Walt Disney

by Neal Gabler

  “down to the smallest town…” Ibid.

  Modified sound system. NYT, Apr. 27, 1941, sec. 9.

  Telling Stokowski. Roy to Walt, Mar. 18, 1941, Re: Stokowski Fantasia, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA; Ed Plumb to Stokowski, Mar. 28, 1941, Stokowski, Leopold, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, R-Z, A1526, WDA.

  “I frankly don’t know…” Memo, Walt to Roy, Apr. 28, 1941, ibid.

  “We must remember…” Memo, Walt to Roy, Nov. 24, 1941, Memos to and from Walt, 1940-1943 Folder, Roy O. Disney InterOffice Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-1961), A3002, WDA.

  “I’m fearful…” Roy to Walt, Re: Studio Situation, Oct. 18, 1941, ibid.

  “[T]he segments would now be thought of…” Memo, Herb Lamb to those listed, Re: Fantasia Alternates Change, April 1, 1941, Lamb, Herb, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  “I am sure I will be…” Walt to Stokowski, Jan. 26, 1942, Stokowski, Leopold, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, R-Z, A1526, WDA.

  “That damn thing…” “Pollen Man,” The New Yorker, Nov. 1, 1941.

  “What war?” Jack Hannah quoted in Jim Korkis, “Jack Hannah in His Own Words,” POV, no. 8, [1995].

  EIGHT || Two Wars

  Belt-tightening. Memo, Roy to Walt, et al., Apr. 30, 1940, Memos to and from Walt, 1940-1943 Folder, Roy O. Disney InterOffice Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-61), A3002, WDA.

  Reinstating merit raises. Memo, Walt to Roy, Dec. 14, 1940, Hugh Presley—Personnel Dept. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, N-Q, A1630, WDA.

  Raising salaries gradually. Memo, Walt to Herb Lamb, Re: Process Lab Salary Scale, Mar. 3, 1941, Lamb, Herb, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  Pretax profit and bonuses. NYT, Feb. 7, 1941; Walt Disney, Speech to Disney Staff, Feb. 10, 1941, WDA.

  “You never win with bankers.” Phone conversation, Walt with Dwight Cooke, Henry Souvaine, Inc. [Feb. 26, 1941], Souvaine, Henry Inc., Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, Q-S, A1529, WDA.

  “Between the two…” Clipping [Mar. 1941], Joe Rosenberg to Walt, March 11, 1941, Ro Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, N-R, A1524, WDA.

  “I know the bank is nervous…” Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: OUR OVERALL POSITION, Mar. 11, 1941, Memos to and from Walt, 1940-1943 Folder, Roy O. Disney, InterOffice Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-61), A3002, WDA.

  Splicer. Memo, Walt to Bob Cook, Feb. 26, 1941, C Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.

  Dream about empty Burbank. Joe Grant, interview by author.

  “Walt began to become disengaged…” Wilfred Jackson, interview by Steve Hulett, Jul. 25, 1978, WDA.

  “seemed to have trouble…” Harry Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys”: An Insider’s Account of Disney’s Golden Years (Royal Oak, Mich.: Airtight Seals Allied Products, 1997).

  Seldom engaged in small talk. Frank Reilly, “The Walt Disney Comic Strips,” Cartoonist Profiles (Winter 1969).

  No one barged in on Walt. Milt Kahl, interview by Christopher Finch and Linda Rosenkrantz, May 18, 1972, WDA.

  “You could put your arm…” Quoted in Bob Thomas, Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire (New York: Hyperion, 1998).

  “[h]e’d stuck with Disney…” Marc Eliot, Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince (New York: HarperCollins, 1994).

  “He was one of the first…” Quoted in Charles Solomon, Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989).

  Iwerks writing Walt. Iwerks to Walt, Jul. 26, 1940, Memo, Caldwell to Walt, Re: UB IWERKS, Aug. 8, 1940, Caldwell, Vernon, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.

  Rehiring Iwerks. Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Feb. 6, 1974, WDA; Ben Sharpsteen, interview by David Smith, Nov. 17, 1971, WDA; Memo, Ben Sharpsteen to Walt, Re: U.B. Iwerks, Aug. 12, 1940, Sharpsteen, Ben, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, R-S, A1631, WDA; Ub Iwerks int., ca. 1956, WDA.

  “I always knew that he was…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, March 5, 1975, WDA.

  “weeding out marginal people.” Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”

  “Personally, I am greatly shocked…” Hazel Sewell to Walt, May 12, 1938; Walt to Hazel, May 13, 1938, Se Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1938-1939, Q-T, A1519, WDA.

