The Disney revolt :

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The Disney revolt :

Title :

The Disney revolt : the great labor war of animation's golden age / Jake S. Friedman.

Title:

The Disney revolt :

Author:

Friedman, Jake S.

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

xii, 322 pages ; illustrations ; 23 cm

ISBN:

9781641607193

9781641607223

Production / Publication Information:

Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press, [2022]

General Note:

Includes bibliographic references and index (pages 263-322).

Summary:

Soon after the birth of Mickey Mouse, one animator raised the Disney Studio far beyond Walt's expectations. That animator also led a union war that almost destroyed it. Art Babbitt animated for the Disney studio throughout the 1930s and through 1941, years in which he and Walt were jointly driven to elevate animation as an art form, up through Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. But as America prepared for World War II, labor unions spread across Hollywood. Disney fought the unions while Babbitt embraced them. Soon, angry Disney cartoon characters graced picket signs as hundreds of animation artists went out on strike. Adding fuel to the fire was Willie Bioff, one of Al Capone's wiseguys who was seizing control of Hollywood workers and vied for the animators' union. Using never-before-seen research from previously lost records, including conversation transcriptions from within the studio walls, author and historian Jake S. Friedman reveals the details behind the labor dispute that changed animation and Hollywood forever.

Language:

English

Corporate Subject:

Walt Disney Company.

Walt Disney Productions -- History.

Walt Disney Productions -- Employees.

Personal Subject:

Disney, Walt, 1901-1966.

Babbitt, Art, 1907-1992.

Subject Term:

Animators -- Labor unions -- California -- Los Angeles -- History.

Strikes and lockouts -- Motion picture industry -- California -- Los Angeles.

Animators -- Labor unions -- United States -- History.

Animators -- United States.

Holds: Copies:

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Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	791.43 FRI	31330009239322	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	791.43/FRI	31482003059600	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Littleton - Reuben Hoar Library	791.43 FRI	39965002399516	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	791.4334 FRI	32128004099876	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	791.4334 FRIEDMAN	31478010234731	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rockport Public Library	331.881 FRIEDMAN	32129002522851	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

An essential piece of Disney history has been largely unreported for eighty years.

Soon after the birth of Mickey Mouse, one animator raised the Disney Studio far beyond Walt's expectations. That animator also led a union war that almost destroyed it. Art Babbitt animated for the Disney studio throughout the 1930s and through 1941, years in which he and Walt were jointly driven to elevate animation as an art form, up through Snow White , Pinocchio , and Fantasia .

But as America prepared for World War II, labor unions spread across Hollywood. Disney fought the unions while Babbitt embraced them. Soon, angry Disney cartoon characters graced picket signs as hundreds of animation artists went out on strike. Adding fuel to the fire was Willie Bioff, one of Al Capone's wiseguys who was seizing control of Hollywood workers and vied for the animators' union.

Using never-before-seen research from previously lost records, including conversation transcriptions from within the studio walls, author and historian Jake S. Friedman reveals the details behind the labor dispute that changed animation and Hollywood forever.

The Disney Revolt is an American story of industry and of the underdog, the golden age of animated cartoons at the world's most famous studio.

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Animation historian Friedman (The Art of Blue Sky Studios, 2014) traces the 1941 labor dispute at iconic Disney Studios. Dividing his book into two sections, innovation and turmoil, Friedman explores the lives of Walt Disney and Art Babbitt, one of the Disney animators who organized the strike, along with others who intersected these lives in the Disney Studios. Following the release of Snow White in 1937, Disney was the largest cartoon studio in the world; however, Disney animators were subject to unfair practices and grueling hours. Drawing from interviews, transcripts, and labor archives, Friedman crafts a compelling narrative about the negotiation and bargaining process between the strikers and Disney as well as the strike's impact on both the company and Hollywood's unionism at large. Disney and animation historians and readers of American labor history will find a fascinating chronicle of an essential labor dispute in twentieth-century America.

Library Journal Review

There are countless histories of Walt Disney Studios, but this latest by animation historian Friedman (The Art of Blue Sky Studios) is a fascinating look at Disney's Burbank animation studio during the five-week animators' strike of 1941 (which took place during the production of Dumbo). Friedman provides an engaging history of the Disney studio from the perspective of its overworked artists who churned out short films as well as celebrated features. He focuses particularly on lead animator Art Babbitt, one of the studio's highest-paid employees, who nevertheless stood on the picket line with his coworkers, many of whom were being paid far less for the same work. Meanwhile, Walt Disney was stunned by his animators' demands and tried to break the strike by allying with Willie Bioff, a "two-bit wise guy" from Chicago who (for a healthy fee) had been manipulating the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees to protect the film industry against strikes. Relationships were destroyed during the dispute, Friedman writes, but the strike soon ended in a labor victory that forced Disney to recognize an animators' union. VERDICT A fascinating look at how the Disney magic happened, and how close it came to tumbling down.--Peter Thornell

Author's Note	p. ix
Prologue	p. xi
Map	p. xiii
Part I Innovation
1 My Father Was a Socialist	p. 3
2 Poor and Starving	p. 13
3 The Value of Loyalty	p. 19
4 Arthur Babbitt: Hell-Raiser	p. 28
5 Fighting for His Salary	p. 34
6 You Can't Draw Your Ass	p. 44
7 The Disney Art School	p. 49
8 Three Little Pigs	p. 53
9 Enter Bioffsky	p. 62
10 The Cult of Personality	p. 67
11 A Feature-Length Cartoon	p. 73
12 Bioff Stakes His Claim	p. 84
13 A Drunken Mouse	p. 88
14 Disney's Folly	p. 94
15 Defense Against the Enemy	p. 104
Part II Turmoil
16 A Growing Divide	p. 115
17 The Norconian	p. 124
18 A Wooden Boy and a World War	p. 133
19 Dreams Shattered	p. 139
20 Hilberman, Sorrell, and Bioff	p. 146
21 The Federation Versus the Guild	p. 156
22 The Guild and Babbitt	p. 162
23 Disney Versus the Labor Board	p. 171
24 The Final Strike Vote	p. 182
25 Strike!	p. 188
26 The Big Stick	p. 199
27 The 21 Club	p. 208
28 Willie Bioff and Walt Disney	p. 214
29 The Guild and the CIO	p. 227
30 Not the Drawing	p. 235
31 The Final Goodbye	p. 243
32 And They Lived	p. 246
Epilogue	p. 249
Acknowledgments	p. 251
Image Credits	p. 253
Appendix: The Strikers	p. 255
Notes	p. 263
Index	p. 313

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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