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Strikers

1941
THE STRIKE
1941 was a difficult year for Walt. The loss of box office receipts from Europe due to the war, and the disappointing revenues from "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" put the Studio in debt once again, just as it finished its brand-new facility in Burbank. Many employees feared that lay-offs were on the way, and clamored for a union. When the Studio and the union couldn't come to terms, some 40% of the employees staged a strike (see photo). Later that year, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States was thrust into World War II. The Disney Studio converted to making training and propaganda films for the US armed forces. (More about the war years)

 

 

1941
THE BURBANK STUDIO
Despite the many problems facing Walt in the war years, he nevertheless took his daughters to the new Burbank studio on Sundays and let them have the run of the lot. "The Studio became our playground," says Diane in this color clip from the film "WALT: The Man Behind the Myth." (More about the war years) To see the color clip, choose either 56K modem or DSL/ISDN.

 

Seal Island

1948
"SEAL ISLAND"
After the war ended, the Studio lacked the resources to continue producing big animated features. Still, when Walt sent Alfred and Elma Milotte to film seals on the Pribilof Islands, many staffers thought he was out of his mind. Walt also had a tough time convincing his distributor, RKO, to put the film in theaters. Walt's instincts were right. "Seal Island" won an Academy Award, and launched the Disney "True Life Adventure" series -- as well as another new genre: the "nature film." (More about "Seal Island")

 

 

1950
"TREASURE ISLAND"
Buoyed by the success of the "True Life Adventure" films, Walt was convinced that live action films could restore the health of the Studio. In 1950, he released his first live action feature -- "Treasure Island." Walt loved the speed of live action production. According to author Bob Thomas, animators grumbled that "as soon as Walt rode on a camera crane, we knew we were going to lose him." Their fear was unfounded, for the first post-war Disney animated feature, "Cinderella," became a big hit the same year that "Treasure Island" came out. (More about "Treasure Island")

 

Cinderella

1950
"CINDERELLA"
"Cinderella" made the studio a leader in the production of animated features once again -- a position that it retains to this day. It was a big gamble -- and it paid off handsomely. The 74-minute-long feature was wildly successful, and ensured that Walt would continue to produce similar works for years to come. (More about "Cinderella") In this clip, Ilene Woods (the voice of Cinderella) talks about Walt's intuitive affinity for music. Choose either 56K modem or DSL/ISDN.


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