by Neal Gabler
“motion picture business was gonna…” Walt Disney, interview by Pete Martin, Reels 9 & 10.
“I think we have a great future…” Walt to Lieutenant Lee Blair, USNR, Dec. 4, 1945, Bi Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, A-K, A1534, WDA.
“100% toward building up…” Walt to Arch A. Mercey (motion picture consultant, Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion), May 10, 1946, M Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.
Dali and Walt. Richard G. Hubler, Walt Disney, unpub. ms, 1968, RHC; Walt to Dali, Feb. 19, 1944; Dali to Walt, Feb. 21, 1944, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1944, A1530, WDA.
Dali deal. Memo, Jack Lavin to Walt, Re: Salatore [sic] Dali, Nov. 2, 1945, L Folder, Walt Disney Inter-Office Corr., 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA. Dali was to receive $10,000 and two round-trip railway tickets from New York to Los Angeles. He also demanded “equal billing” to everyone but Walt Disney.
“NEW FRESH POSSIBILITIES…” Dali to Walt, Sept. 20, 1945, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, D Folder, A-K, A1534, WDA.
“We await with great hope…” Ibid.
“The thing I resent most…” Arthur Miller, “Dali and Disney Plan Something Definitely New,” LAT, Apr. 7, 1946.
Searching country for fine artists. Ibid.
“The night of our meeting…” Dali to Walt, n.d. [1946], D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, A-K, A1534, WDA.
“in fact, they spilled out…” Walt to Fleur Cowles, Jun. 10, 1957, Da Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1957, A-D, A1566, WDA.
“[I]t will become…” Gala Dali to Walt, Jun. 2, 1946, D Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, A-K, A1534, WDA.
“We are not going to let…” Walt to Dalis, Jun. 11, 1946, ibid.
Floyd B. Odlum. NYT, Sept. 30, 1945, sec. 2.
“After the war was over…” Roy O. Disney, interview by Richard Hubler, Nov. 17, 1967, WDA.
“the typical, tightfisted…” Shamus Culhane, Talking Animals and Other People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986).
Roy visiting animators. David Dodd Hand, Memoirs (Cambria, Calif.: Lighthouse Litho, 1990).
“quite a screamer.” Walt Disney interview by Martin, Reels 9 & 10.
“It seemed like quite a chore…” Ibid..
“Walt had a way of telling…” Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (New York: Hyperion, 1981).
“just talking.” Wilfred Jackson, interview by David Smith, May 14, 1971, WDA.
“suddenly shift course…” Harry Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys”: An Insider’s Account of Disney’s Golden Years (Royal Oak, Mich.: Airtight Seals Allied Production, 1997).
“did not like people being too close…” Marc Davis, interview by Richard Hubler, May 21, 1968, RHC, Box 14, Folder 51.
“habit of taking…” Richard Huemer, Recollections of Richard Huemer, unpub. ms., 1969, Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA.
“We are all disorganized…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Richard Hubler, Oct. 29, 1968, WDA.
Inventory of studio equipment. Anonymous quoted in Hubler, Disney.
“The most prevalent complaint…” Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”
“A studio cannot be run…” Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, Walt’s Time: From Before to Beyond, ed. Bruce Gordon, David Mumford, and Jeff Kurtti (Santa Clarita, Calif.: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998).
“I am convinced…” Memo, Walt to Roy Williams, Re: Donald’s Cure, Mar. 21, 1943, W Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, S-Z, A1632, WDA.
Rise in overhead as a percentage of studio cost. DeBord to Walt and Roy, Dec. 7, 1944, DeBord, Edward, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.
DeBord’s recommendations. DeBord to Roy, Aug. 28, 1944; DeBord to Walt, Oct. 19, 1944, ibid.; Memo, DeBord to Walt, Re: Directors Bonus Plan, Apr. 20, 1945, DeBord Engineering Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635; Minutes of Adjourned Meeting of Board of Directors, Jun. 13, 1944, Morris, George E., Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, A1629, WDA.
Finding and hiring Reeder. Vern Caldwell to Walt, n.d. [Apr. 1945], R Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, R-Z, A1536; Roy to Walt, Jun. 19, 1945, Roy Disney Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.
Management committee. Roy to John F. Reeder et al., Oct. 10, 1945, Roy Disney Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.
Reorganization. Memo, Walt to Those Listed, Re: Organization Changes, Dec. 7, 1945, John Reeder Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, M-Z, A1636, WDA; LAT, Sept. 11, 1945.
