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<i> Tonight...</i>

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             WOMAN:
    It's a perfect metaphor,
   him being the small mouse

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   in this big industry that
    he wants to break into.

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     (high-pitched voice):
  Hey, Pluto, here she comes!

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            (blows)

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            Mother!

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              MAN:
      He pounded the table
          and he said,

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"We're not making cartoons here!

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       We're making art!"

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      <i> A two-night event,</i>

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   <i> "Walt Disney" starts now</i>
<i> on</i> American Experience.

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        NASA ANNOUNCER:
Lift-off, the clock is running.

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      RINGSIDE ANNOUNCER:
       Schmeling is down!

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  Exclusive corporate funding
    for<i> American Experience</i>

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         is provided by
   Liberty Mutual Insurance.

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           <i> In 1906,</i>
  <i> radio brought us together.</i>

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  is provided by the National
 Endowment for the Humanities,

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    bringing you the stories
        that define us.

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      <i> American Experience</i>
is also made possible

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       by the Corporation
    for Public Broadcasting

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and by contributions to your PBS
 station from viewers like you.

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         FLOYD NORMAN:
        Every time Walt
     walked down a hallway,

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  he would give a loud cough.

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     It was a warning sign

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 so we would know that the boss
        was in the area.

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        RICHARD SHERMAN:
   In Bambi, there's a line:

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   when man is in the forest,
       there was danger.

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    You have to be worried.

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We'd hear Walt coughing
     coming down the hall.

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 And one of the guys would say,
    "Man is in the forest,"

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and we'd all get ready for Walt.

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          ROLLY CRUMP:
   He walked through the door
and, you know, pins would drop.

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  You couldn't hear anything.

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       His personal power
     walked right with him.

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            SHERMAN:
  There was no joking around.

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  He would sit down, he'd say,
  "Okay, guys, what you got?"

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        And I would say,
     "I got a great idea,"

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and Walt would say,

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        "We'll tell you
   if you have a great idea.

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       You have an<i> idea."</i>

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           NARRATOR:
Walt Disney was an international
celebrity by the time he was 30,

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        hailed a genius
       before he was 40,

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     with honorary degrees
     from Harvard and Yale.

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        He built a media
   and entertainment company

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 that stands as one of the most
    powerful on the planet.

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 This little fellow is Bashful.

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           NARRATOR:
Won more Academy Awards
    than anybody in history,

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      created a cinematic
          art form...

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           (sneezes)

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           NARRATOR:
 ...and invented a new kind of
 American vacation destination.

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      Disney's work counts
adoring fans on every continent

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  and critics who decried its
smooth façade of sentimentality

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     and stubborn optimism,

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     its feel-good rewrite
      of American history.

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          RON SUSKIND:
Disney's a Rorschach in America.

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The love and hate,
      it's off the charts.

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But God, you have got to respect
    the energy of this guy.

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I mean, he is lunging every day
          of his life.

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  Well, kids, Babes in Toyland
          is finished,

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and now it's time to celebrate!

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       RICHARD SCHICKEL:
     Nobody who does stuff
    on the scale that he did

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   is a sweetheart of a guy.

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    I think he wanted to be
      what his image was.

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   He wanted to be thought of

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  as a "hale fellow well met,"
good-natured.

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         But he wasn't.

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          NEAL GABLER:
  Walt Disney is in many ways
       a very dark soul.

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       And one could say
      that he fought that,

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     fought that darkness,
    tried to find the light.

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         SARAH NILSEN:
 He is feeling so much inside,

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  and he wants people to feel
    what he feels is inside.

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  He could take those feelings

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      that were so central
         to who he was,

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      put them on screen,
and allow other people

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       to also feel them
        along with him.

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            GABLER:
    Most successful people,

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    they get one thing right
         and that's it.

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 But Walt Disney was a guy who
got a whole lot of things right.

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  What did this guy understand
    about the human psyche?

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           SCHICKEL:
Walt Disney was as driven a man
  as I've ever met in my life.

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What he really wanted to do was,

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       as we used to say
      in the Middle West,

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make a name for himself.

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        He had a sort of
   undifferentiated ambition.

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   He wanted to be somebody,
        that's for sure.

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           NARRATOR:
  Walt Disney was still a few
months shy of his 18th birthday

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  when he returned from France

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   after the First World War
            in 1919,

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 and he was already better off

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  than most of the two million
      other American boys

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      streaming back home.

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     "Diz," as his friends
          called him,

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had banked over $500
and had a place waiting for him

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  at a Chicago jelly factory,
where his father was part-owner.

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   The job offer was the best

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    most working-class boys
        could hope for,

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  but Walt Disney was not like
    most working-class boys.

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           DON HAHN:
    He's got all these ideas
 and he starts acting on them.

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   And where most people were
      "ready, aim, fire,"

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          he was like,
      "ready, fire, aim."

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      You know, he's like,
"Let's go."

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     Walt loved attention.

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      He was an extrovert.

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         He loved to be
    the center of attention.

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   He wants to be an artist.

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   And I think he discovered
      something early on:

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    that talent was his way
     of getting attention.

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    He's a man of the times,
  and the times are exciting.

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           NARRATOR:
      Walt was determined
      to do work he loved,

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and he had been an enthusiastic
     artist and cartoonist

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from the time he was little.

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         He took a pass
   on factory work in Chicago

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           and headed
    for Kansas City instead,

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       where he had spent
      much of his boyhood.

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     He moved into a house
 with two of his older brothers

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and landed a job as a commercial
 artist for a local ad company.

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Soon he was making enough money
    for fashionable clothes,

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          fine cigars,
   meals at nice restaurants,

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     and near-nightly trips
      to the movie houses

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springing up all over town.

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 Disney's evenings in these new
  palaces of celluloid fantasy

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     included at least one
         feature film,

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     maybe a serial short,

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          a newsreel,
and an animated cartoon or two.

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           TOM SITO:
       It was an exciting
    and very dynamic medium.

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  The industry was very young.

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   There was no regulations,

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   no customs, no conformity.

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It was wide open to what people
     wanted to make of it.

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           NARRATOR:
Disney was captivated.

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    His only formal training

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        was a few months
  at an art school in Chicago

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and a course at the Kansas City
         Art Institute,

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      but he was convinced
      he could make better

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    than what he was seeing.

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         He checked out
    from the public library

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      Eadweard Muybridge's
   <i> Human Figures in Motion.</i>

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   Then he borrowed a volume

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    that laid out the basics
  of animation in filmmaking.

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       Disney read about
roughing out a storyline,

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      creating characters,
     and carefully drawing

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     each individual frame
    onto white linen paper.

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 By mounting each frame on pegs
  just as the book instructed

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and shooting them one at a time,

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       he began to create
   the illusion of movement.

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         SARAH NILSEN:
         He was really
      into modern culture.

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The pleasure of somehow engaging

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 with the potential of cinema,
   the potential of animation

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      was exciting to him.

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And he had this little ability
            to draw.

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        He had a knack.

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           NARRATOR:
     Disney's first efforts

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  were short cartoons he made
     on nights and weekends

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 with a film camera he borrowed
from his boss at the ad company.

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"I gagged 'em up to beat hell,"
         he would say,

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 and then sold them to a small
Kansas City-based theater chain.

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            The fees
  didn't even cover his costs,

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  but Disney gained something
   more important than money:

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attention, excitement,
      a whiff of destiny.

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     "My first bit of fame
     came there," he said.

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          "I got to be
      a little celebrity."

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           At age 20,
    Disney quit his day job

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     and started a company:

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      Laugh-O-Grams, Inc.,
Walter Elias Disney, president.

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      He hired a salesman,
      a business manager,

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   and four young apprentice
           animators.

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             HAHN:
         I can imagine
      a young Walt Disney

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just, you know,
       waking up at dawn

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 and going out with his friends
          and saying,

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    "Well, let's shoot this,
       let's film this."

