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Page 12 of 28 |
Cartoon
Menagerie: |
A Time of Upheaval |
Ub Iwerks left, but the success
of Mickey Mouse endured
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Walt sometimes had a unique talent for getting
involved with unsavory characters. In search of someone who
could help him add sound to his cartoons, he discovered a "big,
lovable, friendly Irishman" named Pat Powers. Powers was the
kind of guy who could charm the birds out of the trees. Despite
Roy's concerns that Powers might not be honest, Walt gave him
distribution rights for Mickey Mouse. Roy grew increasingly
convinced that Powers wasn't paying them properly, but Walt
was forever the optimist, buoyed by Mickey's instant success.
Walt and Roy even saw clear to giving Ub a 20% share in the
studio and credit on the cartoons; rewards for his loyalty.
Finally, the bubble burst when Powers hired away Ub Iwerks,
convinced that he was the key to Disney's success. Ub likely
left out of frustration that he was still just working for Walt.
Though shocked, Walt moved on. And although Ub was a key force
in shaping the early Mickey Mouse cartoons, Walt's business
did not suffer. One change: Walt never again gave an employee
the kind of credit he had given Iwerks. Ub spent the next decade
creating oft-forgotten cartoons like Flip the Frog, and then
returned to the Disney Studio. As Leonard Maltin writes in "Of
Mice and Magic," "The 10 years away from Disney were the least
rewarding or productive he spent in the motion picture field.
This in no way demeans Iwerks or his talent. His ambition --
and great love -- was to conquer technical challenges." |
As Walt entered his 30s, his fame was growing.
With Powers out of the picture, the studio was financially successful
for the first time. By the beginning of 1931, Walt had 75 employees
-- and the number was growing. But Walt was miserable. He was
sleeping less and less and working harder and harder. And even
though money was pouring in, Walt was often incapable of estimating
costs -- his cartoons were perpetually over budget. The studio's
new distributor, Columbia Pictures, sent checks on a regular
basis, but its president, Harry Cohn, was not an easy man to
work with. According to film director Frank Capra, Cohn "badgered
and bulldozed" Walt. His irritability began to grow alarming.
Walt later said, "It got to a point that I couldn't talk on
the telephone. I'd begin to cry. . . ."
In off moments, he dwelled on other, simpler times. He began
animated correspondences with friends and acquaintances from
Kansas City and the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. Meanwhile, he
had a deep yearning for children -- accentuated when Roy had
a son, Roy Edward Disney, in January of 1930. During this time,
Lilly suffered two miscarriages. While Walt waited for an heir
(and even after he had two daughters), his nephews, nieces,
and children of friends and employees were recipients of a steady
supply of toys and games. Marjorie recalled, "Aunt Lilly made
me clothes for my dolls, and Uncle Walt gave me skates and scooters
and all the exciting things." Herbert's daughter Dorothy remembered
that Walt gave her "my first prom dress." A nephew of Lilly's,
Bill Papineau, even went to college courtesy of his uncle and
aunt. But though Walt made children around him happy, he was
descending deeper and deeper into an unfamiliar state of anxiety.
In later years, Walt was to say that "in 1931 I had a hell of
a breakdown, I went all to pieces." His doctor prescribed a
vacation and more exercise. |
In this photo, Walt's expression
reveals the deep anxiety he felt in 1931,
even though the Studio was growing
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Walt in full polo regalia.
The intensity of polo allowed
him to work off the stress
of managing a growing studio
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Walt and Lilly went off on a trip they called
their "gypsy jaunt." Walt booked passage on a boat to Cuba.
Then they visited Florida and Cuba and cruised all 5,000 miles
back from Havana to Los Angeles. "We had the time of our life,"
Walt said. "We met a lot of wonderful people going through the
canal. It was warm and relaxed." Walt jumped into an exercise
program with his usual vigor. He started with wrestling, but
that didn't last long. He boxed for a while, then played
golf, rising before dawn so he could get to the studio at opening.
At last he came to polo. From
the looks of a variety of photos, he was certainly impressive,
all rigged up on horseback for a game. According to Bill Cottrell,
a longtime staffer (and eventually his brother-in-law, when
Cottrell married Lilly's sister Hazel), Walt was a fair amateur.
Staffers felt obligated to take up the sport as well. Animators
Norm Ferguson, Les Clark, and Dick Lundy joined up, as did the
studio attorney, Gunther Lessing. Roy also played. Never inclined
to half-measures, Walt engaged Gil Proctor, a polo expert, to
teach his team about the sport. According to Bob Thomas' biography
of Walt, "Practice started at six in the morning and was completed
in time for all of the players to report to the studio by eight.
Walt erected a polo cage at the studio; on the lunch hour or
during work breaks, the players could sit on a wooden mount
and practice hitting the wooden ball." After a while, Walt and
Roy became members of the Riviera Club, one of the swankiest
polo clubs around. There Walt rode with some of the biggest
names in Hollywood ? Spencer Tracy, Will Rogers, and Darryl
Zanuck. |
But Walt and Lilly had always avoided the Hollywood
party scene; no matter how successful they got, he and Roy always
seemed more like solid midwesterners than Hollywood moguls.
But in the world of polo, Walt enjoyed his contacts with local
luminaries. The diversion and the exercise may have paid off
. By 1932, he was back to his old plucky self.
Pluto and Goofy appeared on the
scene. Walt and Roy left Columbia and moved to a happier relationship
with United Artists. Under the gifted guidance of Herman "Kay"
Kamen, the studio started licensing products, thus bringing
in more cash. "Flowers and Trees," the first Technicolor cartoon
? made despite heavy financial risks -- won an Academy Award.
"Three Little Pigs" was a smash hit. It was wonderful. It was
exciting. But none of it was more important to Walt than Lilly's
pregnancy in mid-1933, which appeared to be a healthy one.. |
Walt and friends relax at the pool.
Roy is seated at right.
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