Walt Disney
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Walt as conductor. Ruth Waterbury, “What Snow White’s Father Is Doing Now,” Liberty, Nov. 26, 1938.
Pollen. “Pollen Man,” The New Yorker, Nov. 1, 1941.
“We all had egos…” Steve Hulett, “A Star Is Drawn,” Film Comment, Jan.-Feb. 1979.
“He could disarm people…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, April 26, 1974, WDA.
“That was what Walt’s…” Bob Broughton, interview by author.
“Of all the things I’ve done…” Miller, Story of Disney.
“When he’d come into a room…” Huemer, Recollections.
“awe.” Jim Korkis, “Close Encounters of the Walt Kind,” POV 1, no. 3, (Spring 1993).
“He had an overwhelming power…” Green and Green, Remembering Walt.
“You talk as if…” Hubler, Disney.
“I couldn’t understand it.” Anonymous quoted in Michael Fessier, Jr., “Legacy of a Last Tycoon,” LAT, Nov. 12, 1967.
SIX || Folly
Rentals 50 percent higher. “Mickey Mouse and the Bankers,” Fortune, Nov. 1934.
Economics of shorts. Memo, Bill Garity to Roy, Jul. 12, 1935, Roy O. Disney Corr. re: Trips, 1934-1935 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.
Double bills. Irving Lesser to Roy, April 28, 1931, Irving Lesser Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., G-Lo (1930-41), A2996, WDA.
$600,000 profit. “Mickey Mouse and Bankers.”
“The first decade…” Quoted in Lawrence Edward Watkin, Walt Disney, unpub. ms., n.d., WDA.
“The short subject was just a filler…” Walt Disney, interview by Pete Martin, Reels 6 & 7, A2681, WDA.
“I think that Walt was impatient…” Steve Hulett, “A Star Is Drawn,” Film Comment, Jan.-Feb. 1979.
“[W]e sensed we had gone…” Walt Disney, “Growing Pains,” American Cinematographer, Mar. 1941.
The idea of producing a feature… Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7.
Alice in Wonderland. Fulton Brylawski (attorney) to Roy, Jun. 6, 1932, Misc. File, WDA.
Schuster prodding on Bambi. M. Lincoln Schuster to Walt, May 1, 1933, Si, D.V.’s letters, 1931-33 Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, P-U, A1505, WDA.
“Schenck talked like they…” Roy to Walt, George [Morris], Gunther [Lessing], May 10, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.
Walt’s fear. [Lessing?] to Roy, Oct. 21, 1933, Disney, Roy O.—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.
Suggestions. Hobart Bosworth to Walt, Nov. 2, 1932, B—D.V.’s letters, 1931-1933, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, A-C, A1502, WDA; [?] to Symon Gould, May 9, 1933, O—D.V.’s letters, 1931-1933, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, J-O, WDA.
Mary Pickford and Alice. Pickford to Walt, Apr. 19, 1933; Walt to Pickford, April 27, 1933; Pickford to Walt, May 24, 1933, Misc. File, WDA.
Registering Snow White. Roy to Lucille Benedict, May 22, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.
“[I]t was well-known…” Disney, “Growing Pains.”
“I had sympathetic…” Quoted in Richard Greene and Katherine Greene, The Man Behind the Magic: The Story of Walt Disney (New York: Viking, 1991).
Snow White play. Brooklyn Eagle, Feb. 27, 1938; Paul Hollister, Man or Mouse: The Story of Walt Disney, So Far, unpub. ms., 1955, chap. 8, WDA.
Snow White screening. Walt to J. Searle Dawley, Jan. 4, 1944, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, A-E, A1530, WDA; Walt to Frank L. Newman, Feb. 21, 1938, Misc. File, WDA; Harry Tytle, “Walt’s Boys”: An Insider’s Account of Disney’s Golden Years (Royal Oak, Mich.: Airtight Seals Allied Production, 1997). See also Karen Merritt, “The Little Girl/Little Mother Transformation: The American Evolution of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,’” in Storytelling in Animation: The Art of the Animated Image, ed. John Canemaker (Los Angeles: AFI, 1988); and Brian Burnes, Robert W. Butler, and Dan Viets, Walt Disney’s Missouri: The Roots of Creative Genius, ed. Donna Martin (Kansas City, Mo.: Kansas City Star Books, 2002).
“stories that tell about…” Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975).
Freudian interpretation. Peter Brunette, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” in The American Animated Cartoon: A Critical Anthology, ed. Gerald Peary and Danny Peary (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980).
Cultural interpretation. Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).