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    And that kind of hunger
for not just expressing himself,

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  but finding out who he was.

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     He couldn't do enough.

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         STEVEN WATTS:
   He has stars in his eyes.

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  He thinks he can do anything
 and everything that he wants.

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       He has big plans.

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 He's gonna conquer the world.

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           NARRATOR:
Just as he was beginning
      to get some traction

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 in the modern movie industry,

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     Walt's parents arrived
         from Chicago.

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     Elias and Flora Disney
    moved in with their sons

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        because they had
     nowhere else to turn.

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 The jelly factory had failed,

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   the latest in a long line
 of Elias's business disasters.

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     While Disney's mother
     tried to be supportive

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     of Walt's new career,
   his father took little joy

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     in his youngest son's
minor celebrity.

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   He told Walt not to expect
    his new success to last.

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      Walt began to worry
    he was going to end up,

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          once again,
   in service to his father.

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00:11:51,244 --> 00:11:54,012
      Disney lived a very,
    very difficult existence

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00:11:54,014 --> 00:11:55,513
     in Missouri as a kid.

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     He works all the time.

194
00:11:58,351 --> 00:12:01,986
  His father is an imperious,
          withholding,

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00:12:01,988 --> 00:12:04,889
   kind of brutal character.

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00:12:04,891 --> 00:12:08,393
     "You're here to work,
     and work to help me."

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00:12:08,395 --> 00:12:10,795
          That's Dad.

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00:12:19,439 --> 00:12:24,242
            GABLER:
It's hard to find a father
 and son who are more different

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00:12:24,244 --> 00:12:28,346
       than Elias Disney
        and Walt Disney.

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  Walt Disney was fun-loving.

201
00:12:30,884 --> 00:12:34,853
   He loved practical jokes.

202
00:12:34,855 --> 00:12:40,258
          He was a kid
     who just loved people.

203
00:12:40,260 --> 00:12:47,398
 Walt was antithetical to Elias
    not only by temperament,

204
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,701
       but also by will.

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00:12:49,703 --> 00:12:53,538
He determined, "I'm going to be
      everything he isn't.

206
00:12:53,540 --> 00:12:57,408
        "I'm going to be
     the antithesis of him.

207
00:12:57,410 --> 00:12:59,344
       "Look at his life.

208
00:12:59,346 --> 00:13:01,813
I don't want to live that life."

209
00:13:01,815 --> 00:13:07,118
He survives a life
  of deprivation, of have not,

210
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:11,656
  of no time to do the things
     that kids should do--

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00:13:11,658 --> 00:13:13,825
      play, enjoy, laugh.

212
00:13:13,827 --> 00:13:17,996
     And the minute he gets
  into full upright adulthood,

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00:13:17,998 --> 00:13:21,666
 whether he says it to himself
       or not, he's like,

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   "I am going to make amends
     for that in some way.

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00:13:25,872 --> 00:13:27,605
       "I don't know how,

216
00:13:27,607 --> 00:13:31,876
   but I yearn for the things
 that I didn't get as a child."

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00:13:44,825 --> 00:13:47,258
           NARRATOR:
         Disney and his
       Laugh-O-Grams crew

218
00:13:47,260 --> 00:13:51,196
secured a contract for six
   animated fairytale shorts,

219
00:13:51,198 --> 00:13:53,765
    but when they delivered
           the work,

220
00:13:53,767 --> 00:13:57,101
 the distributor stiffed them.

221
00:13:57,103 --> 00:13:59,671
      Walt could no longer
          make payroll

222
00:13:59,673 --> 00:14:02,240
 or pay the rent on his office,

223
00:14:02,242 --> 00:14:04,943
        the phone bill,
      the electrical bill.

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00:14:04,945 --> 00:14:07,946
   Creditors began circling,
      while Walt insisted

225
00:14:07,948 --> 00:14:10,882
  he had discovered the means
      for a daring escape,

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00:14:10,884 --> 00:14:13,251
       which he explained
     in a Hail Mary letter

227
00:14:13,253 --> 00:14:17,355
to one of the best-known cartoon
distributors in New York.

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00:14:17,357 --> 00:14:20,158
    "We have just discovered
    something new and clever

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00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,862
     in animated cartoons,"
         Disney wrote.

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00:14:23,864 --> 00:14:27,265
   His big idea was to insert
     footage of a real girl

231
00:14:27,267 --> 00:14:28,733
     into animated scenes.

232
00:14:28,735 --> 00:14:33,972
Alice in Cartoonland, he crowed,
  was "bound to be a winner."

233
00:14:33,974 --> 00:14:37,508
   "He was always optimistic
       about his ability

234
00:14:37,510 --> 00:14:39,711
      and about the value
         of his ideas,"

235
00:14:39,713 --> 00:14:42,213
   Disney's business manager
           recalled.

236
00:14:42,215 --> 00:14:44,082
    "He believed in himself

237
00:14:44,084 --> 00:14:48,620
and he believed in what
 he was trying to accomplish."

238
00:14:48,622 --> 00:14:52,957
Walt was able to scrape together
        just enough cash

239
00:14:52,959 --> 00:14:54,759
       to complete Alice.

240
00:14:54,761 --> 00:14:58,496
    He finished his cartoon
  experiment with little help

241
00:14:58,498 --> 00:15:01,966
 while sleeping at the office,
 bathing at the train station,

242
00:15:01,968 --> 00:15:04,168
   subsisting on canned beans

243
00:15:04,170 --> 00:15:06,437
        and the charity
       of a Greek diner.

244
00:15:06,439 --> 00:15:09,941
        But by the time
 the cartoon short was finished

245
00:15:09,943 --> 00:15:14,112
     in the summer of 1923,
        it was too late.

246
00:15:14,114 --> 00:15:17,682
     His company was headed
for bankruptcy court.

247
00:15:17,684 --> 00:15:22,420
 Alice in Cartoonland would not
    save Laugh-O-Grams, Inc.

248
00:15:22,422 --> 00:15:27,725
    Walt Disney had suffered
    his first real failure.

249
00:15:27,727 --> 00:15:32,730
He packed his cardboard suitcase
     with two spare shirts

250
00:15:32,732 --> 00:15:35,366
       and what was left
    of his drawing supplies,

251
00:15:35,368 --> 00:15:37,702
 then headed for Union Station,

252
00:15:37,704 --> 00:15:40,371
    where he treated himself
    to a first-class ticket

253
00:15:40,373 --> 00:15:42,774
        on the Santa Fe
      California Limited,

254
00:15:42,776 --> 00:15:45,944
        straight through
        to Los Angeles.

255
00:15:55,121 --> 00:16:01,059
             WATTS:
Hollywood in the 1920s
   is a beacon of the future.

256
00:16:01,061 --> 00:16:05,330
     It's this golden city
       on the West Coast.

257
00:16:05,332 --> 00:16:10,435
    Hollywood, Los Angeles,
 that's where the action is at.

258
00:16:10,437 --> 00:16:13,871
And I think Disney senses that,
and that's where he wants to be.

259
00:16:13,873 --> 00:16:16,741
            GABLER:
       He's not thinking
      about animation now.

260
00:16:16,743 --> 00:16:18,977
      He's already failed
        with animation.

261
00:16:18,979 --> 00:16:21,245
      So the next step is,
   "I'm going to go out here

262
00:16:21,247 --> 00:16:22,880
    "and I'm going to become
       a movie director.

263
00:16:22,882 --> 00:16:24,582
That's what I'm going to do."

264
00:16:26,686 --> 00:16:29,053
           NARRATOR:
     The wannabe movie man

265
00:16:29,055 --> 00:16:33,458
 walked past Charlie Chaplin's
  studio along La Brea Avenue,

266
00:16:33,460 --> 00:16:40,131
rode the trolley to Culver City
to see the set used in<i> Ben-Hur,</i>

267
00:16:40,133 --> 00:16:43,801
       and talked his way
    onto the Universal lot,

268
00:16:43,803 --> 00:16:48,106
    where he wandered around
      late into the night.

