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Page 12 of 28 Cartoon Menagerie: A Time of Upheaval 
Walt and Mickey

Ub Iwerks left, but the success 
of Mickey Mouse endured

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


Walt in full polo regalia

Walt in full polo regalia. 
The intensity of polo allowed
him to work off the stress
of managing a growing studio

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

Walt and friends relax at the pool.
Roy is seated at right.

 
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