Winthrop Ames play. Memo, Gunther Lessing to Walt, Re: Ames Version—Snow White, Apr. 7, 1937, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1936-1937, E-L, A1512, WDA; Merritt, “Little Girl.”
Jessie Braham White. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Jessie Braham White, Snow White Continuities, gag suggestions, etc., 1934 dupes, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Continuities, gag suggestions, etc., Jan. 1937—undated, Box 3, A1736, WDA.
“We had a business meeting…” [Lucille Benedict?] to Roy, May 19, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.
“Walt was such a wonderful…” Dick Huemer, “The Battle of Washington,” Funnyworld, no. 22 (Winter 1980).
Telling Pfeiffer. Walter Pfeiffer, interview by Bob Thomas, Apr. 26, 1973, WDA.
“He was a spellbinder.” Joe Grant, interview by author.
Anderson’s recollection of meeting. Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley, Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Making of the Classic Film (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987); Charles Solomon, Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989); Jay Horan, Video Interview with Ken Anderson, Bill Cottrell and Herb Ryman, Sept. 15, 1983; Martin Krause and Linda Witkowski, Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: An Art in Its Making (New York: Hyperion, 1994).
“That one performance…” Robert De Roos, “The Magic Worlds of Walt Disney,” National Geographic, Aug. 1963, in Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom, ed. Eric Smoodin (New York: Routledge, 1994).
“We saw it at first as Walt’s folly.” Joe Grant, interview by author.
“may take the edge off…” 1934 letter quoted in Richard G. Hubler, Walt Disney, unpub. ms., RHC.
Worry about emotional investment. “Mouse & Man,” Time, Dec. 27, 1937.
Concern whether Walt could focus. Frank Thomas quoted in Krause and Witowski, Walt Disney’s Snow White.
“we will destroy it.” Douglas W. Churchill, “Now Mickey Mouse Enters Art’s Temple,” NYT Magazine, Jun. 3, 1934.
“foreign countries were yelling…” Lessing to Roy, Jul. 15, 1935, Roy O. Corr. Re trips: 1934-1935 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr, Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.
Meeting with Whitney, Zanuck, Schenck. Roy to Walt, Lessing, Nov. 2, 1933, Disney, Roy O.—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), WDA.
Schenck pulling out. Roy Disney, interview by Richard Hubler, Feb. 20, 1968, WDA.
“We’ve bought the whole damned sweepstakes.” “Mouse & Man.”
First outlines. Manuscript, Aug. 9, 1934, Snow White—Walt’s Notes on continuities, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sweatbox Notes, Seq. 13A—16A, Misc. files (financial, promotion, etc.) Punch Sheets—French Version, Box 7, A1733, WDA. This is the first outline on file at the studio.
Suggestions for script. “Suggestions and Notes on ‘Snowwhite’” Conference Oct. 3, 1934, by Harry Bailey, Snow White—Story Meetings, Oct. 1934-Nov. 1934 Folder, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Story Meetings Oct. 1934-1937, Box 1, A1731, WDA. The notes are dated Oct. 12, 1934.
Naming dwarfs. Manuscript [Snow White], Aug. 9, 1934, Snow White—Continuities, gag suggestions, etc. July-Sept. 1934, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Continuities, gag suggestions, etc., Jul. 1934-Dec. 1936,
Box 2, A1737; “Suggestions and Notes on ‘Snowwhite,’” Conference Oct. 9, 1934, by Harry Bailey, Snow White—Story Meetings, Oct. 1934-Nov. 1934 Folder, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Story Meetings Oct. 1934-1937, Box 1, A1731, WDA.
“Rather than spend too much…” Snow White (tentative outline), Oct. 22, 1934, SW—Continuities, gag suggestions, etc. 1934 dupes, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Continuities, gag suggestions, etc., Jan. 1937—undated, Box 3, A1736, WDA.
Soundstage meeting. “Suggestions and Notes on ‘Snowwhite’” Sound Stage Meeting, Oct. 30, 1934, Snow White—Story Meetings, Oct. 1934-Nov. 1934 Folder, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Story Meetings Oct. 1934-1937 Box 1, A1731, WDA.
“Try to give…” Outline, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Nov. 2, 1934, Snow White Continuities, gag suggestions, etc. Nov. 1934, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Continuities, gag suggestions, etc., Jul. 1934-Dec. 1936, Box 2, A1737, WDA.
“At the start…” Quoted in Krause and Witkowski, Walt Disney’s Snow White.
“defective thyroid.” Roy Disney interview by Hubler, Feb. 20, 1968.
