Walt Disney

by Neal Gabler

$3.3 million gross. Roy to Walt, Jan. 21, 1947, Roy Disney Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.

  “idyllic master-slave relationship…” NYT, Nov. 28, 1946.

  “insult to minorities.” NYT, Dec. 24, 1946.

  Picketing. NYT, Dec. 14, 1946.

  “You stopped being Walt Disney,…” Billy Rose, “Pitching Horseshoes,” PM, Dec. 17, 1946.

  Maurice Rapf agreed with attackers. McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.

  “tallies with the reputation…” Phineas J. Biron, “Strictly Confidential,” Messenger, Jan. 3, 1947 quoted in Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).

  “the best actor, I believe,…” Walt to Ruth, Dec. 5, 1945, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, A-K, A1534, WDA.

  Bert Williams record. Walt to James Baskett, Jul. 28, 1947, B Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, A-H, A15137, WDA.

  “almost wholly without direction” Walt to Jean Hersholt (president, Motion Picture Academy), Jan. 30, 1948, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1951-1952, A-Ch, A1544, WDA.

  “friend in deed…” Margaret Baskett to Walt, Aug. 20, 1948, ibid.

  “Let’s do anything…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Disc 9, WDA.

  “It would, of course, be a new departure…” Walt to James Mason, Feb. 7, 1947, M Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, I-M, A1538, WDA.

  “kick in the teeth…” Miller, Story of Disney.

  “When he came back to animation…” Quoted in Katherine Greene and Richard Greene, Inside the Dream: The Personal Story of Walt Disney (New York: Roundtable Press, 2001).

  Studio on rebound. NYT, Jan. 10, 1947.

  Loan from RKO. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”

  “always seemed to be a little worried.” Quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.

  “Walt looked at him…” Anonymous quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “Look, you’re letting this place…” Quoted in Bob Thomas, Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire (New York: Hyperion, 1998).

  Health. George L. Williams to Walt, Jul. 10, 1947, W Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, T-Z, A1540; Dr. Barclay E. Noble to Walt, Jan. 18, 1945, N Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, F-N, A1531; Walt to Jessie Perkins, Mar. 24, 1949, P Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1949-1950, H-Q, A1542; Walt Disney Desk Diaries, May-Jun., 1948, WDA.

  “I’d give a lot for a little…” Walt to Herb Disney, Dec. 8, 1947, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, A-H, A1537, WDA.

  “central figure in the corporate reclamation…” Jackson Lears, “The Mouse That Roared,” New Republic, Jun. 15, 1998.

  “If no one [else] was in the room…” Quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.

  Tyrolean jacket. Frank Nugent, “This Disney Whirl,” NYT, Jan. 29, 1939, sec. 9.

  “pied ensemble.” Paul Hollister, “Genius at Work: Walt Disney,” Atlantic Monthly 166, no. 6 (Dec. 1940).

  Dashing. Quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “He turned himself from a cartoonist…” Robert Hughes, “Disney: Mousebrow to Highbrow,” Time, Oct. 15, 1973.

  “critiques of the social order…” Watts, Magic Kingdom.

  “careless, temperamental artist.” Walt to Helen Hughes Dulany, Dec. 5, 1933, D. D.V.’s Letters, 1931-33, Walt Disney Corr., 1930-1934, D-I, A1503, WDA.

  “The late forties was the time…” Anonymous quoted in Schickel, Disney Version.

  Trip to Goderich. Walt Disney Party [1947], Walt Disney, 1941-1954 Folder, Roy O. Disney, Inter-Office Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-61), A3002, WDA; “Walt Disney Visits Home of His Forebears in Goderich District,” Goderich Signal Star, Jun. 19, 1947; Walt to Uncle Robert, Aug. 7, 1947, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, A-H, A1537, WDA; “Walt and his Philosophy,” interview by Fletcher Markle, Canadian Broadcasting Co., [Sept. 1963], ReView, JAN. 1978.

  “It is not visionary…” Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Saturday Night Broadcast “For This We Fight,” Jul. 27, 1943, Radio Program—“For This We Fight” Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, Q-S, A1529, WDA.

  Negotiations with Encyclopaedia Britannica. Tel. William Benton to Walt, Apr. 5, 1944, Encyclopaedia Britannica Films Folder, Walt Disney Corr., A-E, 1944, A1530, WDA.

  “Probably the worst student…” Walt to Disney Beck Fellers, Dec. 11, 1944, F Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, F-N, A1531, WDA.

  Visiting Stanford. Donald B. Tresidder to Walt, Mar. 21, 1945, T Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, R-Z, A1536, WDA.

  “He would make entertainment…” Jimmy Johnson, Inside the Whimsy Works: My Thirty-Seven Years with Walt Disney Productions, unpub. ms., 1975, chap. 2, WDA.

