The Real Artist

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

Disney's Company Growth Over The Years Part 2

In 1954 Disneyland anthology series began and ran on three different networks. It went through six title changes but continued to air for 29 years making it the longest running primetime television series ever.

Walt was never satisfied with his work and was always looking to make his company bigger and better. He was always interested in amusement parks so he made his own. Disneyland opened July 17, 1955 and coined the term theme park. Disneyland is now used for a pattern for every amusement park opened since.

Walt Disney died in 1966 and left his company to his brother Roy Disney. Roy was on the ball and continued production as normal with The Jungle Book, Aristocats and Love Bug which won Highest Grossing Film of the Year.

Prior to Walt’s death, he purchased 28,000 acres of land in Orlando, Florida for Disney World which then opened in his honor on October 1, 1971. Roy died later that year and the company was turned over to a team personally trained by the Disney brothers. One of Walt's final plans before death was EPCOT, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The park started construction on 1979 and the multi-billion dollar park opened on October 1, 1982.

In 1983 Disneyland Tokyo opened. The first foreign Disney park. Just under 10 years later Disneyland Paris opened bringing in more than 11 million visitors in the first year. In 1993 Disney purchased Discover magazine and the National Hockey League team the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Disney continued to amaze when they came out with The Lion King which became the Highest Grossing Film of All Time and Toy Story pioneering computer animated films. 1994 came around and Disney hit Broadway with Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aida. They then purchased the California Angels Baseball team. By 1996 Disney had the top television network, 10 television stations, 21 radio stations, 7 newspapers, and 4 cable networks. They then reached their 25 billion dollar revenue threshold. By 1998 they started two cruise ships which stopped at Disney’s island Castaway Cay in the Caribbean.

For the first time Disney opened multiple things in one year coming out with California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and DisneySea Tokyo. They then made more than 300 million dollars from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl and Finding Nemo. Being the first company to surpass 3 billion dollars in global box office revenue.

In the early 2000s Disney purchased The Muppets and Pixar Animation Studios. They released the next two Pirates of the Caribbean movies making them Disney’s highest grossing feature and the top grossing feature of 2007. They then released Toy Story 3 highest grossing animated film of all time. Disney continues to grow and amaze every year with new movies, cruises, hotels, and more featuring their characters and they are not going away any time soon.

Source: https://d23.com/disney-history/

Disney Company Growth Over The Years Part 1

Walt arrived in California in 1923. In October, M.J. Winkler contracted the Alice Comedies. Disney then made his own company, Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, with his brother Roy. They soon changed the name to Walt Disney Studio on the request of Roy. In 1927 Walt started the Oswald The Lucky Rabbit cartoons. Oswald was a huge hit, in just one year Walt had produced 26 Oswald shorts. Walt was thrilled with his progress and tried to sign another year but found his distributor had signed other animators behind his back in hopes to continue the franchise without Walt.

Disney then moved his studio to the back of a real estate office in Hollywood for just a few months, then moved to a whole studio in 1926 across the street for just a few years. Walt then made Mickey to replace Oswald. Ub animated two Mickey cartoons, but they could not sell due to the fact they had no sound and were behind in the recent film advancements. To compensate they made Steamboat Willie, fully synchronized with sound. The show released in New York on November 18, 1928. Walt’s studio then produced the series Silly Symphonies to support Mickey’s growing fame. The shorts became a training ground for animators. They would animate the shorts before moving on to the animated feature films. The short Flowers and Trees won an Academy Award in 1932 for Best Cartoon. The short was the first full-color cartoon and the first to win such an award. Disney returned to win that Oscar for the rest of the decade.

Walt received 300 dollars from a man who wanted to put Mickey Mouse on his merchandise, Walt did the deal because he was in need of the 300 dollars. This was the start of Disney’s Merchandise.

The first Mickey Mouse comic strip and book were released in 1930. Productions on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs started in 1934 and the film was released in 1937 with the title Highest Grossing Film of All Time and held it up to the release of the film Gone With The Wind.

With wars raging, Disney lost many foreign customers and struggled to make much revenue on his films. But still released Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi.

In 1950 Disney released its first live action film Treasure Island and the company began to move forward again.

 

Source: https://d23.com/disney-history/

Walt Disney Studio History

Disney’s company started in 1923 in Los Angeles. Walt started his company in a small office in the back of the Holly-Vermont Realty building. They payed only 10 dollars a month in rent. They created the Alice Comedies in this office and got so big they moved into a larger office in just four months. In 1925 the company moved into the Hyperion Avenue lot in the Silver Lake district.

In 1928 Mickey Mouse was born shortly followed by Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Daisy and the rest of the gang. In 1937, Disney released their first full length film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

To cope with the extreme growth of the company, Disney purchased a 51 acre lot called Burbank which he designed specifically for the nature of his company. Burbank was set up in a campus like setting. There were many buildings connected by underground tunnels so their work would never be disturbed by the weather. In the 1940s and 1950s they made movies like Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan in Burbank.

At the beginning of the 1940s Disney began filming live action.