“matters accumulate…” Memo, Walt to Ben [Sharpsteen], Dave [Hand], [Wilfred] Jackson, June 1, 1935, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr. 1935, He-R, Z1509, WDA. Sharpsteen, Hand and Jaxon were left in charge of the animation side.
“Everyone aboard…” Roy to Gunnie [Lessing], George [Morris], and Mitch [Francis], [Jun. 7, 1935], Roy O. Corr. Re trips: 1935-1934 folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.
“We weren’t used to the celebrities…” Edna Disney, Aug. 20, 1968, RHC, Box 14, Folder 52.
Dinner with Rothschilds. Bob Thomas, Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire (New York: Hyperion, 1998).
Crowds in London. LAT, Jun. 13, 1935.
“hundred pressmen…” Paul Holt, “His Brother Dispels a Load of Illusions,” London Daily Express, Jun. 13, 1935, Scrapbook, WDA.
“Big Shot.” Roy Disney interview by Hubler, Feb. 20, 1968.
League of Nations reception. Walt to Ted Patrick, Holiday, Feb. 1, 1956, Ho Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1956, G-L, A1563, WDA.
Mussolini bragged… Hubler, Disney.
“tired but happy.” Tel. Walt Disney Prods. to Roy Disney, Aug. 5, 1935, Roy O. Disney Corr. Re trips: 1934-1935, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.
“got such a welcome…” LAT, Aug. 12, 1935.
“Walt has been royally…” Roy to Mr. and Mrs. Elias Disney, Jul. 1, 1935, Roy O. Disney Corr. Re trips: 1934-1935 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.
“You tell Doc…” Hubler, Disney.
“When a dispatch…” LAT, Aug. 12, 1935.
“I found that all over…” Los Angeles Examiner, Aug. 11, 1935.
Alternate weeks. Memo, Walt to Sears, Oct. 12, 1935, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, He-R, A1509, WDA.
“our one chance…” Memo, Walt to Roy, Dec. 2, 1935, Subject: UA Contract, InterOffice Comm., Walt Disney Corr., 1935, A1509, WDA.
“Have some birds…” Story Meeting on SNOW WHITE, Oct. 31, 1935, Snow White—Story Meetings, Oct. 1935-Dec. 1935 Folder, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Story Meetings Oct. 1934-1937, Box 1, A1731, WDA.
“I’ve had continuity all wrapped…” Walt to Sidney Franklin, Dec. 19, 1935, Misc. File, WDA.
Scenes to Bill Tytla. Memo to Bill Tytla, Dec. 4, 1935, InterOffice Comm., Walt Disney Corr., 1935, A1509, WDA.
“I can’t be satisfied…” Carmen Maxwell to Walt, Aug. 10, 1934, M, D.V.’s letters, 1934 Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, J-O, A1504, WDA.
Art Babbitt. John Canemaker, “Art Babbitt: The Animator as Firebrand,” Millimeter, Sept. 1975; Klaus Strzyz, “Art Babbitt,” Comics Journal, no. 120 (March 1988); Michael Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
Dick Huemer. Richard Huemer, Recollections of Richard Huemer, unpub. ms., 1969, Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA.
Grim Natwick. “Snow White Animator,” Cartoonist Profiles 1, no. 4 (Fall 1969); John Canemaker, “Grim Natwick,” Film Comment, Jan.-Feb. 1975.
“I’m a Cossack!” Huemer, Recollections.
“hovered over his drawing board…” Grim Natwick, “Animation,” Cartoonist Profiles, no. 40 (Dec. 1978).
“He expresses a keen desire…” Roy to Walt, May 26, 1933, Roy O. Disney—1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.
“to bring a stranger in…” Sharpsteen to Tytla, Dec. 2, 1934, Ben Sharpsteen Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, P-U, A1505, WDA.
“on-again off-again romance.” Bill Tytla, interview by George Sherman, Cartoonist Profiles, August 1970.
Forces and Forms. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (New York: Hyperion, 1981).
Pluck discarded drawings. Natwick, “Animation.”
“the idea was like a chain letter…” Ham Luske, Notes, ca. 1956, WDA.
Reitherman background. John Canemaker, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (New York: Disney Editions, 2001).
“kind of guy…” Sweatbox Notes, Bambi, Sept. 1, 1939, Bambi—Story Meetings, 1939, Bambi Production Materials—Story Meeting Notes, Sweatbox Notes, Corr., Research, 3267, WDA.
Eric Larson. Canemaker, Nine Old Men; Eric Larson, interview by Mica Prods., [n.d.], WDA.