  “The reason that you have not been…” Memo, Walt to Carlos [Manriquez], Jan. 20, 1936, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1936-1937, E-L, A1512, WDA.

  “like a Dutch uncle…” Gunther Lessing to Roy, May 19, 1937, Roy O. Disney—Trip to New York, May 1936, April 1937, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1934-41), A2995, WDA.

  “He is just a clown…” Memo, Walt to Roy, Aug. 14, 1937, Colvig, Pinto—Personal, Roy O. Disney Corr., A-C (1929-1951), A2993, WDA.

  One storyman was fired… Ward Kimball, interview by Rick Shale, Jan. 29, 1976, WDA.

  Average age of animators. Douglas Gomery, “Disney’s Business History: A Reinterpretation,” in Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom, ed. Eric Smoodin (New York: Routledge, 1994).

  Division among employees. Jack Kinney, Walt Disney and Other Assorted Characters: An Unauthorized Account of the Early Years at Disney’s (New York: Harmony Books, 1988).

  “my boys.” Shamus Culhane, Talking Animals and Other People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986).

  Psychology book. Deposition of Walt Disney, Jun. 19, 1942, Superior Court, Calif., No. 471865, Babbitt Case, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A-B, A1625, WDA.

  “Usually each of us…” Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (New York: Hyperion, 1981).

  “God help you…” Bob Thomas, Walt Disney: An American Original (New York: Hyperion, 1994).

  “But if we don’t try…” Ibid.

  “You learned early on…” Quoted in Leonard Mosley, Disney’s World (New York: Stein & Day, 1985).

  “Everybody with any sense…” Bob Broughton (camera operator), interview by author.

  “No one person…” Quoted in Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “don’t mention anybody…” Dave Hand, interview by Michael Barrier, in Didier Ghez, Walt’s People, (Xlibris, 2005).

  “Being left off the credits…” Bill Peet, Bill Peet: An Autobiography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989).

  “If there’s going to be any awards…” Bill Melendez, interview by author.

  “touch-me-nots.” Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”

  “He’s a genius at using…” Anonymous in Richard G. Hubler, Walt Disney, unpub. ms., 1968, RHC.

  Salaries. Memo, H. J. Presley to Herb Lamb, Re: Personnel Report, Dec. 14, 1939, Lamb, Herb, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  “soreheads.” Sharpsteen interview by Peri.

  Tensions. Ward Kimball, interview by John Canemaker, Jul. 7, 1973, WDA; Ward Kimball, interview by Richard Hubler, May 21, 1968, WDA.

  “If I gave one person…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 12.

  “Their practicing could be heard…” Animator Paul Murry quoted in Jim Korkis, “Excuse Me, But Have You Heard of Paul Murry?” POV, no. 5.

  Penthouse Club. Bob Thomas, Building a Company.

  Organizing Iwerks. Culhane, Talking Animals.

  Fleischer studio strike. Leslie Cabarga, “Strike at the Fleischer Factory,” in The Animated American Cartoon: A Critical Anthology, ed. Gerald Peary and Danny Peary (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980); Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.

  Herbert Sorrell’s organizing. Herbert Knott Sorrell, You Don’t Choose Your Friends: The Memoirs of Herbert Knott Sorrell, Oral History Project, 1963, Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA.

  Unionization at Disney. Official Report of the Proceedings Before the National Labor Relations Board, In the Matter of Walt Disney and Arthur Babbitt, Oct. 8, 1
942, Babbitt Case, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A-B, A1625, WDA.

  Lessing in Mexico. Gunther Lessing, My Adventures During the Madero-Villa Mexican Revolution, unpub. ms., 1963, WDA.

  “Dopey.” Roy O. Disney, interview by Richard Hubler, Nov. 17, 1967, WDA.

  Elias Disney being attacked. “Disney Biography, 50th Wedding Anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Elias Disney,” Disney Family: Genealogy, Etc., A2383, WDA.

  “During the preliminary seminars…” Culhane, Talking Animals.

  Fainting inker. Quoted in Eliot, Dark Prince.

  “[s]queeze Disney’s balls…” Ibid..

  Federation meeting and plan. Handbill, Open Meetings, Mimeo, The Impartial Chairmanship Plan [Feb. 7, 1941], Federation of Screen Cartoonists—Handbills and Bulletins, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  SCG charges and Disney retaliation. NYT, Feb. 4, 1941; Memorandum to Mr. Walt Disney [1942], Babbitt Case, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A-B, A1625, WDA.