269
00:16:48,108 --> 00:16:50,475
   But after weeks of effort,

270
00:16:50,477 --> 00:16:54,379
     Walt had not been able
  to talk his way into a job.

271
00:16:54,381 --> 00:16:56,180
     His older brother Roy,

272
00:16:56,182 --> 00:16:58,216
  who had moved to Los Angeles
for health reasons,

273
00:16:58,218 --> 00:16:59,751
      had little patience

274
00:16:59,753 --> 00:17:03,621
for Walt's insistence on finding
 a place in the movie business.

275
00:17:03,623 --> 00:17:07,191
  Roy hadn't been star-struck
          on arrival.

276
00:17:07,193 --> 00:17:09,594
    He sold vacuum cleaners
          door-to-door

277
00:17:09,596 --> 00:17:12,830
   when he first got to town,
 and he admonished his brother

278
00:17:12,832 --> 00:17:17,201
    to find a similar job--
         one that paid.

279
00:17:19,806 --> 00:17:22,707
Walt was considering this advice

280
00:17:22,709 --> 00:17:26,577
   when a cartoon distributor
  from New York got in touch.

281
00:17:26,579 --> 00:17:30,314
       Margaret Winkler,
the only woman in the business,

282
00:17:30,316 --> 00:17:33,951
     had remembered Walt's
   Alice in Cartoonland pitch

283
00:17:33,953 --> 00:17:36,921
     and wanted to see how
 the young animator's big idea

284
00:17:36,923 --> 00:17:38,656
        had turned out.

285
00:17:53,206 --> 00:17:56,107
   Soon after Disney shipped
         his Alice reel

286
00:17:56,109 --> 00:17:58,376
      to Winkler's office
          in New York,

287
00:17:58,378 --> 00:18:00,945
        the distributor
      wired back an offer.

288
00:18:00,947 --> 00:18:03,915
        She wanted Walt
    to make 12 Alice shorts,

289
00:18:03,917 --> 00:18:06,551
     and was willing to pay
      $1,500 per episode.

290
00:18:10,356 --> 00:18:13,257
            GABLER:
  When he gets that telegram,
the first thing he does is

291
00:18:13,259 --> 00:18:15,560
        he goes to visit
        his brother Roy.

292
00:18:15,562 --> 00:18:19,063
       And Walt is waving
     this telegram, saying,

293
00:18:19,065 --> 00:18:22,767
"Look! We've got a chance here!"

294
00:18:22,769 --> 00:18:25,770
His brother is not enthusiastic.

295
00:18:25,772 --> 00:18:29,207
His brother has no entertainment
     ambitions whatsoever.

296
00:18:29,209 --> 00:18:31,008
 His brother is the pragmatist.

297
00:18:31,010 --> 00:18:34,979
    But Walt says, you know,
        "We can do this.

298
00:18:34,981 --> 00:18:37,815
     I need you for this."

299
00:18:37,817 --> 00:18:41,619
     Roy, as much as he was
          a naysayer,

300
00:18:41,621 --> 00:18:47,758
he loved the enthusiasm of Walt,
and I think he thrived on it.

301
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,528
 He got joy from participating

302
00:18:50,530 --> 00:18:54,198
  in the kind of wild schemes
         of his brother

303
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,469
        that he himself
  would never have concocted.

304
00:18:58,471 --> 00:19:02,306
        Roy got release,

305
00:19:02,308 --> 00:19:04,942
    and Walt got protection.

306
00:19:04,944 --> 00:19:08,146
           NARRATOR:
  The two brothers scraped up
         a little cash

307
00:19:08,148 --> 00:19:11,682
   from friends and relatives
 and set up a two-man operation

308
00:19:11,684 --> 00:19:14,218
          in the back
    of a real estate office.

309
00:19:14,220 --> 00:19:16,821
      Walt was the artist
         and idea man;

310
00:19:16,823 --> 00:19:19,257
Roy was the fundraiser,
        the bookkeeper,

311
00:19:19,259 --> 00:19:21,726
and the all-around utility man.

312
00:19:21,728 --> 00:19:23,995
    But Walt recognized that

313
00:19:23,997 --> 00:19:27,832
   he needed the kind of help
     Roy could not provide.

314
00:19:27,834 --> 00:19:31,636
 So he convinced an old friend
  and collaborator, Ub Iwerks,

315
00:19:31,638 --> 00:19:35,506
  to relocate from Kansas City
        to Los Angeles.

316
00:19:35,508 --> 00:19:38,276
             HAHN:
      Walt loves to draw,
        and he can draw,

317
00:19:38,278 --> 00:19:40,044
     and he gets attention
          by drawing.

318
00:19:40,046 --> 00:19:42,113
    But... how do I put this
          discreetly?

319
00:19:42,115 --> 00:19:44,482
Walt Disney wasn't the best
      artist in the world.

320
00:19:44,484 --> 00:19:46,551
   He grew up in an era of...
      age of illustrators,

321
00:19:46,553 --> 00:19:48,653
  was surrounded by great art.

322
00:19:48,655 --> 00:19:50,121
        He wasn't that.

323
00:19:50,123 --> 00:19:52,023
    And I think he saw that
        pretty early on.

324
00:19:52,025 --> 00:19:55,126
         ERIC SMOODIN:
      Iwerks is incredible
       and can work fast.

325
00:19:55,128 --> 00:19:56,827
     So it's an early sign

326
00:19:56,829 --> 00:19:59,397
    that Disney always wants
   to work with the very best

327
00:19:59,399 --> 00:20:01,499
        and isn't afraid
    of working with someone

328
00:20:01,501 --> 00:20:03,834
    who's better than he is
at many things.

329
00:20:07,540 --> 00:20:10,975
           NARRATOR:
     Iwerks began restyling
 the Alice's Wonderland shorts

330
00:20:10,977 --> 00:20:13,311
     as soon as he arrived,

331
00:20:13,313 --> 00:20:15,913
         creating films
 with less emphasis on the girl

332
00:20:15,915 --> 00:20:17,848
    and more on the cartoon
          characters.

333
00:20:20,286 --> 00:20:23,421
    The Disneys' distributor
      loved the new look.

334
00:20:23,423 --> 00:20:25,523
 They wanted more, and faster,

335
00:20:25,525 --> 00:20:28,292
    and were willing to pay
    good money to get them.

336
00:20:28,294 --> 00:20:31,696
      Walt recruited more
 of his old gang from Missouri,

337
00:20:31,698 --> 00:20:34,599
    then hired some locals,
and the number of employees

338
00:20:34,601 --> 00:20:37,768
      at the Disney studio
      swelled to a dozen.

339
00:20:37,770 --> 00:20:39,904
             WATTS:
         The difference
     between Laugh-O-Grams

340
00:20:39,906 --> 00:20:41,806
  and Disney Brothers is Roy.

341
00:20:41,808 --> 00:20:45,176
     Roy was in the latter,
 and he was not in the former.

342
00:20:45,178 --> 00:20:47,845
  And from the very beginning,

343
00:20:47,847 --> 00:20:51,716
I think Roy helped put financial
and business structure in place

344
00:20:51,718 --> 00:20:56,053
 that grounded the enterprise.

345
00:20:56,055 --> 00:20:59,056
           NARRATOR:
      The brothers enjoyed
      their early success

346
00:20:59,058 --> 00:21:01,726
  and expected it to continue.

347
00:21:01,728 --> 00:21:07,999
Roy bought a stolid new sedan;
  Walt a snazzy Moon Roadster.

348
00:21:08,001 --> 00:21:11,335
 They purchased adjoining lots

349
00:21:11,337 --> 00:21:14,238
      and built new houses
    next door to each other.

350
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,110
     In the spring of 1925,
   Roy married Edna Francis,

351
00:21:19,112 --> 00:21:23,848
    his longtime sweetheart
       from Kansas City.