“Nine Old Men.” Harry Tytle, interview by author; Ollie Johnston, interview by author; Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life; Shamus Culhane, Talking Animals and Other People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986).
Ambivalence. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”
Fretting about Leahy and Reeder. Ibid..
Not attending management committee meetings. Ibid..
Walt’s eruption. Ibid.. Harry Teitel, later Tytle, kept a diary for the years he worked at the Disney studio. This comes from an entry on Apr. 8, 1946, quoting Bill Anderson who had attended the meeting.
Reeder’s recommendations. Report [Jack Reeder], Aug. 19, 1946, Layoff (Aug. 1946), Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.
“in the mechanical, though not the spiritual.” Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”
“The new people were interposed…” Jimmy Johnson, Inside the Whimsy Works: My Thirty-Seven Years with Walt Disney Productions, unpub. ms., 1975, chap. 3, WDA.
Losing interest in shorts. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”
Chip and Dale. Jim Korkis, “Jack Hannah in His Own Words,” POV, no. 8 [1995]; Bill Justice, Justice for Disney (Dayton, Ohio: Tomart Publications, 1992). They were named, according to Hannah, by his assistant, Bea Selke, after Chippendale furniture.
“[G]radually people forgot…” Thomas and Johnston, Illusion of Life.
“of weeding out marginal talent.” Memo, Ken Peterson to Walt, Re: Weeding Out, July 5, 1946, P Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, M-Z, A1636, WDA.
“Chopin” of animators. Quoted in John Canemaker, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (New York: Disney Editions, 2001).
“dissatisfation” and “torment.” Ibid.
“giving him a bad deal.” Ward Kimball, interview by Steve Hulett, WDA.
“to look crude.” Ibid.
“had not followed…” Canemaker, Nine Old Men.
“lacked the ability…” Ben Sharpsteen, Answers to Questions Submitted by Dave Smith, Sept. 1974, WDA.
“psychologically fragile.” Frank Thomas, interview by author.
“We’re through with caviar.” “Father Goose,” Time, Dec. 27, 1954.
“Walt was a bear…” Bill Peet, Bill Peet: An Autobiography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin., 1989).
“prodigious” sighs. Lawrence Edward Watkin, Walt Disney, unpub. ms., n.d., WDA.
ARI. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys;” Leo Salkin, “Disney’s ‘Pigs is Pigs’: Notes from a Journal, 1949-1953,” in Storytelling in Animation: The Art of the Animated Image, ed. John Canemaker (Los Angeles: AFI, 1988).
Never previewed for children. Bob Thomas, Walt Disney, ms. annotated by Walt Disney, WDA. This may have led to the mistaken impression that Walt did not like children. In fact, he would frequently respond to children’s letters personally—advising prospective young animators on what they might do to enter the profession.
Twenty separate evaluations. Jack Sayers (ARI) to Card Walker, Dec. 7, 1948, Audience Research Corr., 1948-1949, Roy O. Disney Corr., A-C (1929-1951), A2993, WDA.
Shorts and quality. Tytle, One of “Walt’s Boys.”
“I had a strong conviction…” Diane Disney Miller, as told to Pete Martin, The Story of Walt Disney (New York: Holt, 1956).
“in order to complete the PACKAGE…” Memo, Jacques Roberts to Walt, Nov. 4
, 1944, Swing Street Package, R Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, R-S, A1631, WDA.
“didn’t feel warmly…” Marc Davis, interview by Bob Thomas, May 25, 1973, WDA.
“[W]e at the studio…” Ben Sharpsteen, interview by Don Peri, Mar. 26, 1975, WDA.
“experience in precipitate ups and downs.” NYT, Apr. 28, 1946, sec. 2.
“tacky.” James Agee, Agee on Film (New York: Universal Library, Grosset & Dunlap, 1969), [Apr. 27, 1946].
“burst out laughing,…” T. Hee quoted in Hubler, Disney.
Made with shorts crews. Memo, Walt to Sharpsteen, Re: Mickey Feature, May 6, 1940, Sharpsteen, Ben, Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, R-S, A1631, WDA.
Jimmy Macdonald as Mickey Mouse. Jim Macdonald, interview by Richard Hubler, Aug. 13, 1968; Julia Joslin, “Mickey’s Other Voice,” Disney News, Summer 1988.
Eisenstein on Make Mine Music. Eisenstein on Disney, ed. Jay Leyda, trans. Alan Upchurch (London: Methuen, 1988).