  “We can’t be boring.” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Richard Hubler, Oct. 29, 1968, WDA.

  “certainly take a long time…” Memo, Roy to Walt, Dec. 15, 1944, C Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, A1530, WDA. See also Wendell Chapman to Walt, Dec. 6, 1944, ibid.

  “This is one of God’s creatures…” Mrs. Ted Cauger, interview by author.

  “to eventually make films…” Memo, Carl Nater to Jack Sheehan, Dec. 26, 1944, Carl Nater Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, N-Q, A1630, WDA.

  Sharpsteen approaching Walt. Sharpsteen interview by Hubler.

  Millottes’ offer of photos. Walt to A. Milotte, Dec. 17, 1940, Me Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, G-M, A1523, WDA.

  “You know—mining, fishing…” J. P. McEvoy, “McEvoy in Disneyland,” Reader’s Digest, Feb. 1955.

  “Too many mines….” Ibid.

  “[W]hatever it ran…” Sharpsteen interview by Hubler.

  “to see some of the things…” Roy to Ruth, Aug. 15, 1947, B Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, A-H, A1537, WDA.

  “They all say,…” McEvoy, “Disneyland.”

  “It knocks the people…” Quoted in Iwerks and Kenworthy, The Hand Behind the Mouse.

  “tell him to hit RKO…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Mar. 26, 1975, WDA.

  “[W]herever we saw a change…” Quoted in Hubler, Disney.

  “hoping it was the end.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Disc 9, WDA.

  “Many of the things he advocated…” Letter quoted in Bob Thomas, Building a Company.

  Attacked by Irish kids. McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.

  Voted for Roosevelt. Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 12.

  “[A] long time ago…” Walt to Neysa McMein, Aug. 13, 1940, Mc Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1940-1941, G-M, A1523, WDA.

  “I don’t go in for bill-board patriotism.” Memo, Walt to Bob Carr, Jun. 8, 1940, C Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.

  “He was very apolitical…” Joe Grant, interview by author.

  Walt attending Bund meetings. Quoted in Marc Eliot, Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince (HarperCollins, 1994).

  Jay Stowitts. Anne Holliday, “Stowitts,” QAR: Artist Page, queerarts.org/archive/jan_98/stowitts/biography.htm

  “the greatest personage…” Stowitts to Walt, Nov. 25, 1938, St Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1938-1939, Q-T, A1519, WDA.

  Riefenstahl’s visit. Leni Riefenstahl, Leni Riefenstahl: A Memoir (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987).

  “let ’em fight…” Los Angeles News, Sept. 15, 1935.

  Left-wing causes. Thomas L. Harris (executive director of the National Council of American Soviet Friendship) to Walt, Oct. 20, 1943, N Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, I-P, A1528, WDA; Jessica Smith (editor of Soviet Russia Today) to Walt, Oct. 7, 1942, Si Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, Q-S, A1529, WDA; Associated Colleges to Walt, Mar. 4, 1943, A Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, A-C, A1526, WDA; Daily Worker, Jan. 13, 1944.

  Lauding Max Eastman. Walt to A. L. Cole (general manager of Reader’s Digest), Jul. 2, 1943, Reader’s Digest Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, O-R, A1532, WDA.

  Hollywood Republican Committee. Daily Worker, Sept. 7, 1942.
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  UCLA writers’ conference. Report, League of American Writers, FBI, Oct. 25, 1943, #100-5377.

  Organizing anti-Communist group. Memo for SAC, Re: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Dec. 1, 1943, FBI, Motion Picture Alliance, #62-2481-1; Subject: Recommendations for Membership, MPA, Dec. 14, 1943, FBI, Motion Picture Alliance, #62-2481-4.

  First meetings of MPA. Walt Disney Desk Diaries, 1944; “Film Group Will Fight Communism,” AP, Feb. 5, 1944; Report: Communist Infiltration of the Council of Hollywood Guilds and Unions, Sept. 21, 1944, FBI, #LA100-22299.

  Letter to Reynolds. Variety, Mar. 15, 1944.

  Rumors on Dies. Daily Variety, May 17, 1944.

  SWG meeting. To: Director FBI, Re: Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, FBI, May 10, 1944, #62-2484-65.

  “[T]he public pronouncements…” Elmer Rice, “Strictly Personal,” Nov. 11, 1944.

  An informant told the FBI… To: Director, Re: Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, FBI, May 10, 1944.

  Wanger and Walt. Wanger to George Leighton, MPA, May 26, 1944; Wanger to Walt, May 29, 1944; Walt to Wanger, Jul. 28, 1944; Wanger to Walt, Jul. 31, 1944, Walter Wanger Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, S-Z, A1533, WDA.

