The ever so famous Mickey Mouse was not drawn by Walt Disney but in fact by Ub Iwerks. Many are blinded by the myth of Walt drawing Mickey. Only specialist film historians an impassioned students of animation recall Ub’s famous works. Walt was not always famous, he first relied on his brother Roy and his great friend and partner Ub Iwerks. Ub was the one to draw and design Mickey Mouse as well as animate Plane Crazy, Gallopin’ Gaucho and Steamboat Willie. The first three Mickey cartoons. Despite Ub’s incredible efforts, all the credit went to Walt. History is lost unless we keep it alive.
Leslie Iwerks, the granddaughter of Ub, wrote, directed and produced The Hand Behind The Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story a documentary supporting her grandfather's achievements. Two years after the film’s release, Leslie published a bibliography to go with her film. Leslie tirelessly continues to promote the film and book. She screened the film at Disneyana convention in Anaheim, signed her books on Disney’s cruise ship, aired the documentary on two separate channels on television and screened the film and Pixar’s studio opening.
Leslie is the youngest of four children. Larry and John are landscape painters in Santa Barbara and her sister Tamara is a newscaster in Memphis. Leslie was only one year old when her grandfather passed. She was always asking about him and what he was like. Her father never told her much, but she was a smart girl and figured things out on her own. She did most of her first research when she went over to grandmas house and stayed in Ub’s old office. The office was full of old pictures and memorabilia from Ub and Leslie studied it all. in fourth grade she wrote a paper on Ub that stunned all the parents and excited all her classmates. In college Leslie started her own company called Iwerks Video Productions and often worked as the director assistant for many Disney and Universal Studio projects. None of this stopped her from her research.
Ub started his own company in 1930 and after 10 years of fun returned to Disney in 1940, but not as an animator. Ub joined back in mechanical invention and special effects. Ub was the in house inventor and the go to guy with any technical problems. He invented many useful things like the traveling matte system and the 360 degrees motion picture camera. His special effects helped produce The Parent Trap, Mary Poppins, The Birds, and numerous others.
Leslie met with the head of Disney, Roy E. Disney, Walt’s only nephew. Roy agreed to fund the project because he saw the passion she had for the project. They started the documentary in 1998 with 288,000 dollars in hopes of a 60 minute production. Over review of the film Roy thought it was too sketchy and did not hold enough emotion. Roy allowed an additional 30 minutes to be added to the film and and extra 312,000 dollars to the budget. The film was premiered at the Disney theater El Captain in 1999 making it eligible for an academy award, but was not nominated. Many said it did not receive the reward because it did not bash on Walt enough. However, that was not Leslie’s goal. Leslie wanted the film to be dignified in building up Ub without tearing down Walt, and that is exactly what she did. Leslie continues to say there is always more to do and continues with her screenings and book signings. She knows she will not change all views on her grandfather, but she at least want to be able to say she tried.
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/12/magazine/tm-42351/2
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