  Herbert Sorrell. Sorrell, You Don’t Choose.

  February 10, 1941, Speech. Talk Given by Walt to All Employees, Feb. 10 and 11, 1941, Disney, Walt, Speeches, Strike (Feb. 10, 1941, May 27, 1941), TR 91 3, WDA.

  “sob story.” Klaus Strzyz, “Ward Kimball,” Comics Journal, no. 120 (March 1988).

  “benevolent and understanding father.” David Swift quoted in Leonard Mosley, Disney’s World (New York: Stein & Day, 1985).

  “This speech recruited more…” Anthony Bower, “Snow White and the 1,200 Dwarfs,” Nation 152 (May 10, 1941).

  Meeting with Lamb. Luncheon Meeting, Feb. 12, 1941, Lamb, Herb, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  “I became all confused.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7, Reel 7.

  “We were disappointed in him.” Anonymous quoted in Richard Schickel, The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney, 3rd ed. (1968; repr. Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks, 1997).

  “almost a pathetic character.” Charles Glenn, “Exploding Some Myths About Mr. Walt Disney,” Daily Worker, Feb. 17, 1941.

  “stars in their eyes…” Bill Hurtz quoted in Leonard Maltin, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (New York: Plune).

  Babbitt at meeting. In the Matter of Walt Disney Prods. and Arthur Babbitt, Decisions of the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, Case no. C-2415, Mar. 31, 1943.

  Cross-check. Exposure Sheet (Disney Unit of SGC) [March 1941]; The Animator, April 1941, Handbills (distributed during strike), Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  O’Rourke. Handbill, Special Announcement, Mar. 14, 1941, Federation of Screen Cartoonists—Handbills and Bulletins, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  Austerity plan. Official Report of the Proceedings Before the NLRB, In the Matter of Walt Disney Prods., Inc., and Arthur Babbitt, Los Angeles, Oct. 9, 1942, Babbitt Case, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A-B, A1625.

  Eliminating food service. Roy, [draft speech,] Mar. 22, 1941, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  “Let us now be assured…” Ibid.

  “Munich.” Anthony O’Rourke to Walt, Apr. 14, 1941, O’Rourke, Anthony, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  “get out the much-needed production…” Memo, Walt to All Employees, Apr. 15, 1941, Handbills (distributed during strike), Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  “laid at the door…” Variety, Apr. 30, 1941.

  “In our entire history…” Draft letter, Walt to Eleanor Roosevelt, May 2, 1941, Ro Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, N-R, A1524, WDA.

  American Society of Screen Cartoonists. LAT, May 23, 1941, Strike Press Clippings, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683; Handbill: “But Mr. Babbitt…” [May 15, 1941] Federation of Screen Cartoonists—Handbills and Bulletins, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  “I don’t care if you keep…” Official Report of the Proceedings Before the NLRB.

  “electricity between us.” John Canemaker, “Art Babbitt: The Animator as Firebrand,” Millimeter, Sept. 1975.

  “one person who seems to push…” Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”

  Indiscreet. Canemaker, “Art Babbitt.”

  “My attitude was…” Ibid.

  Affair with Marjorie Belcher. Eliot, Dark Prince.

  “I was letting myself in…” Official Report of the Proceedings Before the NLRB.

  “He was a fighter.” Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  “stiff, old-fashioned stuff.” Memo, Walt to Jaxon, Mar. 3, 1941, J Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, F-K, A1628, WDA.

  Arresting and jailing Babbitt. Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  “mind your own goddamn business.” Official Report of the Proceedings Before the NLRB.

  “It is Babbitt…” Memo, Lessing to Walt, May 1, 1941, Gunther Lessing Memo/Variety Apr. 30, 1941, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  “blitzkrieg.” Blitzkrieg, Handbills (distributed during strike), ibid.

  May 27, 1941, speech. Walt’s Talk to Studio Personnel in the Theatre, May 27, 1941, [dated Oct. 14, 1942], Disney, Walt, Speeches Strike (Feb. 10, 1941, May 27, 1941), TR 91-3, WDA.

  “went over with a bang…” Lessing to Walt, May 27, 1941, O’Rourke, Anthony, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  Babbitt firing. Official Report of the Proceedings Before the NLRB.

  “Cars stopped all the way…” Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  “Walt Disney, you should be ashamed…” Quoted in Eliot, Dark Prince.

  Walt beaming. Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  Later that afternoon… Jack Kinney, Disney and Animated Characters.