  Supporting Dewey. Receipt, Republican Finance Committee of Southern Calif. of the 1944-46 Republican State Central Commission of California, Oct. 2, 1944, Republican Party Campaign, 1944 Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, O-R, A1532, WDA.

  “I’m sorry I can only give money.” Walt to K. F. Morgan, Oct. 14, 1946, Mo Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.

  HUAC appearance. Stenographic Transcript of Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, vol. 5, Oct. 24, 1947 (Washington, D.C.: Washington Reporting Service); Washington Daily News, Oct. 24, 1947.

  “as effective as that of any witness.” H. A. Smith to Gunther Lessing, Oct. 28, 1947, Un-American Activities Committee Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, T-Z, A1540, WDA.

  League investigation. Anna Lord Strauss to Walt, Oct. 29, 1947, ibid.

  “several women…” LAT, Oct. 29, 1947.

  Lessing’s investigation. Memo, Gunther Lessing to Walt, Oct. 29, 1947, Un-American Activities Committee Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, T-Z, A1540, WDA.

  “recommend your organization…” Lessing to Anna Lord Strauss, Nov. 20, 1947, ibid.

  “I would have no hesitancy…” Walt to William A. Knost (chairman of the American Legion Hollywood Post No. 43), Dec. 24, 1947, ibid.

  Waldorf meeting. Tel. Walt to Eric Johnson (president of the MPAA), Nov. 19, 1947, ibid.

  “Blacklisting me would have been embarrassing.” McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.

  Alert. N. H. Partridge, Jr., to Walt, Mar. 22, 1949, A Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1949-1950, A-G, A1541, WDA.

  Cooperating with FBI. See R. C. Hood, SAC, to Walt, Dec. 16, 1949, F Folder, ibid.; R. C. Hood, SAC, to Walt, Dec. 21, 1948, Ho Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, A-H, A1537, WDA; Administrative, n.d., FBI, LA #140-1847.

  Peddler in Pigs. Rabbi J. X. Cohen to Walt, Jun. 14, 1933; Roy to Cohen, Jun. 21, 1933, A Folder, 1932-1933, Roy O. Disney Corr., A-C (1929-51), A2993, WDA; J. B. Kaufman, “Three Little Pigs—Big Little Picture,” American Cinematographer, Nov. 1988.

  “This proves that we are not prejudiced.” Memo, Kay Kamen to Roy, Aug. 13, 1935, Inter-Office Communications, Walt Disney Corr., 1935, He-R, A1509, WDA.

  “cheap kike.” Roy to Lucille [Benedict], May 11, 1933, Roy O. Disney 1933 Folder, Roy O. Disney Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Personal & Trips (1930-33), A2994, WDA.

  Walt grousing about Jews. Ted Cauger, interview by author.

  “coon voices” and “garlic eaters.” Story Meeting, Jan. 18, 1939, Story Meetings, 1938-1939, Pinocchio, Story Material, A2761, WDA.

  “I think she is intelligent…” Walt to Ruth, Jan. 22, 1943, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, D-H, A1527, WDA.

  “Some of the most influential people…” Quoted in Amy Boothe Green and Howard E. Green, Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney (New York: Hyperion, 1999). He made the same statement in an interview with the author.

  More Jews… Diane Disney Miller, interview by author.

  “very conservative guy.” McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.

  Tytle telling Walt. Harry Tytle, interview by author.

  Jewish-themed film. Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Little Songs on Big Subjects, Dec. 24, 1947, Walt Disney, 1941-1954 folder, Roy O. Disney Inter-Office Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-61), A3002, WDA.

  Man of the Year. Dr. Irving Leroy Ress to Walt, Dec. 15 1955, B’nai B’rith Folder, Walt Disney Corr. 1955, A-B, A1556, WDA.

  “He wasn’t a troublemaker,…” Quoted in Eliot, Dark Prince.

  “Okay, Davy Boy,…” Quoted in Leonard Mosley, Disney’s World: A Biography (New York: Stein & Day, 1985).

  Swift and Disney cordiality. David Swift to Walt, Dec. 14, 1964, S Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1964, Radziwill-Z, A1604; Walt to Swift, Jun. 15, 1961, C Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1961, A-Christmas, A1586, WDA.

  Smoke Tree anti-Semitism. Harry Tytle, interview by author.

  Asking Josie Mankiewicz to leave. Peter Davis (widower of Josie Mankiewicz), conversation with author.

  Sharpsteen anti-Semitism. Art Davis, interview by Paul Anderson, Paul Anderson Collection.

  “There is every possibility…” Memo, Mar. 22, 1944, Motion Picture Alliance File, FBI, #62-2404-87.