In the 1950s, Burbank was expanded to add sound stages.They produced many movies in these stages like Mary Poppins, The Love Bug, Pete’s Dragon, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, National Treasure, and Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3. Across the street now stands the Feature Animation Building.

Walt originally wanted to build Mickey Mouse park, but soon realized he need much more space. He purchased 200 acres of orange tree orchards in Anaheim, California.

The back lot of Burbank was full of exterior sets. Golden Oak Ranch was made in 1959. The ranch is 700 acres of a variety of natural settings. It had many different settings such as farm houses, barns, fields, tree groves, forest areas, creek beds, and waterfalls. The ranch was used by the entire industry for many different movies like Princess Diaries 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, and The Santa Clause.

The Imaging building was originally called the Process Lab and was a motion picture laboratory. It was primarily used as photo and visual effects facilities. 1950s was paramount in combining complex optical effects with miniatures and matte painting. In the 1960s and 1970s the building was renamed Photo Effects and then Visual Effects. In the 1980’s it was renamed Buena Vista and the Motion Controlling Stage. Today it's photo-optical and digital-imaging services with a black and white lab, digital work stations, film recorders and scanners, optical printers and title graphics.

The next building was Post Production Sound building. This building is a mock movie theater. The theater has extra padding in the seats as to make the simulation as close as they can to the environment when the film is finally released. In this building they blend together the dialogue, music, and sound effects and ensure each is at the right levels. This theater was first used to mix the sound for Fantasia. There are then three stages within the building.

Stage A was originally used for scoring. Music for innumerable films were recorded in this stage. In 1985 the stage was converted to a dubbing stage and theater.

Stage B is the dialogue stage. This is where each of the characters voices are recorded. This stage was used for many films like Alice in Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Toy Story, Monsters Incorporated, Beauty and the Beast, Bugs Life, and Lion King.

Stage C was originally used for creating sound effects. Many of the sound makers were invented by Disney technicians. Today the stage is used as a dubbing stage for films and television.

All of the stages are state of the art high quality equipment. Disney never settled for anything less than the best.
Source: http://studioservices.go.com/disneystudios/history.html

Ub Iwerks Animation Wizard

Ub Iwerks was born in Kansas City, Missouri on March 24, 1901 to his Dutch-American parents. When he turned 14, his father abandoned his family and left Ub to support his mother. Ub went from childhood to a supporting roll very quickly. Ub never spoke to his father again, but it was thought that he secretly idealized him. Ub inherited his father's art skills, which got him to what we know him as today. Nonetheless, when his father passed away Ub seemed indifferent.

Ub was forced to find a job to support his family and found one at Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio where he quickly became the lead letter man. Once he turned 19 a boy Walt Disney was hired and they automatically became friends and soon business partners. Not long after they met, they started their own business Iwerks-Disney Studio Commercial Artists, which only lasted a month before they shut it down. They did not give up on their dreams and got jobs at Kansas Slide Show Company. After a while of that, Disney made his own company Laugh-O-Grams in 1922 and Ub joined as chief manager. They thought they had it good with their employees and a good camera, but they lacked customers and went bankrupt.

Two years later the pair moved to Hollywood to live with Disney’s brother, where Ub drew the first sketch of Mickey, and the journey began.

Ub opened his own business Iwerks Studio in 1930.

Iwerks was known for his creativity, innovation, and skill. Once Ub was no longer faced with a challenge, he quit. One time he dismantled and reassembled his car in one weekend. He took up bowling and once he had bowled a perfect score of 300, he quit. He got really involved in archery, but got tired of getting bull's eyes and quit that too. Ub would stay after work at the studios and draw animation shorts in secret. During the day he would cover his art with an alternate drawing so no one could see his secret projects.

Iwerks created the first Mickey Mouse short Plane Crazy, he made the entire six minute short by himself in three weeks. He averaged about 700-800 drawings on one day. Most animators only accomplish 80-100 per day. Ub even stopped animation around 1930 because he felt he had perfected the art.

In 1940 Ub rejoined Disney Studio and Walt gave his old friend free reign to any department he wanted. Iwerks went straight for special effects techniques. He was revolutionary, and completely changed the way animation worked. He made a multiplane camera out of scrap metal and car parts. In 1965 in won an Oscar for his effects in the movie Mary Poppins.  He won two Academy Awards for his improved optical printer and his perfection of color traveling matte photography.

He died on July 7, 1971 in Burbank California.

 

Sources: https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/ub-iwerks/

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/5-reasons-why-mickey-mouse-co-creator-ub-iwerks-is-awesome-81999.html

http://www.crazycollege.org/IwerksFilmFax.htm

The Life of Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago. Directly after his birth, his family moved to Kansas City where he spent most of his childhood.

Walt loved animation and drawing from the start. Being born into a poor family, he started working to earn his own money and help his struggling family. He sold his first cartoon at only seven years of age. He would draw hairdos for the barber in exchange for hair cuts. He sold treats and drinks on trains. He got a job at the post office, but was fired when they noticed he was a minor.

When Walt was 15 the Disney’s moved back to Chicago. Walt went back to high school at Mckinley High. Walt never cared too much about school and dropped out at age 16.