  Number of strikers. Thomas Brady, “Whimsy on Strike,” NYT, Jun. 29, 1941, sec. 9.

  Guild estimate. Hollywood Reporter, May 28, 1941.

  “indoctrinated by Disney…” Bill Melendez, interview by author.

  “malcontents.” Walt to Westbrook Pegler, Aug. 11, 1941, P Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, N-R, A1524, WDA.

  “good old days when we had…” Leland Payne to Walt, Jun. 25, 1941, P Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, N-R, A1524, WDA.

  “It hurt him.” Quoted in Mosley, Disney’s World.

  “Commie sons-of-bitches.” Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  “Commies moved in…” Quoted in Paul Hollister, Man or Mouse: The Story of Walt Disney, So Far, unpub. ms., 1955, chap. 10, WDA.

  “[M]oney was never the basic…” Roy Disney, interview by Richard Hubler, Jun. 18, 1968, RHC, Box 14, Folder 52.

  Walt showed photographs… Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7, Reel 7.

  O’Rourke and Tenney. Draft note [suggested by A. O’Rourke, Jun. 3, 1941,] Walt to Assemblyman Jack B. Tenney, O’Rourke, Anthony, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, L-M, A1629, WDA.

  Herbert Sorrell dossier. Report, Communist Infilltration of Screen Cartoonists Guild, Oct. 30, 1944, FBI, Screen Cartoonists Guild Folder, #10-22533.

  “I had a lot of people…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 9 & 10.

  Dave Hilberman’s Communism. John Canemaker, “David Hilberman,” Cartoonist Profiles (Dec. 1980).

  William Pomerance. Report, FBI Communist Infiltration of Screen Cartoonists Guild, Oct. 30, 1944, FBI, Screen Cartoonists Guild File, #10-22533.

  “something out of The Grapes of Wrath.” Hubler, Disney.

  Picket signs. Untitled clipping, Aug. 5, 1941, 8-MWEZ: n.c., 17,901, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; Photograph, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  “most unique picket line…” Quoted in Screen Actor, Jun. 1941, 1941 Strike Press Clippings, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  Leon Schlesinger. Sorrell, You Don’t Choose.

  “
very jaunty.” Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  Walt at the entrance. Quoted in Amy Boothe Green and Howard Green, Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney (New York: Hyperion, 1999).

  “mighty uncomplimentary things.” Richard Huemer, Recollections of Richard Huemer, Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA.

  Jack Kinney recalled. Kinney, Disney and Animated Characters.

  Fifty policemen. Sorrell, You Can’t Choose.

  Lessing hung in effigy. LAT, Jun. 6, 1941.

  “flying squadron.” Variety, May 29, 1941.

  The Reluctant Dragon. “Preview Off,” [Variety] 1941, Variety, Jul. 7, 1941, Strike Press Clippings, Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683; “One the Line,” Jul. 25, 1941, Handbills (distributed during strike), Disney Studio Strike 1941 (from Main Files), A1683, WDA.

  June negotiations. See Hollywood Reporter, Jun. 20, 1941, Jun. 25, 1941; Motion Picture Daily, Jun. 12, 1941, Jun. 25, 1941; Variety, Jun. 25, 1941, Jun. 27, 1941; Hollywood citizen News, Jun. 26, 1941; Los Angeles Daily News, Jun. 7, 1941; Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, Jun. 11, 1941, Jun. 17, 1941.

  “we feel very much…” Walt to Paul Hollister, Jun. 30, 1941, Ho Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, G-M, A1523, WDA.

  “deadwood.” Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, Jun. 2, 1941.

  Disbanding the studio. Joe Grant, interview by Michael Barrier, www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Grant/interview_joe_grant.htm.

  Walt and Tytla. George Sherman, “Bill Tytla,” Cartoonist Profiles (August 1970).

  Bioff meeting. Eliot, Dark Prince; Sorrell, You Can’t Choose; Strzyz, “Ward Kimball;” Variety, Jul. 2, 1941.

  “[H]e honestly tried to settle it…” Walt to Westbrook Pegler, Aug. 11, 1941, P Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, N-R, A1524, WDA.

  Lessing reaction. LAT, Jul. 15, 1941.

  Doc Giannini’s involvement. Sorrell, You Can’t Choose.

  Settlement terms. NYT, Aug. 7, 1941; Los Angeles Daily News, Aug. 6, 1941.

  “I went from $32.50…” Broughton interview.

  “catastrophe.” Walt to Pegler, Aug. 11, 1941.