352
00:21:32,959 --> 00:21:35,626
    Walt, sporting a rakish
       pencil moustache,

353
00:21:35,628 --> 00:21:37,628
       acted as best man

354
00:21:37,630 --> 00:21:41,332
while escorting his girlfriend,
        Lillian Bounds.

355
00:21:41,334 --> 00:21:43,768
       The couple had met
         in the office,

356
00:21:43,770 --> 00:21:45,903
    when Lillian was working
as an inker

357
00:21:45,905 --> 00:21:48,639
 at the Disney Brothers Studio.

358
00:21:48,641 --> 00:21:52,910
 "He just had no inhibitions,"
     Lillian said of Walt.

359
00:21:52,912 --> 00:21:55,046
  "He was completely natural.

360
00:21:55,048 --> 00:21:56,981
          He was fun."

361
00:22:00,219 --> 00:22:02,720
          Three months
 after Roy and Edna's wedding,

362
00:22:02,722 --> 00:22:06,857
Walt and Lillian tied the knot.

363
00:22:06,859 --> 00:22:10,328
   The Disney Brothers Studio
        was churning out

364
00:22:10,330 --> 00:22:15,232
a new Alice short every 16 days
   at the beginning of 1926,

365
00:22:15,234 --> 00:22:18,035
  and Walt and Roy were ready
     to hang their shingle

366
00:22:18,037 --> 00:22:19,670
  on a more spacious building

367
00:22:19,672 --> 00:22:23,341
in the Silver Lake neighborhood
        of Los Angeles.

368
00:22:23,343 --> 00:22:25,810
        When they moved
from the Disney Brothers Studio

369
00:22:25,812 --> 00:22:28,346
to the Hyperion Avenue facility,

370
00:22:28,348 --> 00:22:31,749
    a very striking and very
    revealing thing happens.

371
00:22:31,751 --> 00:22:35,619
 Walt goes to Roy and he says,
     "I've made a decision,

372
00:22:35,621 --> 00:22:37,955
     "and that decision is
          from hence,

373
00:22:37,957 --> 00:22:41,258
      "this will be called
    the Walt Disney Studio,

374
00:22:41,260 --> 00:22:45,496
not the Disney Brothers Studio."

375
00:22:45,498 --> 00:22:47,431
Walt Disney believed that it was

376
00:22:47,433 --> 00:22:51,068
    his vision of creativity
and entertainment

377
00:22:51,070 --> 00:22:53,871
      that was the engine
      of this enterprise,

378
00:22:53,873 --> 00:22:56,307
and that's what was being sold.

379
00:23:01,814 --> 00:23:04,949
           NARRATOR:
   Disney was understandably
    obsessed with his rivals

380
00:23:04,951 --> 00:23:09,286
    in the cartoon industry
      by the end of 1926.

381
00:23:09,288 --> 00:23:12,456
He could tell his Alice pictures
   were running out of steam

382
00:23:12,458 --> 00:23:16,293
and spent much of his free time
     in darkened theaters,

383
00:23:16,295 --> 00:23:19,764
 assessing the work of the top
   New York-based animators:

384
00:23:19,766 --> 00:23:23,033
     the Fleischer Brothers
       and Pat Sullivan.

385
00:23:23,035 --> 00:23:27,505
He was taking aim at the
   industry's gold standard:

386
00:23:27,507 --> 00:23:29,440
   Sullivan's<i> Felix the Cat.</i>

387
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,247
    If you look at animation
        at that period,

388
00:23:36,249 --> 00:23:39,116
     it's extremely crude,
      it's really violent,

389
00:23:39,118 --> 00:23:41,552
    it's really gag driven,
      and it's very urban.

390
00:23:45,458 --> 00:23:47,158
      These are older men

391
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,628
     making kind of crude,
        hard animation.

392
00:23:50,630 --> 00:23:52,663
      And Disney steps in
       as this young guy

393
00:23:52,665 --> 00:23:55,199
  and he's like, "Okay, well,
    I see what you're doing,

394
00:23:55,201 --> 00:23:58,369
  "I'll try this out, and then
I'll figure out my own voice

395
00:23:58,371 --> 00:24:01,305
in my other influences around me
       to transform it."

396
00:24:03,109 --> 00:24:05,443
           NARRATOR:
   The key to challenging the
  supremacy of Felix the Cat,

397
00:24:05,445 --> 00:24:06,944
         Walt believed,

398
00:24:06,946 --> 00:24:11,081
was creating his own compelling
    and likeable character.

399
00:24:11,083 --> 00:24:14,018
 Disney's distributor suggested
       he try a rabbit--

400
00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:16,854
 "Too many cats on the market."

401
00:24:21,394 --> 00:24:24,695
  Iwerks took charge of Oswald
    the Lucky Rabbit's look

402
00:24:24,697 --> 00:24:27,598
       while Disney wrote
  the storylines and the gags.

403
00:24:37,477 --> 00:24:40,678
The bosses at Universal Pictures
         were so taken

404
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,813
    with the first sketches
           of Oswald,

405
00:24:42,815 --> 00:24:46,750
    they offered a contract
        for 26 episodes.

406
00:24:46,752 --> 00:24:49,119
      Walt Disney Studios
   seemed to be riding high.

407
00:24:51,390 --> 00:24:54,692
    But by the time the team
   put the finishing touches

408
00:24:54,694 --> 00:24:57,394
       on the first order
       of Oswald shorts,

409
00:24:57,396 --> 00:25:00,998
the animators were increasingly
   frustrated with the boss.

410
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,968
   The old Kansas City hands
     who had helped Disney

411
00:25:03,970 --> 00:25:07,037
  get started in the business,
and often without pay,

412
00:25:07,039 --> 00:25:09,907
  were working into the night
   and through the weekends,

413
00:25:09,909 --> 00:25:12,343
     while Walt was taking
       much of the money

414
00:25:12,345 --> 00:25:15,279
    and most of the credit.

415
00:25:15,281 --> 00:25:19,450
             WATTS:
     I think the two sides
       of Disney emerge.

416
00:25:19,452 --> 00:25:23,854
    You have on the one hand
       Walt the inspirer.

417
00:25:23,856 --> 00:25:26,490
    The other side of Disney
     was Disney the driver,

418
00:25:26,492 --> 00:25:30,895
       who demanded work,
    who demanded creativity,

419
00:25:30,897 --> 00:25:32,663
     demanded productivity.

420
00:25:32,665 --> 00:25:36,033
         And if people
didn't meet his standards,

421
00:25:36,035 --> 00:25:40,070
   he could come down on you
     like a ton of bricks.

422
00:25:41,841 --> 00:25:43,474
           NARRATOR:
         Charles Mintz,

423
00:25:43,476 --> 00:25:46,143
 Margaret Winkler's new husband
     and business partner,

424
00:25:46,145 --> 00:25:49,179
      saw an opportunity,
  emboldened by the knowledge

425
00:25:49,181 --> 00:25:51,015
    that he owned the rights
           to Oswald

426
00:25:51,017 --> 00:25:54,184
and the Disney brothers did not.

427
00:25:54,186 --> 00:25:58,289
            GABLER:
 Ub Iwerks comes to Walt Disney
           and says,

428
00:25:58,291 --> 00:26:01,759
  "Walt, I've been approached
        by Charles Mintz

429
00:26:01,761 --> 00:26:05,396
"to essentially leave you
  and to go to work for Mintz.

430
00:26:05,398 --> 00:26:07,131
   "And I'm not the only one.

431
00:26:07,133 --> 00:26:09,066
  "All of the animators have.

432
00:26:09,068 --> 00:26:11,201
  But they haven't told you."

433
00:26:11,203 --> 00:26:12,903
             WATTS:
   Disney doesn't believe it.