He tried to join the army, but was declined for his young age. Still wanting to help, he got a job as a Red Cross ambulance driver. Unfortunately, they mostly had Walt run errands. In his spare time as a driver, because he had quite a lot, he would draw on the ambulance. He was known for his doodled ambulance. To raise a little extra money, him and a few soldiers sold German helmets.

When Walt turned 18, he returned to his family who hardly recognised him. Disney told his family he was moving back to Kansas City to start his career in animation which was against his fathers wishes for him to join the Jell-O Corporation

When he arrived in Kansas City, he got a job at Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio where he met his new best friend and partner Ub Iwerks.

Shortly after they began their first company, Iwerks-Disney Studio Commercial Arts. It only lasted a month before they had to close shop.

They did not give up on their dreams, but took jobs at Kansas Slide Show Company where Disney first got into his animation works. Walt and Ub would draw millions of pictures just to make a character take a step. In 1922 Walt started Laugh-O-Grams and Ub joined as Chief Manager.

They were living the dream, or so they thought. They had great employees and a working camera, but lacked the customers they desperately needed, causing them to go bankrupt.
Two years after the ending of Laugh-O-Grams, Walt moved to Hollywood to live with his brother. Here he started Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Not long after, Ub joined him and helped create the Alice Comedies and sketched the all famous Mickey Mouse for the very first time. That was only the beginning.  Walt went on to create one of the biggest businesses in all of history. The business that creates joy for all and has continued past his death on December 15, 1966 in Burbank California. Disney is a legend, and a friend to all.

Source:https://chlin2010.wordpress.com/walt-disney-commencement-speech-print-me/

Donald Fauntleroy Duck

Donald Duck. Full name, Donald Fauntleroy Duck revealed in the short Donald Gets Drafted  released in 1942 and is a reference to his hat he wears with his “little lord fauntleroy” suit. Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with blue eyes; yellow orange bill, legs, and feet; a sailor shirt and cap; a red or white bow tie; and no pants.

Donald’s birthday is officially pronounced as June 9, 1934 the day his debut film was released. But has been stated as different days through his career. In The Three Caballeros it is Friday the 13th, while in the short Donald’s Happy Birthday it is said to be March 13th.

Donald is loud, rude, and selfish and obsessed with fame, money, treasure, and gold but he is also extremely loyal to his love interest Daisy and his best friends Mickey and Goofy. Once Donald is committed, he always gives 100%.

Mickey has always considered Donald as one of his best friends and fails to see the envy Donald feels towards him. Donald has always wanted Mickey’s fame and glory. He is sometimes portrayed as a rival to Mickey in his race to be on top.The rivalry is shown in many disney films. In the television show House of Mouse, Donald changes the name of the show to House of Duck, but in the end sides with Mickey and helps him to make a successful and profitable business. In the special Mickey’s 60th Birthday, Mickey is enchanted to be invisible. Donald is arrested under speculation that he was responsible for kidnapping Mickey. In the end Donald is released due to lack of evidence.

He has a few common phrases such as “what’s the big idea” when he is frustrated or impatient, “aw phooey” when he has given up, “oh boy, oh boy, oh boy” when he is especially excited, or “hiya toots” which he uses towards his girlfriend Daisy. It has been said Donald has one of the most recognisable voices in animation of all time. He was voiced by Clarence “ducky” Nash from 1934-1985 when he retired due to his death and was replaced by Tony Anselmo in 1985 and still voices him today. Tony was personally trained by Nash for the part.

Donald’s prototype was first displayed in the comic book The Adventures of Mickey Mouse released in May of 1931.

He then became Donald Duck three years later in the comic strip The Little Wise Hen on June 9, 1934. His second appearance was in the short Orphan’s Benefit released August 11, 1934. In the short Donald is to recite poems but he gets more and more frustrated as the orphans fail to listen and continue to steal and eat his pies. This eventually causes Donald to have a fit of rage so prominent it becomes a large factor in his personality. Donald then joins the Fab Five cartoons like the hit, The Band Concert where the characters all play beautiful music which is constantly interrupted by Donald playing the wrong song.

Donald Duck is redesigned in 1936. Though he looks extremely similar to his old self, he is plumper, has larger feet and his personality is fully formed.

Donald starred in his first solo cartoon Don Donald on January 9, 1937.

This cartoon is where his love interest Daisy Duck (Donna Duck in the short) makes her debut.

When WWI started many cartoon productions slowed, but Donald’s career took off. He was a huge star. Huey, Dewey, and Louie made their first appearance in the 1938 film Donald’s Nephews and were featured in many of Donald’s shorts as well as Chip and Dale (introduced 1947) who became some of the most iconic co stars of all time. The 1943 short Der Fuehrer's Face was given an Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

In 1954 the Fab Five shorts came to an end but Donald just kept going. All Disney animation came to an abrupt stop in the 1960’s when Walt Disney died and they would not come back until 1983 when Mickey’s Christmas Carol is released.

Donald Duck is the second most requested and common character in the Disney Parks. You can see him on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse a television show on Disney Channel in the mornings or you can meet him in person at the Disney Parks.

Sources: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Donald_Duck

http://www.comicvine.com/donald-duck/4005-22182/