Ward Kimball. Canemaker, Nine Old Men; Ward Kimball, interview by Christopher Finch and Linda Rosenkrantz, May 10, 1972, WDA; Marc Eliot, Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince (New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1993); Ward Kimball, “The Wonderful World of Walt Disney,” in You Must Remember This, ed. Walter Wagner (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975).
“He never did what was expected.” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.
“looked for an opportunity…” Ben Sharpsteen, Answers to Questions Submitted by Dave Smith, Sept. 1974, WDA.
Milt Kahl. Canemaker, Nine Old Men; Milt Kahl, Mica Prods., Nov. 3, 1983, WDA.
Frank Thomas. Canemaker, Nine Old Men; John Canemaker, “Sincerely Yours, Frank Thomas,” Millimeter, Jan. 1975.
Ollie Johnston. Canemaker, Nine Old Men.
Marc Davis. Ibid..
“Attended classes…” Marc Davis, interview by Bob Thomas, May 25, 1973, WDA.
“The qualification…” Ben Sharpsteen to Director of Art Instruction, Pratt Institute, Jun. 6, 1934, Ben Sharpsteen Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, P-U, A1505, WDA.
Response to recruitment. Richard Schickel, The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney, 3rd ed. (1968; repr., Chicago: Elephantine Paperbacks, 1997); Memo, Vern Caldwell to Walt, Re: Talent Publicity, Nov. 15, 1939, Caldwell, Vernon, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.
“the Depression was the greatest thing…” Marc Davis, interview, May 21, 1968, RHC, Box 14, Folder 51.
“It looked like a real utopia…” Quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.
From in-betweener to master animator. Official Report of the Proceedings of the National Labor Relations Board, In the Matter of Walt Disney Prods., Inc. and Arthur Babbitt, Los Angeles, Oct. 9, 1942.
“goddamn poor working habits…” Shamus Culhane, Talking Animals and Other People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986).
Training. Marc Davis, interview by Bob Thomas, Fall 1989, WDA; Frances Osborne (Walt Disney Productions) to Don Graham, Feb. 8, 1935, G, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, A1508, WDA.
“[i]ntensive lectures…” Quoted in John Canemaker, “Disney Design—1928-1979: How the Disney Studio Changed the Look of the Animated Cartoon,” Millimeter, Feb. 1979.
“tied up in some way…” Memo, Walt to Roy Scott. Re: Tuesday night shows, Sept. 18, 1935, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, He-R, A1509, WDA.
Analyzing film. Thomas and
Johnston, Illusion of Life.
“Put in simple terms…” Quoted in Canemaker, “Disney Design.”
“to discuss with them…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.
“Immediately following these talks…” Memo, Walt to Don Graham, Dec. 23, 1935, cited in Culhane, Talking Animals.
“Caricature Class.” Memo, Walt to Don Graham, Jan. 10, 1936, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1936-1937, E-L, A1512, WDA.
Expanding courses. Don Graham, The Art of Animation, unpub. ms., n.d., WDA.
Excursions to zoo. Culhane, Talking Animals.
“I am convinced…” Memo, Walt to Graham, Dec. 23, 1935, quoted in ibid..
“A creative structure…” I. Klein, “When Walt Disney Took Another Giant Step!” Cartoonist Profiles, no. 33 (March 1977).
“like a marvelous big Renaissance craft hall.” Quoted in Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley, The Disney Studio Story (New York: Crown Publishers, 1988).
“Walt’s idea…” Boris Morkovin, Technique and Psychology of the Animated Cartoon, Studio Course, Nov. 14, 1935-Feb. 5, 1936, Beginners’ Class, 1935-1936, WDA.
“Shock is the soul of the gag.” Dr. Boris Morkovin, “Psychology of a Gag,” [n.d.], WDA.
“You must train your imagination…” Ibid..
“an ideal way to promote…” Memo, Walt to Dr. Morkovin, Oct. 10, 1935, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, He-R, A1509, WDA.
“[A]n hour a week under Ted Sears…” George Turner to Walt, Jan. 24, 1935, ibid.
“thinking animation character…” Graham, Art of Animation.
“analyzing people…” Ward Kimball to Thorkil Rasmussen, Feb. 23, 1978, quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.
“[Y]ou watch these…” Thomas to Christopher Finch, May 17, 1972, quoted in ibid..
“It came to a [point]…” Larson interview by Mica Prods..
Luske taking off tie. Canemaker, Nine Old Men.
“Ham was studying…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.
“We saw every ballet…” Holliss and Sibley, Disney’s Snow White.
“perfect time…” Canemaker, Nine Old Men.