434
00:26:12,905 --> 00:26:15,139
   He just sort of pooh-poohs
        the whole thing

435
00:26:15,141 --> 00:26:17,207
   and doesn't really believe
           Ub Iwerks,

436
00:26:17,209 --> 00:26:20,044
     who says, "No, there's
    a problem brewing here."

437
00:26:22,882 --> 00:26:27,551
           NARRATOR:
     Walt went to New York
      in February of 1928

438
00:26:27,553 --> 00:26:30,321
    with big hopes for a new
contract from Mintz.

439
00:26:30,323 --> 00:26:35,292
  But it only took a few days
     for Disney to realize

440
00:26:35,294 --> 00:26:39,063
  that Iwerks had been right:
   Mintz had already poached

441
00:26:39,065 --> 00:26:41,999
 almost all of Disney's artists
         except for Ub,

442
00:26:42,001 --> 00:26:45,803
 and the distributor told Walt
     he was going to go on

443
00:26:45,805 --> 00:26:49,807
   making the Oswald cartoons
          without him.

444
00:26:49,809 --> 00:26:53,043
            NILSEN:
   Things are unfolding that
 most people would understand,

445
00:26:53,045 --> 00:26:56,080
    and Disney comes into it
       shockingly naïve.

446
00:26:56,082 --> 00:26:59,083
It was pretty clear that people
were unhappy around him,

447
00:26:59,085 --> 00:27:00,818
  that he was pretty oblivious
            to that.

448
00:27:00,820 --> 00:27:04,588
He's very driven by his vision,

449
00:27:04,590 --> 00:27:08,158
and when these kind of business
        failings occur,

450
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:12,262
        he is completely
       caught off guard.

451
00:27:12,264 --> 00:27:15,366
           NARRATOR:
 When Disney boarded the train

452
00:27:15,368 --> 00:27:17,534
       for the trip back
        to Los Angeles,

453
00:27:17,536 --> 00:27:19,870
       he was despondent.

454
00:27:19,872 --> 00:27:23,340
     Almost all of his team
       had abandoned him.

455
00:27:23,342 --> 00:27:27,678
     He had no distributor,
           no Oswald,

456
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,981
     and very little money
in the bank.

457
00:27:30,983 --> 00:27:34,118
             HAHN:
       Oswald the Rabbit
    gets taken away from him

458
00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:36,987
           like a kid
    taking your lunch money.

459
00:27:36,989 --> 00:27:40,624
  They were looking the other
direction, and Oswald was gone.

460
00:27:50,469 --> 00:27:53,971
           NARRATOR:
         It was a long
 cross-country ride for Disney.

461
00:27:53,973 --> 00:27:58,542
  The train made stops at most
of the big cities along the way

462
00:27:58,544 --> 00:28:02,846
   and blew through countless
 other small towns on the line.

463
00:28:02,848 --> 00:28:08,485
        One of them was
      Marceline, Missouri.

464
00:28:08,487 --> 00:28:11,689
Disney had first seen Marceline
      at the age of four,

465
00:28:11,691 --> 00:28:14,958
    when his father had fled
    the big city of Chicago

466
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,228
   and moved him, his mother,
   his three older brothers,

467
00:28:18,230 --> 00:28:21,865
      and his baby sister
  to a little farmstead there.

468
00:28:21,867 --> 00:28:26,136
     It was a place Disney
         never forgot.

469
00:28:26,138 --> 00:28:30,407
        (birds chirping)

470
00:28:32,678 --> 00:28:35,979
             WATTS:
 Walt was living in the country
   on the edge of this town,

471
00:28:35,981 --> 00:28:39,083
and he was surrounded by nature.

472
00:28:39,085 --> 00:28:42,186
He could romp through the woods
  and run through the fields.

473
00:28:42,188 --> 00:28:45,355
There were farm animals around,
     and he loved animals.

474
00:28:45,357 --> 00:28:48,358
         Had a pet dog,
      pigs, cows, horses.

475
00:28:50,463 --> 00:28:55,532
            NILSEN:
  Marceline represents really
the one moment in his childhood

476
00:28:55,534 --> 00:28:57,367
     where he was a child,

477
00:28:57,369 --> 00:28:59,770
   the place where he really
    was allowed to be free,

478
00:28:59,772 --> 00:29:03,607
   where he wasn't being told
     what to do by his dad.

479
00:29:03,609 --> 00:29:08,479
            SUSKIND:
  Marceline was this seemingly
         idyllic place

480
00:29:08,481 --> 00:29:11,081
hitting Disney at a certain age.

481
00:29:11,083 --> 00:29:14,785
      You know, the rhythm
and the beat of the place

482
00:29:14,787 --> 00:29:18,756
    is just right for a kid.

483
00:29:18,758 --> 00:29:21,191
           It's like
  the last breath of something

484
00:29:21,193 --> 00:29:24,728
     that seems to resemble
    a traditional childhood.

485
00:29:28,134 --> 00:29:31,668
           NARRATOR:
   The Disney family business
        was a tough go.

486
00:29:31,670 --> 00:29:34,371
 The margins were always slim,

487
00:29:34,373 --> 00:29:37,875
     and Elias wasn't much
          of a farmer.

488
00:29:37,877 --> 00:29:40,010
        Just five years
      after they arrived,

489
00:29:40,012 --> 00:29:44,148
 Disney's father announced that
the family was pulling up stakes

490
00:29:44,150 --> 00:29:49,219
 and heading back to the city.

491
00:29:49,221 --> 00:29:51,388
DISNEY (on recording):
     My dad sold the farm,

492
00:29:51,390 --> 00:29:54,291
   but then he had to auction
   all the stock and things.

493
00:29:54,293 --> 00:29:57,094
     And it was in the cold
         of the winter,

494
00:29:57,096 --> 00:30:01,632
 and I remember Roy and myself
 going out and going all around

495
00:30:01,634 --> 00:30:05,169
 to the different little towns
          and places,

496
00:30:05,171 --> 00:30:10,007
    tacking up these posters
        of the auction.

497
00:30:10,009 --> 00:30:11,975
            GABLER:
   Walt Disney once said that

498
00:30:11,977 --> 00:30:14,211
     he'll never forget his
       days in Marceline,

499
00:30:14,213 --> 00:30:16,847
and almost everything important
that happened to him

500
00:30:16,849 --> 00:30:18,849
     happened in Marceline.

501
00:30:18,851 --> 00:30:23,821
But I think that has to include
 also the losing of Marceline.

502
00:30:43,309 --> 00:30:47,010
           NARRATOR:
     When Walt and Lillian
    arrived at Union Station

503
00:30:47,012 --> 00:30:49,913
         in Los Angeles
       in mid-March 1928,

504
00:30:49,915 --> 00:30:52,749
       Ub Iwerks detected
      none of his friend's

505
00:30:52,751 --> 00:30:55,552
      trademark good cheer
        and enthusiasm.

506
00:30:55,554 --> 00:30:59,556
    He looked like he'd just
     run into a stone wall,

507
00:30:59,558 --> 00:31:01,124
         Ub would say.

508
00:31:01,126 --> 00:31:03,093
            GABLER:
 Coming from the Disney family,

509
00:31:03,095 --> 00:31:07,130
where his father had suffered
  so many successive failures,

510
00:31:07,132 --> 00:31:11,935
I think you can only imagine the
impact that had on Walt Disney.

511
00:31:11,937 --> 00:31:16,073
    Failure was a big thing
     in the Disney family.

512
00:31:16,075 --> 00:31:20,143
            NILSEN:
 Where his dad just continually
 gets more and more depressed,

513
00:31:20,145 --> 00:31:22,546
        quits basically,
         Walt steps up.

514
00:31:22,548 --> 00:31:23,714
             Boom.

515
00:31:23,716 --> 00:31:25,549
  "You think Oswald was good?

516
00:31:25,551 --> 00:31:27,050
"I can do much better than that.

517
00:31:27,052 --> 00:31:30,988
         I'll show you
  what I'm capable of doing."

