Walt Disney

by Neal Gabler

  “godsend.” Ibid.

  Nelson Rockefeller and coordinator. Cary Reich, The Life of Nelson Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer, 1908-1958 (New York: Doubleday, 1996).

  Meeting with coordinator. “Walt Disney: Great Teacher,” Fortune, Aug., 1942.

  Roy meeting Whitney. Roy [dictated to Marian Collins] to Walt, Jun. 18, 1941, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  “Lets try to bring the show down…” Roy to Walt, undated [June 1941], ibid.

  “combined ‘business and pleasure’…” Walt to Jack Fugit, Jul. 31, 1941, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, F, A1522, WDA.

  “We don’t know whether we’ll have…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Feb. 6, 1974, WDA.

  “We landed for refueling…” Quoted in Jay Horan, Video Interview with Ken Anderson, Bill Cottrell and Herb Ryman, Sept. 15, 1983, WDA.

  “Mainly we were wined…” Frank Thomas to Bob Thomas, May 10, 1973, quoted in John Canemaker, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (New York: Disney Editions, 2001).

  Palace Hotel. Cottrell quoted in Video Interview with Ken Anderson, Bill Cottrell, and Herb Ryman; Bill Cottrell, interview by Richard Hubler, Mar. 12, 1968, WDA.

  “dances and feasting and drinking.” Quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  Lillian observed… Mrs. Walt Disney as told to Isabella Taves, “I Live With a Genius,” McCall’s, Feb. 1953.

  “goddamned tired…” Cottrell quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “so worn out…” Walt to Colonel Gil Proctor, May 21, 1943, P Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, I-P, A1528, WDA.

  Ordered off the boat. Cottrell interview by Hubler.

  “In all we were gone…” Walt to Daisy Beck, Nov. 27, 1941, Misc. File, WDA.

  Layoff list. Variety, August 18, 1941.

  “hat in hand…” David Dodd Hand, Memoirs (Cambria, Calif.: Lighthouse Litho, 1990).

  Settling the layoffs. Memo, [Hal] Adelquist to Walt, Re: Layoff and Reorganization, Oct. 15, 1941, Reports sent to Walt in New York, Oct. 23, 1941; Memo, George Morris to Roy, Re: Resume of Events, Oct. 16, 1941, Reports sent to Walt in New York, Oct. 23, 1941; Roy to Walt, Aug. 20, 1941, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  Number of employees. LAT, Sept. 16, 1941.

  “We are definitely in a period…” Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Studio Situation, Oct. 18, 1941, Reports sent to Walt in New York, Oct. 23, 1941, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  “completely lost and heartbroken…” Ruth Disney Beecher to Mr. Kersey Jackson, Feb. 17, 1939, Disney Family Canada Corr., Disney Family: Genealogy, etc., A2382, WDA.

  “remarkable physical condition…” Dr. Thomas M. Hearn to Roy, Dec. 19, 1938, Disney, Walt, Personal Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1938-1939, De-I, A1516, WDA.

  “really a lost person.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 11.

  Elias’s death. Roy to Walt, Sept. 21, 1941, Disney Family General Folder, Disney Family: Genealogy etc., A2383, WDA.

  Telegram of Elias’s death. Bill Cottrell quoted in Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).

  Cross of lilies. Roy to Walt, Sept. 21, 1941.

  “I believe that by the time…” Ibid.

  Roy’s estimates. Memo, Roy to J. H. Rosenberg, Oct. 8, 1941, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  “executive committee.” Roy to Walt, Re: Studio Situation, Oct. 18, 1941, Memos to and from Walt, 1940-1943 Folder, Roy O. Disney InterOffice Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-61), A3002, WDA.

  Nine features in two years. Walt Disney, “Growing Pains,” American Cinematographer, Mar. 1941.

  Peter Pan instead of The Wind in the Willows. 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 (1954-61), A3002, WDA.

  Economies. Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Studio Situation, Oct. 18, 1941, Reports Sent to Walt in New York October 23, 1941, Disney InterOffice Corr., 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  “It was like being in another world!” Hand, Memoirs.

  “My wife used to accuse me…” Hubler, Disney. The probable source of the quote is Ward Kimball.

  “From all the reports I get…” Roy to Walt, Re: Studio Situation, Oct. 18, 1941, WDA.

  “Sometimes you’ve got to kind of build…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7, Reel 7.

  “He was aloof;…” Quoted in Michael Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

  “We were doing a lot of crazy…” John D. Ford, “An Interview with John and Faith Hubley,” in Peary and Peary, The Animated American Cartoon.