Schickel’s analysis. Richard Schickel, The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney, 3rd ed. (1968, repr. Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks, 1997).
“Suppose you visit a friend.” Hermine Rich Isaacs, “The Films in Review,” Theatre Arts, June 1946.
“pack of greyhounds…” Al Eugster quoted in Leslie Iwerks and John Kenworthy, The Hand Behind the Mouse (New York: Disney Editions, 2001).
Ali Baba. Clipping, Sept. 4, 1938, MWEZ, n.c. 19,000, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; Danny Peary “Reminiscing with Walter Lantz,” in The Animated American Cartoon: A Critical Anthology, ed. Gerald Peary and Danny Peary (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980).
“Disney is the Tiffany…” Quoted in Charles Solomon, Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989).
“Making cartoons is like delivering milk.” Joseph Barbera, My Life in ’toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century (Atlanta: Turner Publishing, 1994).
“He didn’t care.” Huemer, Recollections.
Mintz ordered his staff… I. Klein, “‘Screen Gems’ Made of Paste: Memories of the Charles Mintz Studio,” Funnyworld, no. 20 (Summer 1979).
Walter Lantz had no story department. Leo Salkin quoted in Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.
“We showed those Disney guys…” Quoted in Culhane, Talking Animals.
Fred Quimby. Barbera, Life in ’toons.
Termite Terrace. Bill Melendez, interview by author.
“looked and stank…” Culhane, Talking Animals.
Floors, oil, and holes. Melendez interview.
Walls. Michael Maltese quoted in Joe Adamson, “Well, for Heaven’s Sake! Grown Men!” Film Comment, Jan.-Feb. 1975.
“Pew,…” Ibid.
“Walt spent more…” Quoted in Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.
Footage. Ibid.
“always smelled of Parma Violet.” Ibid.
“Jeethus Christh,…” Chuck Jones, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist (New York: Avon Books, 1989).
“[H]is wallet spoke.” Quoted in Michael Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
“they’re not renegades…” Joe Adamson, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons (New York: DaCapo Press, 1975).
“cute stuff.” Maltese quoted in Adamson, “Well, for Heaven’s sake!.”
“The Warner Bros. animators didn’t have…” Melendez interview.
“We were laughing…” Chuck Jones quoted in Stefan Kanfer, Serious Business: The Art and Commerce of Animation in America from Betty Boop to “Toy Story” (New York: Scribner, 1997).
“directors, animators, and writers were indeed a laboratory…” Jones, Chuck Amuck.
“We did our thing…” Reg Hart, “Interview with Friz Freleng,” Griffithiana, no. 34 (Dec. 1988).
“I need a feature cartoon…” Ibid.
“many of us wished…” Jack Kinney, Walt Disney and Other Animated Characters: An Unauthorized Account of the Early Years at Disney’s (New York: Harmony Books, 1988).
“It was like admiring the kind of dame…” Quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.
“jealous of how funny…” Quoted in Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.
“shaken the American people loose…” David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
“pain in the ass…” Reitherman to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Jan. 17, 1979, quoted in Canemaker, Nine Old Men.
“a way to get into live action,…” Quoted in Solomon, Enchanted Drawings.
Negotiating with Harris family and preparing stories. Memo, Roy Disney and John Ross (story editor) to Walt and Production Board, Re: Uncle Remus Material, May 23, 1939; Memo, George Stallings to Walt, Re: Uncle Remus, Sept. 8, 1939, Song of South Corr. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA.
“to get an authentic feeling…” Clipping, Variety, Nov. 5 or 6, 1940, C.A. (Mike) May Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.
“big enough in caliber…” Memo, Roy to Walt, Jun. 21, 1944, Walt Disney 1941-1954 Folder, Roy O. Disney Inter-Office Corr., Disney, Roy O.—Trips to Disneyland (1954-61), A3002, WDA.
“insatiable.” Quoted in Patrick McGilligan and Paul Buhle, Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997).
“vicious piece of hocus pocus.” Chattanooga Tennessee Times, Sept. 15, 1944, Caldwell, Vernon, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.
“nigger pile” and “picaninny.” Story Conference on Snow White—Last Part of Seq. 6A, June 23, 1936, Snow White Story Meetings, Jan. 1936-Jul. 1936 folder, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Story Meetings—Oct. 1934-1937, Box 1, A1731, WDA; Walt to Mike May, Apr. 19, 1945, May, C.A. (Mike) Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.