518
00:31:30,990 --> 00:31:33,857
           NARRATOR:
Disney held daily
     brainstorming sessions

519
00:31:33,859 --> 00:31:36,326
        with Roy and Ub
   and a few other loyalists

520
00:31:36,328 --> 00:31:38,829
 who had not signed with Mintz.

521
00:31:38,831 --> 00:31:42,266
     Intent on dreaming up
   a bankable new character,

522
00:31:42,268 --> 00:31:45,535
    and one they would own,
     Disney's skeleton team

523
00:31:45,537 --> 00:31:48,605
   scoured popular magazines
        for inspiration,

524
00:31:48,607 --> 00:31:50,908
 bounced ideas off one another,

525
00:31:50,910 --> 00:31:53,110
        and drew figures
      on their sketchpads

526
00:31:53,112 --> 00:31:56,046
until something began to emerge.

527
00:31:56,048 --> 00:32:01,051
"Pear-shaped body, ball on top,
    a couple of thin legs,"

528
00:32:01,053 --> 00:32:02,986
Iwerks later explained.

529
00:32:02,988 --> 00:32:05,923
     "You gave it long ears
      and it was a rabbit.

530
00:32:05,925 --> 00:32:07,791
   "Short ears, it was a cat.

531
00:32:07,793 --> 00:32:12,129
    With an elongated nose,
      it became a mouse."

532
00:32:12,131 --> 00:32:15,332
         Walt suggested
    they name him Mortimer.

533
00:32:15,334 --> 00:32:17,901
        Lillian thought
       that was terrible

534
00:32:17,903 --> 00:32:20,804
   and came up with "Mickey."

535
00:32:20,806 --> 00:32:26,476
 As with Oswald, Ub took charge
      of the mouse's look.

536
00:32:26,478 --> 00:32:29,279
 Walt gave him his personality.

537
00:32:29,281 --> 00:32:31,315
        He doesn't have
     the financial backing

538
00:32:31,317 --> 00:32:33,150
           to support
what it is he's doing.

539
00:32:33,152 --> 00:32:36,820
         He wants to be
   a bigger voice than he is.

540
00:32:36,822 --> 00:32:39,923
  And it's a perfect metaphor:
  him being this small mouse,

541
00:32:39,925 --> 00:32:43,627
  this seemingly insignificant
      figure or individual

542
00:32:43,629 --> 00:32:47,264
    within this big industry
  that he wants to break into.

543
00:32:47,266 --> 00:32:50,367
           NARRATOR:
       Disney was unable
     to find a distributor

544
00:32:50,369 --> 00:32:54,137
    willing to take a chance
on his first two Mickey shorts.

545
00:32:54,139 --> 00:32:58,375
        But Walt refused
    to give up on his mouse.

546
00:32:58,377 --> 00:33:02,779
 At a meeting with Roy one day,
as the tiny staff worked up

547
00:33:02,781 --> 00:33:06,516
    a third and still unsold
     Mickey Mouse cartoon,

548
00:33:06,518 --> 00:33:08,885
   Walt suddenly blurted out,

549
00:33:08,887 --> 00:33:11,054
     "We'll make them over
          with sound!"

550
00:33:11,056 --> 00:33:14,257
            NILSEN:
 "How can I do something better
         with animation

551
00:33:14,259 --> 00:33:16,526
    than what everybody else
           is doing?"

552
00:33:16,528 --> 00:33:18,662
     He's always the person
  looking for new technology.

553
00:33:18,664 --> 00:33:21,665
 He's always the person trying
  to find the newest invention

554
00:33:21,667 --> 00:33:23,400
   to make animation better.

555
00:33:23,402 --> 00:33:27,404
     At the time, producing
a soundtrack in synch with

556
00:33:27,406 --> 00:33:30,741
   and music that makes sense
   with the action on screen

557
00:33:30,743 --> 00:33:32,442
       is very difficult.

558
00:33:32,444 --> 00:33:36,446
    This was a very precise
     and intricate process

559
00:33:36,448 --> 00:33:38,782
          that Disney
     had to think through.

560
00:33:38,784 --> 00:33:40,617
     And also, it's unclear

561
00:33:40,619 --> 00:33:43,353
    that the money it costs
      to make a sound film

562
00:33:43,355 --> 00:33:46,189
      can possibly pay off
       with tickets sold.

563
00:33:50,929 --> 00:33:54,998
           NARRATOR:
   Disney saw no good option
    but to take the chance.

564
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,800
   He headed back to New York

565
00:33:56,802 --> 00:33:58,602
and signed a quick deal
       with the licenser

566
00:33:58,604 --> 00:34:02,305
  of one of the most advanced
     sound systems in town.

567
00:34:02,307 --> 00:34:05,809
        Walt didn't have
    enough money in the bank

568
00:34:05,811 --> 00:34:09,279
    to pay for the recording
   sessions, so he wired Roy

569
00:34:09,281 --> 00:34:12,549
    to do whatever he had to
        to get the cash.

570
00:34:12,551 --> 00:34:18,155
He told his brother to sell his
beloved Moon Roadster if needed.

571
00:34:18,157 --> 00:34:21,858
       Stuck in New York
   to oversee the sound work,

572
00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:24,828
    Walt trolled desperately
       for a distributor.

573
00:34:24,830 --> 00:34:28,165
      He carried his reels
from one office to another

574
00:34:28,167 --> 00:34:31,768
     for three long months
       and came up empty.

575
00:34:31,770 --> 00:34:34,871
    He did manage to secure
         a two-week run

576
00:34:34,873 --> 00:34:40,277
     at the Colony Theater,
       Broadway and 53rd.

577
00:34:46,485 --> 00:34:51,455
  <i> Steamboat Willie</i> premiered
     on November 18, 1928.

578
00:34:53,892 --> 00:34:55,459
     (boat chugging along)

579
00:35:01,033 --> 00:35:02,499
       (whistle blowing)

580
00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:09,606
      (whistling to music)

581
00:35:12,111 --> 00:35:14,978
           NARRATOR:
The crowd at the Colony Theater
         was in thrall.

582
00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:18,548
     People had heard sound
      in pictures before,

583
00:35:18,550 --> 00:35:19,616
but never like this.

584
00:35:19,618 --> 00:35:21,318
       (whistles tooting)

585
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,856
  The music and sound effects
     were part of the gags.

586
00:35:25,858 --> 00:35:29,659
"It knocked me out of my seat,"
  one New York reporter wrote.

587
00:35:29,661 --> 00:35:34,998
(playing "Turkey in the Straw")

588
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,067
        A few audiences
    begged the projectionist

589
00:35:37,069 --> 00:35:39,202
       to delay the start
         of the feature

590
00:35:39,204 --> 00:35:41,104
  and rerun<i> Steamboat Willie.</i>

591
00:35:41,106 --> 00:35:43,039
       (music continues)

592
00:35:47,479 --> 00:35:49,913
           (drumming
   in rhythm with the music)

593
00:35:58,023 --> 00:36:01,791
     (high-pitched drumming
   in rhythm with the music)

594
00:36:06,198 --> 00:36:08,665
SMOODIN:
       <i> Steamboat Willie</i>
      was such a huge hit,

595
00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:12,035
   and it gave Disney Studio
a really sort of a preeminence,

596
00:36:12,037 --> 00:36:15,005
  where suddenly this company
         is now, like,

597
00:36:15,007 --> 00:36:17,541
         taking a step
      to the front ranks.

598
00:36:17,543 --> 00:36:19,843
          This upstart
      from the West Coast

599
00:36:19,845 --> 00:36:22,412
          just erupts
   in the middle of everybody

600
00:36:22,414 --> 00:36:24,414
  with this amazing character.

601
00:36:24,416 --> 00:36:28,051
           (singing)

602
00:36:28,053 --> 00:36:30,720
           NARRATOR:
  Mickey was a multi-talented
           charmer--

603
00:36:30,722 --> 00:36:33,423
a dancer, a comedian,
           a singer.

