Walt came home from France in the fall of 1919. He was determined to become an artist. He moved into the old family house in Kansas City with his brothers, Roy and Herbert, as well as Herbert’s family. He tried to get a job at the Kansas City “Star”, but did not succeed. Roy helped Walt get a position as an apprentice, at a local commercial art studio, where he would draw products for catelogs. Walt was paid $50 a month, but just before Christmas, there wasn’t enough business to keep him on the payroll, and he was laid off. … Continue reading →

When the family moved to Kansas City, Elias bought a newspaper route, with Walt and Roy as his staff. Elias instilled a drive for perfection in them. Walt awoke at 3:30 in the morning, and Elias required him to place each and every paper behind the customer’s storm door, not on the lawn like others did. In the winter, his route drove Walt to cold tears more than once. Walt’s schooling was characterized mainly by him trying to stay awake. Although Elias has often been described as a man who bounced from job to job, his newspaper route was very … Continue reading →

Walt’s parents, Elias and Flora were married on New Year’s Day in 1988. They added three sons to their family in the next five years—Herbert in 1888, Raymond in 1890, and Roy in 1893. About eight years later, Flora became pregnant again. By then, the couple was living in Chicago, and Elias was a carpenter and builder. On December 5, 1901, Walter Elias Disney was born. He was named after the family’s pastor, who in turn named his son Elias, after Walt’s father. Two years later, the family’s last child, a daughter, named Ruth, was born, on December 6. Elias … Continue reading →

Banks continued to pressure Walt, and they suggested that the Studio should limit production to proven moneymakers like short cartoons. This was unthinkable to Walt, and such a course would mean nearly 600 people would have to be laid off. Walt knew that the cartoon industry as it was, couldn’t absorb all of those people, and they would be forced to start all over again. The banks said the other option was to sell out. This would not happen, Walt had fought too long and hard for his Studio’s independence. Walt chose the hard way. Strict budgets were set and … Continue reading →

Realizing that unionization was imminent, Walt acknowledged and entered into limited negotiations, with a staff organized union, called the Federation of Screen Cartoonists. In January of 1941 though, the National Labor Relations Board certified the Screen Cartoonists Guild as the union organization that formally represented film animators. This Guild, led by a touch labor tactician began targeting all the leading Hollywood animation studios. The SCG turned its sights on the Disney Studio, calling the Federation of Screen Cartoonists as a company union manipulated by Disney management. One of the companies highest paid artists said that he was directly encouraged by … Continue reading →

In August 1941, Walt described his feelings about the strike that had crippled his Studio for many months, and that was on the verge of being settled. He said “The lies, …half truths that were placed in the public press cannot be easily forgotten. I was called a rat, a yellow-dog employer, and an exploiter of labor. They took the salaries of my messenger boys and claimed them to be the salaries of my artists.” This devastating event came about, ironically, as a result of the Studio’s recent success, and the triumph of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” The … Continue reading →