roy to L. N. Rosenbaum, Jun. 8, 1933; Memo, L. N. Rosenbaum, May 11, 1933, Rosenbaum, L. N., Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Mo-T (1928-1939), A2998, WDA.

  Report of taking company public. Untitled clipping, 8-MWEZ, n.c. 17,901, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

  “depression-minded.” Roy to Walt, May 15, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA.

  New loan from UA. Roy to Walt, George [Morris], Gunther [Lessing], May 10, 1933, ibid.

  A. P. Giannini. See Julian Dana, A.P. Giannini: Giant in the West (New York: Prentice Hall, 1947).

  “[t]ell those sons…” Morris to Roy, May 8, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), WDA.

  Bank of America loan assumption offer. Morris to Roy, May 27, 1933, ibid.

  Bank of America terms. Roy to Morris, May 29, 1933, ibid.

  Revolving credit. Morris to Roy, Jun. 7, 1933, ibid.

  “perfection of the movies.” Gilbert Seldes, “Disney and Others,” New Republic, Jun. 8, 1932.

  “[t]hese little pig characters…” From Ben Sharpsteen Papers quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  “Walt practically lived…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Apr. 24, 1974, WDA.

  Natural athlete. Ken Anderson, interview by Bob Thomas, May 15, 1973, WDA.

  “Animation came too easily…” Clark to Michael Barrier, Aug. 19, 1976, quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.