604
00:36:33,425 --> 00:36:36,960
 And within months, never mind
     he was just a cartoon,

605
00:36:36,962 --> 00:36:40,096
  Mickey Mouse was the newest
      Hollywood celebrity.

606
00:36:40,098 --> 00:36:41,431
           (singing)

607
00:36:42,901 --> 00:36:44,834
        (kids cheering)

608
00:36:48,607 --> 00:36:52,709
           NARRATOR:
 While the country slid toward
   economic disaster in 1930,

609
00:36:52,711 --> 00:36:56,079
  the fame of the Disney mouse
       just kept growing,

610
00:36:56,081 --> 00:36:58,515
    as did Mickey's standing
        as the archetype

611
00:36:58,517 --> 00:37:01,218
 of the American can-do spirit.

612
00:37:01,220 --> 00:37:04,221
(roaring)

613
00:37:04,223 --> 00:37:06,756
           (laughing)

614
00:37:06,758 --> 00:37:08,525
Mickey Mouse is scrappy.

615
00:37:08,527 --> 00:37:10,860
  Mickey Mouse is a survivor.

616
00:37:10,862 --> 00:37:14,164
Mickey Mouse is somebody during
  the years of the Depression

617
00:37:14,166 --> 00:37:17,167
           who takes
   a limited number of skills

618
00:37:17,169 --> 00:37:19,369
      and a limited number
         of resources,

619
00:37:19,371 --> 00:37:21,304
 and he always ends up on top.

620
00:37:23,942 --> 00:37:26,142
            SUSKIND:
     Mickey's a little bit
         in your face.

621
00:37:26,144 --> 00:37:28,945
           Howdy-do!

622
00:37:28,947 --> 00:37:30,847
         Mickey's like,
        "Hey, I'm smart.

623
00:37:30,849 --> 00:37:33,116
      "I can do anything.

624
00:37:33,118 --> 00:37:35,352
      "I get into trouble,
      but I get out of it.

625
00:37:35,354 --> 00:37:37,687
"I'm sort of rebellious.

626
00:37:37,689 --> 00:37:41,725
           You know,
    I live by my own rules."

627
00:37:41,727 --> 00:37:44,928
    He's an adolescent dream
         is what he is,

628
00:37:44,930 --> 00:37:48,298
 rebelling and making it work.

629
00:37:48,300 --> 00:37:50,000
         That's Mickey.

630
00:37:50,002 --> 00:37:51,601
           (laughing)

631
00:37:51,603 --> 00:37:54,137
                     (screaming)

632
00:37:56,842 --> 00:38:00,777
             WATTS:
 Walt Disney was certainly not
       a social theorist.

633
00:38:00,779 --> 00:38:02,946
      He certainly didn't
   think through the problems

634
00:38:02,948 --> 00:38:04,748
       of the Depression.

635
00:38:04,750 --> 00:38:06,283
     But what Disney did do

636
00:38:06,285 --> 00:38:09,819
     was to have a kind of
instinctive, impulsive feel

637
00:38:09,821 --> 00:38:15,892
 for the problems and the hopes
      of ordinary people.

638
00:38:15,894 --> 00:38:17,427
     There's always mishap.

639
00:38:17,429 --> 00:38:19,029
     There's always sort of
       the slapsticky bit

640
00:38:19,031 --> 00:38:20,563
        that interferes
       with his success.

641
00:38:24,770 --> 00:38:27,604
      And then he triumphs
    and he wins at the end.

642
00:38:27,606 --> 00:38:29,139
         And he usually
      gets the girl, too.

643
00:38:30,809 --> 00:38:34,010
         Let's all sing
       the chorus again!

644
00:38:34,012 --> 00:38:36,313
           (singing)

645
00:38:36,315 --> 00:38:40,083
           NARRATOR:
       Mickey Mouse Clubs
       began sprouting up

646
00:38:40,085 --> 00:38:42,819
at local movie theaters.

647
00:38:42,821 --> 00:38:46,756
  More than a million children
           signed up.

648
00:38:46,758 --> 00:38:48,625
   Roy encouraged the clubs,

649
00:38:48,627 --> 00:38:50,360
      and saw in Mickey's
       growing popularity

650
00:38:50,362 --> 00:38:55,532
    another possible stream
     of revenue: licensing.

651
00:38:55,534 --> 00:38:57,967
      The Disneys had made
     a few haphazard deals

652
00:38:57,969 --> 00:39:01,504
   to allow Mickey's likeness
      on children's toys,

653
00:39:01,506 --> 00:39:04,240
     following the example
  of other popular characters,

654
00:39:04,242 --> 00:39:06,176
      like Felix the Cat.

655
00:39:06,178 --> 00:39:07,744
   But the Walt Disney Studio

656
00:39:07,746 --> 00:39:09,713
   got less than five percent
of the take

657
00:39:09,715 --> 00:39:11,581
    and saw little revenue,

658
00:39:11,583 --> 00:39:15,318
     until they brought in
           Kay Kamen.

659
00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,087
             WATTS:
       He was an ad man.

660
00:39:17,089 --> 00:39:18,722
       He was a marketer.

661
00:39:18,724 --> 00:39:22,058
    He had a very keen sense
of what we would call branding.

662
00:39:22,060 --> 00:39:23,393
       Kamen is a genius

663
00:39:23,395 --> 00:39:25,662
        for doing these
      licensing agreements

664
00:39:25,664 --> 00:39:27,997
         with companies
   all over the United States

665
00:39:27,999 --> 00:39:31,401
     who want to associate
         their products

666
00:39:31,403 --> 00:39:33,570
        with the success
     of the Disney studio.

667
00:39:35,674 --> 00:39:38,141
NARRATOR:
 The Disney brothers gave Kamen

668
00:39:38,143 --> 00:39:41,010
      the exclusive rights
    to license Mickey Mouse,

669
00:39:41,012 --> 00:39:44,080
   along with his girlfriend
     Minnie, his dog Pluto,

670
00:39:44,082 --> 00:39:46,182
    and later, Donald Duck.

671
00:39:46,184 --> 00:39:50,053
  The studio kept a tight rein
     on how their products,

672
00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:52,655
    especially their mouse,
         could be used,

673
00:39:52,657 --> 00:39:55,759
       and they demanded
   a big cut of the profits.

674
00:39:55,761 --> 00:39:58,928
      But they had plenty
      of willing partners,

675
00:39:58,930 --> 00:40:02,832
      because Mickey Mouse
         moved product.

676
00:40:10,709 --> 00:40:14,010
By the early 1930s,

677
00:40:14,012 --> 00:40:18,181
 fans could buy Mickey-adorned
   merchandise by the scores.

678
00:40:18,183 --> 00:40:21,918
 The Mickey Mouse watch became
   the most popular timepiece

679
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:23,586
          in America.

680
00:40:23,588 --> 00:40:27,357
        (crowd cheering,
   camera shutters clicking)

681
00:40:30,328 --> 00:40:32,695
   Fan mail for Mickey Mouse

682
00:40:32,697 --> 00:40:35,465
     poured into the studio
      on Hyperion Avenue,

683
00:40:35,467 --> 00:40:38,001
         with postmarks
 from across the United States,

684
00:40:38,003 --> 00:40:42,639
      from England, Spain,
        the Philippines.

685
00:40:42,641 --> 00:40:45,708
 Some were addressed to Mickey,
         some to Walt.

686
00:40:49,981 --> 00:40:53,249
SMOODIN:
 Mickey is understood as being
    the creation of Disney,

687
00:40:53,251 --> 00:40:55,618
    and Disney is understood
 as being the father of Mickey.

688
00:40:55,620 --> 00:41:01,925
  And combined, that makes for
a kind of international stardom

689
00:41:01,927 --> 00:41:04,861
         that we really
      hadn't seen before.