  “He felt betrayed.” Quoted in Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley, The Disney Studio Story (New York: Crown Publishers, 1988).

  “almost broke Walt’s heart.” Ham Luske, Notes, ca. 1956, WDA.

  “only out of pure sympathy.” Klaus Strzyz, “Ward Kimball,” Comics Journal, March 1988.

  “very hard-nosed place.” Kinney, Disney and Animated Characters.

  “praise accomplishes nothing…” Memo, Walt to Frenchy, Jun. 1, 1935, InterOffice Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, He-R, A1509, WDA.

  “[W]e always said…” Ward Kimball, interview by Richard Hubler, May 21, 1968, WDA.

  Bianca Majolie vomiting. Bill Peet quoted by John Canemaker in Katherine Greene and Richard Greene, Inside the Dream: The Personal Story of Walt Disney (New York: Roundtable Press, 2001).

  “Don’t be afraid of me.” Huemer, Recollections.

  “He had a way…” Kinney, Disney and Animated Characters.

  Ken Anderson burning Walt’s mustache. Ken Anderson, interview by Bob Thomas, May 15, 1973, WDA.

  “You’d go to a meeting…” Quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “carefully and deliberately.” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.

  “[H]is whole approach…” Kimball interview by Hubler, WDA.

  Babbitt’s return and termination. In the Matter of Walt Disney Prods. and Arthur Babbitt, Decisions of National Labor Relations Board, Mar. 31, 1943; Official Report of the Proceedings Before the National Labor Relations Board, In the Matter of Walt Disney Prods. and Arthur Babbitt, Oct. 9, 1942.

  “difficult person…” Memorandum to Mr. Walt Disney [from Gunther Lessing], n.d., Babbitt Case, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A-B, A1625, WDA.

  NLRB ruling. In the Matter of Walt Disney Prods. and Arthur Babbitt, Decisions of the NLRB, Mar. 31, 1943.

  “It used to be,…” John Cowles, Jr., interview by author.

  Walking five abreast down the hallways. Strzyz, “Ward Kimball.”

  “never forgave us…” Quoted in Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.

  “esprit de corps…” Culhane, Talking Animals.

  “most genial,…” NYT, Oct. 24, 1941.

  “I have never seen anything…” “Two for the Show,” (Oct. 27, 1941) in Otis Ferguson, The Film Criticism of Otis Ferguson, ed. Robert Wilson, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1971).

  “bill of very inferior goods.” Westbrook Pegler, “Fair Enough,” LAT, Dec. 5, 1941.

  “highest achievement yet reached…” Alexander Woollcott to Walt, Jan. 12, 1942; Walt to Woollcott, Jan. 30, 1942, Wi Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, T-Z, A1530, WDA.

  Walt grumbling about Dumbo credit. Huemer, Recollections.

  “facetious.” Williston Rich to Walt, Dec. 16, 1941, T Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, S-Z, A1525, WDA.

  December 7. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7, Reel 7; Bill Justice, Justice for Disney (Dayton, Ohio: Tomart Publications, 1992).

  Kamen in Washington. Kamen to Walt, Dec. 6, 1941; Kamen to Walt, Dec. 13, 1941, Kay Kamen (Government & Commercial films) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633.

  “essential pu
rpose.” Walt to Norman Thomas, Jul. 15, 1938, T Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1938-1939, Q-T, A1519, WDA.

  “An engineer or other…” Memorandum on Use of Animated Cartoon Medium for Technical Training Films in Defense Industry, From: Walt Disney Prods., To: Those Responsible for Training Labor in the Defense Industries, Mar. 14, 1941, Isador Lubin Papers, Box 93, FDR Library.

  April 3 Conference. Luncheon and Conference, April 3, 1941; Walt to Aviation Film Comm., Apr. 10, 1941, Industrial Training Films, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA; New York Post, Apr. 7, 1941.

  Canadian contract. Richard Shale, Donald Duck Joins Up: The Walt Disney Studio During World War II (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1982); Memo, SAT to Walt, May 8, 1941, Re: Rivet Job Cost, Industrial Training Films, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.

  Caldwell in Washington. Caldwell to Bob Carr and [Jack] Rose, May 14, 1941, Caldwell, Vernon, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.

  Service representative and defense committee. Walt Disney Desk Diaries, Oct. 21, 1940, entry, WDA; Jock Lawrence to Walt, Nov. 14, 1940, Association of Motion Picture Producers Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, A-B, A1520, WDA.

