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Page 9 of 28 |
Cartoon
Menagerie: |
Making it in Hollywood |
Walt and his Kansas City friend and animator,
Ub Iwerks, who traveled to California to join Walt's Studio
in Los Angeles
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When Walt arrived in California in 1923, he
didn't even have enough clothing to fill a shabby suitcase.
Ten years later he was the world-famous father of Mickey Mouse
and the Silly Symphonies. The story of this incredible decade
is replete with enormous disappointments for Walt along with
great successes. On two occasions, men he trusted with his career
and fortunes turned on him in a totally unanticipated fashion.
He drove himself with such unrelenting fervor that toward the
end of this period he suffered through an experience he was
later to call "a hell of a breakdown." Meanwhile, in 1925, Walt
married a young woman named Lillian Bounds. Their romance began
when she came to work for him in his fledgling efforts at animation,
and their partnership was to last the rest of his life. Lilly
accepted Walt's dedication to his work, understood his drive
toward perfection, and (though she sometimes fretted over his
willingness to risk everything on the next gamble) had absolute
faith in his genius. During this time, too, the lifelong collaboration
with his brother Roy grew and matured into one that would combine
brotherly love with an interdependence that led both to heights
that may have been unachievable alone. |
Within 10 years after his arrival in Hollywood
in 1923, Walt Disney was famous around the world as the creator
of Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies like "Three Little Pigs."
He played polo at the fancy Riviera Club with celebrities like
Spencer Tracy and Will Rogers. He had pioneered color and sound
cartoons and was beginning to think about yet another revolutionary
step with the first feature-length cartoon, "Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs." What a difference a decade makes. Walt boarded
the train for California in 1923 with only a pair of pants,
some underwear, a checkered coat, a few shirts, and a little
cash to his name. In a move that seems daft -- but wouldn't
surprise anyone who knew Walt well -- he had purchased a first-class
ticket for the journey. "I was in my pants and coat that didn't
match," he recalled, "but I was riding first class." |
Walt in his Kingswell Avenue office in Los
Angeles
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When Walt first arrived in California, he lived
with his Uncle Robert (his father’s brother) on Kingswell
Avenue
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Fortunately for Walt, his Uncle Robert had preceded
him in moving out west, so he had someplace to live. Robert
was a large, outgoing man who had lost his first wife, Walt's
beloved Aunt Margaret, relatively early in life. He later married
a woman named Charlotte, and the two of them had a son, Robert
Junior. Walt arranged to pay him $5 a week for room and board
while he sought his fortune (though there's every reason to
suspect that Uncle Robert frequently didn't get his rent). Walt's
relationship with his Uncle wasn't always smooth -- Robert had
a habit of reminding Walt how much he had helped him. But on
balance, Walt's feelings toward his uncle were generally affectionate.
Upon first arriving, Walt decided that perhaps he'd give up
the animation business and make his way in the film industry.
"I was discouraged with animation. . ", Walt later recalled.
'Aesop's Fables' were very successful. 'Felix the Cat' was going
then. And I just said it was too late. I should have been in
the business six years before. . . . I wanted to get into the
motion picture business. I wanted to be a director. That was
my ambition. My goal was to be a director." This ambitious notion
was soon squashed. |
"I went from one studio to another and I went
to the personnel department and everything." The only job Walt
actually landed in Hollywood was as a movie extra, riding a
horse in a big cavalry charge. It rained the day Walt's scene
was to be shot, and Walt was replaced when they rescheduled.
"That was the end of my career as an actor," he said. Back to
animation -- the only skill Walt really had. He borrowed Uncle
Robert's garage and set up shop, creating samples. Soon enough
he had a deal to provide cartoons for M. J. Winkler, who had
expressed interest in his incomplete "Alice's Wonderland" cartoon,
begun in Kansas City. Never a man to delude himself about his
strengths and weaknesses, Walt knew that he needed help with
the money side of the business. So he convinced Roy to sign
himself out of the hospital, where he had been recovering from
tuberculosis, and join him. In 1923, they started the Disney
Brothers Studio with $200 of Roy's money, $500 borrowed from
their Uncle Robert, and $2,500 that Flora and Elias raised by
mortgaging their house in Portland. Walt, of course, brought
just his own skills to the venture. The two brothers moved in
together and quickly discovered that there was such a thing
as too much togetherness. After a long day at the studio, living
in the same cramped quarters was just a little too much. Tensions
grew. |
Margaret Winkler offered Walt a contract for
the Alice Comedies, which became the starting point for the
Disney Brothers Studio
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