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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)
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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.
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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")
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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")
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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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