  “Miraculous!…” Bob Carr to Walt, Aug. 2, 1941, Canadian Govt. War Films (John Grierson, Film Commissioner), Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  Henry Sell. Walt to Kamen, Dec. 3, 1941, Kay Kamen (Government & Commercial films) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  December 8 call. Shale, Donald Duck. Though Shale cites a transcript of this conversation, I was unable to locate it in the Disney Archives. See also Kamen to Walt, Roy, Bob Carr, Dec. 13, 1941, Kay Kamen (Government & Coommercial films) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  Wings on building. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Walt Disney’s “Bambi” (New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1990).

  “what John Barrymore…” Morgenthau Diary, n.d., no. 493, FDR Presidential Library.

  Meeting with Morgenthau. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7, Reel 7; Joe Grant, interview by author.

  Letter of agreement. Memo, George Buffington to Secretary Morgenthau, Dec. 19, 1941, Treasury Dept. (Income Tax Film), Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, L-Z, A1634, WDA.

  Animated in a week. Memo, Adelquist to Walt, Re: Animation Casting, Dec. 30, 1941, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A, A-B, A1625, WDA.

  Morgenthau meeting. Dick Huemer, “The Battle of Washington,” Funnyworld, no. 22 (Winter 1980); Diane Disney Miller, as told to Pete Martin The Story of Walt Disney (New York: Holt, 1956); Walt to Morgenthau, Jan. 13, 1942, Treasury Dept (Income Tax Film), Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, L-Z, A1634, WDA.

  “We slept on the job.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 6 & 7, Reel 7.

  “This is the fastest time…” Tel. Walt to George Buffington, Jan. 20, 1942, Treasury Dept. (Income Tax Film), Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, L-Z, A1634, WDA.

  “Finally he turned around…” Quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “greatly excited…” Memo, George Morris to Roy, Jan. 26, 1942, Morris, George E., Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, A1627, WDA.

  Success of The New Spirit. Arthur Mayer, War Activities Comm., Motion Picture Industry, Mar. 17, 1942, to George Buffington, Treasury Dept. (Income Tax Film), Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, L-Z, A1634; George Gallup to Buffington, April 28, 1942, Gallup Poll Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, F-K, A1628, WDA.

  House opposition to appropriations for The New Spirit. Congressional Record, House, 77th Cong., 2nd sess., Feb. 6, 1942; Feb. 9, 1942. LAT, Feb. 10, 1942. See also Shale, Donald Duck.

  Loss on The New Spirit. Walt to Senator Sheridan Downey, Mar. 19, 1943, Do Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, D-H, A1527, WDA.

  “out of pocket costs.” Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Treasury Dept. Film, Jan. 30, 1942, Treasury Dept. (Income Tax Film), Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, L-Z, A1634, WDA.

  Kansas City visit. “A Loving Cup to Disney,” Kansas City Star, Feb. 14, 1942; “Mickey Mouse a Local Boy,” Kansas City Star, Feb. 13, 1942.

  “I’m going to make these South American…” “Pollen Man,” The New Yorker, Nov. 1, 1941.

  “just as broad appeal…” Roy to Walt, Nov. 14, 1941, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  Lobbying by Selznick. See Walt to Selznick, Jan. 30, 1942; Selznick to Whitney, Feb. 3, 1942; Whitney to Selznick, Feb. 12, 1942, Selznick to Whitney, Feb. 17, 1942, National Records Center, Suitland, Md., Record Group 229, Box 216, Misc. Disney, cited in Shale, Donald Duck.

  “If the 12 South American…” Memo, Walt to Roy, Re: Shorts Production Program, Apr. 2, 1942, Memos to and from Walt, 1940-1943 Folder, Roy O. Disney, InterOffice Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-1961), A3002, WDA.

  “my bad photography…” Walt to Selznick, Jul. 23, 1942, cited in Shale, Donald Duck.

  “Maybe the development above…” Walt to Kamen, Dec. 3, 1941, Kay Kamen (Government & Commercial Films) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  Capra and Walt. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 8; Capra to Walt, Mar. 4, 1942, Army Dept.—Capra Project, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  “deal directly with the Axis menace…” Tel. Jock Whitney to Walt, n.d. [1942], Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  Insignia. See Shale, Donald Duck, Bob Carr to Kamen, Re: Insignia Licensing, Jan. 12, 1942, Kay Kamen (Government & Commercial films) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  “There is nothing at the moment…” Fred L. Moore to Walt, Jan. 30, 1942, Moore, Fred (Misc. Corr.) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, I-P, A1528, WDA.