  MPA and anti-Semitism. Memo, SAC, Re: Motion Picture Society for the Preservation of American Ideals, Mar. 13, 1944, #62-2404-39; Memo, SAC, Re: Motion Picture Society for the Preservation of American Ideals, Mar. 24, 1944, #62-2404-40; Memo, SAC, Re: Motion Picture Society for the Preservation of American Ideals, Mar. 22, 1944, #62-2404-47, Motion Picture Alliance File, FBI.

  Another reorganization. Memo, Leahy to Walt, Dec. 3, 1947, Attached: Cartoon Feature Production, L Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.

  “We knew that it would never endure.” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, May 2, 1974, WDA.

  Leahy losing authority. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”

  “[W]e have never considered it…” Walt to Mrs. Elbert Dwinell, Feb. 22, 1937, Do Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1936-1937, A-D, A1511, WDA.

  Failure of Melody Time. Hubler, Disney; Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Distribution, Sept. 10, 1948, Roy Disney Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.

  Roy was insistent. John Province, “Bill Peet Unleashed,” Hogan’s Alley, http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/peet/peet.asp.

  “very, very teetered.” Woolie Reitherman, interview by Christopher Finch and Linda Rosenkrantz, May 9, 1972, WDA.

  Margaret O’Brien. Memo, Roy to Walt, Re: Distribution, Sept. 10, 1948.

  Vote on Cinderella. Jimmy Johnson, Inside the Whimsy Works, chap. 3.

  Competing to see which might finish first. Card Walker quoted in Greene and Greene, Inside the Dream.

  Reitherman and Cinderella. Reitherman interview by Finch and Rosenkrantz.

  “Cinderella really brought back…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Mar. 5, 1975, WDA.

  “important.” Milt Kahl, interview by Mica Prods., WDA.

  “to see whether the scenes…” Quoted in Greene and Greene, Inside the Dream.

  Certain directorial perspective. Frank Thomas, interview by author.

  “your feet were nailed…” Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.

  “have to be done with a great deal…” Walt to Margaret Hedda Johnson, Jun. 26, 1947, J Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, I-M, A1538, WDA.

  Mary Blair’s design. Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Apr. 26, 1974, WDA.

  Reimagining scenes. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”

  ARI surveys. Walt Disney Desk Diaries, Nov. 1, 1948. These sessions ran right through 1949.

  Sharpsteen’s report. Memo, Ben [Sharpsteen] to Walt, Nov. 23, 1948, Ben Sharpsteen Folder, W
alt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, M-Z, A1636, WDA.

  “sort of like a little puppy dog.” Tommie Wilck, interviewed by Richard Hubler, Aug. 13, 1968, WDA.

  Too much homework. Greene and Greene, Inside the Dream.

  “He would collect all my drawings…” Greene and Greene, Man Behind the Magic.

  Sharon’s school plays. Ibid.

  Diane and opera. Quoted in Hubler, Disney; Diane Disney Miller interview by author.

  “And he would listen.” Quoted in Bob Thomas, Walt Disney: An American Original (New York: Hyperion, 1994).

  Spanking Sharon. Sharon Brown, interview by Richard Hubler, July 9, 1968, RHC, Box 14, Folder 51.

  Diane and Palm Springs. Bob Thomas, An American Original.

  “Well, you are.” Diane Disney Miller interview by author.

  “picture of patience.” Brown interview by Hubler, RHC, Box 14, Folder 51.

  Diane’s first menstruation. Watts, Magic Kingdom.

  Burma Trail. Diane Disney Miller interview by author.

  Acting at Smoke Tree. Mrs. Walt Disney, interview by Richard Hubler, Apr. 16, 1968, RHC, Box 14, Folder 52.

  “no other dog…” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reel 11.

  Duchess at the studio. Paul Smith and Hazel George, interview by David Tietyen, Aug. 29, 1978, WDA.

  Hazel George’s background. Hazel George, interview by John Canemaker, Jan. 4, 1995, WDA, transcribed by author.

  Hazel George and Walt. Ibid.; Thomas, Walt Disney.

  Asking Kimball to railroad fair. Ward Kimball, interview by Mica Prods., aired Jul. 1, 1984, WDA.

  “just sat there,…” Quoted in Mosley, Disney’s World.

  “We were like little kids,…” Greene and Greene, Man Behind the Magic. See also Michael Broggie, Walt Disney’s Railroad Story (Pasadena, Calif.: Pentrex, 1997).

  “lands.” Karal Ann Marling, “Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks,” in Designing Disney’s Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance, ed. Karal Ann Marling (New York: Flammarion, 1997).

  On the trip out. Broggie, Railroad Story.

  “He was very preoccupied…” Ward Kimball, interview by Richard Hubler, May 21, 1968, WDA.

  “Walt was reliving his youth.” Quoted in Broggie, Railroad Story.