Crows understanding prejudice. Michael Wilmington, “Dumbo,” in American Animated Cartoon.
Black centaurette. Story Meeting, Oct. 17, 1938 [afternoon], Concert Feature—Meetings, 1938, Fantasia, Story Meetings, etc., A1782, WDA. This was excised for subsequent releases.
“Between the negro haters…” Caldwell to [Perce] Pearce, Jun. 19, 1944, Caldwell, Vernon, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, C, A1626, WDA.
Bill Kupper and Stormy Weather. Memo, William B. Levy to Roy, Re: “Uncle Remus,” Jun. 26, 1944, Disney, Roy O., Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, D, A1627, WDA.
“That’s exactly why I want you…” McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.
Rapf’s changes. Maurice Rapf, Notes on Uncle Remus [1944], Song of South Corr. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA.; McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.
“I can’t find a damn thing…” Memo, Lessing to Walt, Re: Uncle Remus Sequence A, Nov. 9, 1944, Song of South Corr., Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA.
Hattie McDaniel. Hattie McDaniel to Walt, Jun. 9, 1947, ibid.
Walter White. Walt to Walter White, Jul. 25, 1944, ibid.
Breen’s friend’s comments. Memo, Francis Harmon to Joseph Breen, Jul. 31, 1944, MPPDA folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.
Dr. Alain Locke. Dr. Alain Locke to Walter Wanger, Sept. 4, 1944, Song of South Corr. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA.
“cause serious trouble…” Memo, Arch Reeve to Joseph I. Breen and Will Hays, Aug. 18, 1944, ibid.
Clarence Muse. Report on Foreign-Inspired Agitation Among American Negroes in Los Angeles Field Division [1945], File #100-14872, Walt Disney, FBI.
Muse’s vendetta. Rapf quoted in McGilligan and Buhle, Tender Comrades.
Contacting Robeson. Memo, Earl Rettig to Walt, Feb. 20, 1941; Earl Rettig to Rudolph Polk, Columbia Management, Feb. 20, 1941, Earl Rettig Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1938-1944, R-S, A1631, WDA.
Apologizing to Robeson. Tel. Walt to Sheridan Gibney, Ma
r. 2, 1943, G Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1942-1943, D-H, A1527, WDA.
Finding James Baskett. Walt to Jean Hersholt, Jan. 30, 1948, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1951-1952, A-Ch, A1544, WDA.
Estimated cost of refitting soundstage. Memo, Dick Pfahler to Those Listed, Re: Equipment for Live Action, Oct. 9, 1945, Dick Pfahler Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1952, M-Z, A1636, WDA.
Lovelace’s suggestion. Jonathan Bell Lovelace to Walt, Sept. 18, 1944, Song of South Corr. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA.
$390,000 for Goldwyn’s services. Memo, Fred Leahy to Walt, Jan. 22, 1948, L Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1952, A-L, A1635, WDA.
“atmospheric shots.” Walt to Joseph Breen, Dec. 11, 1944, MPPDA Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA.
Scolding Jackson. Wilfred Jackson quoted in Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons.
“We all sat there…” Jackson quoted in Hubler, Disney.
Retitled Song of the South. Walt to Wright Bryan (editor of Atlanta Journal), Jun. 11, 1946, Song of South Corr. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA. Walt told the Harrises that there were so many “uncles” on various radio programs for young people that the film might be misconstrued as being “entertainment exclusively for children.”
“almost all of the animators…” Marc Davis, interview by Bob Thomas, May 25, 1973, WDA.
“kind of a high…” Milt Kahl, interview by Mica Prods., Nov. 3, 1983, WDA.
“SAW WALT DISNEY’S SONG OF THE SOUTH…” Ned Depinet to John Reeder, Jul. 31, 1946, John Reeder Folder, Walt Disney Corr., Inter-Office, 1945-1952, M-Z, A1636, WDA; Ned E. Depinet to Robert Mochrie, Jul. 31, 1946, Make Mine Music Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1945-1946, L-P, A1535, WDA. Caldwell had forwarded the letter to Walt with his comments on the bottom.
“highest potential.” Bill Levy to Roy, Nov. 18, 1946, Song of South Corr. Folder, Walt Disney Corr., 1947-1948, N-S, A1539, WDA.
“More and more, Walt Disney’s craftsmen…” NYT, Nov. 28, 1946.