  More than cost. Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Curtiss-Wright People, Jan. 30, 1942, Curtiss-Wright Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, A-C, A1526, WDA.

  Navy contracts. William Garity to George Morris and Roy, May 11, 1942; Roy to Walt, May 12, 1942, Navy Forming Operations, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, L-Z, A1634, WDA.

  “which can be heard in the halls.” J. C. Hutchinson to Walt, Sept. 9, 1942; Tel. Walt to Hutchinson, Sept. 11, 1942, Ho Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, D-H, A1527, WDA.

  “Walt more or less…” Quoted in Greene and Greene, Inside the Dream.

  “Disney is fearful…” InterOffice Communications, Kuhn to Morgenthau, Mar. 6, 1942, Morgenthau Diary, #505, FDR Library.

  Dispute over financing Education for Death. Ferdinand Kuhn, Jr., to Morgenthau, Mar. 24, 1942, Morgenthau Diary 510, #208, FDR Library.

  Crossing the line into propaganda. Roy to Walt, Re: Four Propaganda Subjects, Jul. 9, 1942, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA. This note says that Roy has contracted for four films with the Coordinator’s Office to be completed on Oct. 1, Nov. 1, Dec. 1, and Jan. 1 respectively.

  “in the background.” Memo, Roy O. Disney, Feb. 16, 1942, Reader’s Digest Folder, Annex, WDA.

  “Der Fuehrer’s Face.” Oliver Wallace as told to Ralph Parker, “How I Wrote the Fuehrer’s Face,” Dispatch from Disney’s, I, 1943; Tel. Roy to Walt, Oct. 5, 1942, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA; Shale, Donald Duck.

  Propaganda films. Donald M. Niles, War Films Coordinator, to Francis Alstock, Nov. 3, 1942, Education for Death Folder, 2743, WDA.

  Major Alexander de Seversky. “Victory Through Air Power,” Reader’s Digest, Jul. 1942, Victory Through Air Power Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, S-Z, A1632, WDA.

  Seversky biography. New York Post Daily Magazine, Jul. 7, 1943.

  Theories of de Seversky. “Victory Through Air Power,” Reader’s Digest, Jul. 1942, Victory Through Air Power Folder, Walt Dis
ney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, S-Z, A1632, WDA.

  Fifth best-selling book. Alice Payne Hackett, Seventy Years of Bestsellers, 1895-1965 (New York: R. R. Bowker, 1967).

  Criticisms of de Seversky. Philadelphia Record, May 3, 1942; Washington Post, Apr. 26, 1942; New York Daily News, Apr. 20, 1942; NYT, May 3, 1942, Excerpts of Critics’ Comments on Seversky’s Book, Victory Through Air Power—Misc. Treatments, Drafts, Reluctant Dragon, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos, Victory Through Air Power, Three Caballeros, A2829, WDA.

  “The thing that I felt…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 9 & 10.

  “definitely eliminate my name…” Tel. Walt to Leo Samuels, May 4, 1942, quoted in Shale, Donald Duck.

  Navy dissuading him. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 9 & 10.

  “The whole point with Seversky,…” Frank Wead (Navy Department Bureau of Aeronautics), Jul. 10, 1942, W Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, T-Z, A1530, WDA.

  Navy promise to give studio so much business. Kamen to Walt, Re: Navy, Sept. 19, 1942, Kay Kamen (Government & Commercial Films) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, World War II, A-K, A1633, WDA.

  John Thatch. Shale, Donald Duck; Erwin Verity, interview by Dave Smith and Rick Shale, Jan. 19, 1976, WDA.

  “sold completely…” Marc Davis, interview by Bob Thomas, May 25, 1973, WDA.

  “became a sort of Mecca…” Interview, Victory Through Air Power Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, S-Z, A1632, WDA.

  “refreshing and interesting.” Roy to Walt, Jul. 21, 1942, Re: Major de Seversky, Disney, Roy O., Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.

  “the sooner VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER…” Jack Sayers (Audience Research Institute) to Perce Pearce, Sept. 24, 1942, Victory Through Air Power Folder, Walt Disney Corr., InterOffice, 1938-1944, S-Z, A1632, WDA.

  “Seversky would come in…” Jay Horan, Video Interview with Ken Anderson, Bill Cottrell and Herb Ryman, Sept. 15, 1983, WDA.

  “We have got to build it up…” Bombing of Tokyo—And General Overall Discussion of Picture, Sept. 10, 1942, 3B-1, Seversky Meetings, Reluctant Dragon, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos, Victory Through Air Power, Three Caballeors, A2829, WDA.