690
00:41:13,038 --> 00:41:15,839
             HAHN:
      When everybody else
         is suffering,

691
00:41:15,841 --> 00:41:18,107
     Walt Disney is selling
       consumer products

692
00:41:18,109 --> 00:41:21,778
 and making millions of dollars
      out of Mickey Mouse.

693
00:41:21,780 --> 00:41:23,947
    And that's a huge story,
that this little mouse

694
00:41:23,949 --> 00:41:27,684
     turns into the future
  of the Walt Disney Company.

695
00:41:32,924 --> 00:41:35,558
   Walt Disney always talked
       about Mickey Mouse

696
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:37,093
    as being his alter ego.

697
00:41:37,095 --> 00:41:39,162
  He would say that, you know,

698
00:41:39,164 --> 00:41:41,498
  "I'm closer to Mickey Mouse
   than I am to anyone else."

699
00:41:43,869 --> 00:41:46,002
    (in high Mickey voice):
  Hey, Pluto, here she comes!

700
00:41:46,004 --> 00:41:48,037
            SUSKIND:
        Mickey and Walt
   are talking to each other.

701
00:41:48,039 --> 00:41:49,939
  Hey, Pluto, here she comes!

702
00:41:49,941 --> 00:41:51,741
            SUSKIND:
So he's gotta do Mickey's voice.

703
00:41:51,743 --> 00:41:52,976
Someone's gotta do it.

704
00:41:52,978 --> 00:41:54,644
   So of course Walt does it

705
00:41:54,646 --> 00:41:57,514
        because it's him
      talking to himself.

706
00:41:57,516 --> 00:42:00,950
          "So, Mickey,
    how you feeling today?"

707
00:42:00,952 --> 00:42:03,019
    (in high Mickey voice):
    "You know, I feel great.

708
00:42:03,021 --> 00:42:05,188
          "Do you know
     it wasn't an easy day?

709
00:42:05,190 --> 00:42:08,625
   "You know, maybe tomorrow,
           who knows?

710
00:42:08,627 --> 00:42:11,060
   "You know, let's get into
    a little bit of trouble,

711
00:42:11,062 --> 00:42:12,495
          you and me."

712
00:42:16,835 --> 00:42:19,836
           NARRATOR:
  Walt Disney was not yet 30,

713
00:42:19,838 --> 00:42:23,873
  and he had made himself the
first celebrity of animation,

714
00:42:23,875 --> 00:42:27,844
       a film cartoonist
     the public could name.

715
00:42:27,846 --> 00:42:31,848
        His studio stood
       atop the industry

716
00:42:31,850 --> 00:42:35,985
  and was growing to meet the
demand for new Mickey cartoons.

717
00:42:35,987 --> 00:42:37,787
     The success of Mickey

718
00:42:37,789 --> 00:42:40,690
  lured plenty of good talent
          to Hyperion,

719
00:42:40,692 --> 00:42:43,359
        some of the best
        in the business,

720
00:42:43,361 --> 00:42:46,829
      but Disney insisted
    on having the final word

721
00:42:46,831 --> 00:42:51,534
 on every foot of finished film
  that came out of his studio.

722
00:42:51,536 --> 00:42:53,836
      He spent long hours
at the office,

723
00:42:53,838 --> 00:42:56,839
    often until 1:00 or 2:00
        in the morning,

724
00:42:56,841 --> 00:42:59,576
   and still had a hard time
          keeping up.

725
00:42:59,578 --> 00:43:04,847
 He was anxious and obsessive,
  chain-smoking day and night,

726
00:43:04,849 --> 00:43:10,353
drumming his thumbs impatiently
on the table in story meetings.

727
00:43:10,355 --> 00:43:12,555
        MICHAEL BARRIER:
     His role was changing
         in the studio.

728
00:43:12,557 --> 00:43:15,024
He was leaving behind the things
 that were so familiar to him--

729
00:43:15,026 --> 00:43:16,326
    working with his hands,

730
00:43:16,328 --> 00:43:18,861
  being an active participant
         in the work--

731
00:43:18,863 --> 00:43:20,697
becoming more and more a man

732
00:43:20,699 --> 00:43:23,032
    who was the intellectual
           overseer,

733
00:43:23,034 --> 00:43:26,903
    evaluating, criticizing,
            editing.

734
00:43:26,905 --> 00:43:30,039
And as he stepped back from this
   more active participation,

735
00:43:30,041 --> 00:43:32,609
   he initially was, I think,
     very distressed by it,

736
00:43:32,611 --> 00:43:34,010
  felt uncomfortable doing it.

737
00:43:42,854 --> 00:43:44,921
           NARRATOR:
  Disney had talked of having

738
00:43:44,923 --> 00:43:47,557
    a big family of his own
           for years.

739
00:43:47,559 --> 00:43:51,527
    He wanted ten children,
   he would tell his sister,

740
00:43:51,529 --> 00:43:54,764
  and he would spoil them all.

741
00:43:54,766 --> 00:43:58,434
Lillian had her doubts about
raising any number of children,

742
00:43:58,436 --> 00:44:03,072
 especially when she considered
  the office hours Walt kept.

743
00:44:03,074 --> 00:44:05,575
   But he talked her into it.

744
00:44:08,179 --> 00:44:12,882
        Roy and Edna had
 had their first child already,

745
00:44:12,884 --> 00:44:16,986
   and by the spring of 1931,
     Lillian was pregnant.

746
00:44:16,988 --> 00:44:18,688
        Walt was giddy.

747
00:44:18,690 --> 00:44:21,791
  He was already making plans
       for a bigger house

748
00:44:21,793 --> 00:44:25,628
         to accommodate
       the new addition.

749
00:44:25,630 --> 00:44:28,498
    Then Lillian miscarried.

750
00:44:28,500 --> 00:44:33,102
      Disney waved off the
well-wishers and sympathizers.

751
00:44:33,104 --> 00:44:36,973
        He threw himself
      back into his work.

752
00:44:36,975 --> 00:44:40,209
    He insisted he was fine.

753
00:44:40,211 --> 00:44:42,745
          He was not.

754
00:44:44,616 --> 00:44:47,984
     DISNEY (on recording):
     In 1931, I had a hell
        of a breakdown.

755
00:44:47,986 --> 00:44:50,787
     I went all to pieces.

756
00:44:50,789 --> 00:44:52,822
It was just pound, pound, pound.

757
00:44:52,824 --> 00:44:55,491
         It was costs,
    my costs were going up.

758
00:44:55,493 --> 00:44:57,026
     I was always way over

759
00:44:57,028 --> 00:44:59,595
     whatever they figured
  the pictures would bring in.

760
00:44:59,597 --> 00:45:02,699
       And I cracked up.

761
00:45:02,701 --> 00:45:05,535
   I just got very irritable.

762
00:45:05,537 --> 00:45:07,303
I got to the point

763
00:45:07,305 --> 00:45:09,138
      that I couldn't talk
       on the telephone.

764
00:45:09,140 --> 00:45:11,240
       I'd begin to cry,

765
00:45:11,242 --> 00:45:15,144
  and the least little thing,
     I'd just go that way.

766
00:45:23,021 --> 00:45:27,790
           NARRATOR:
  In October 1931, Walt Disney
    took his doctor's advice

767
00:45:27,792 --> 00:45:30,626
    and escaped on the first
   real vacation of his life.

768
00:45:35,500 --> 00:45:38,534
   He and Lillian went across
the country to Washington, D.C.,

769
00:45:38,536 --> 00:45:40,303
       then to Key West,

770
00:45:40,305 --> 00:45:43,806
and on to a week's stay in Cuba.

771
00:45:43,808 --> 00:45:46,109
     They rode a steamship
    through the Panama Canal

772
00:45:46,111 --> 00:45:48,177
on the way back to Los Angeles.

773
00:45:50,181 --> 00:45:52,081
           Once home,
       Disney told people

774
00:45:52,083 --> 00:45:55,017
       that the breakdown
      had been a godsend.

775
00:45:55,019 --> 00:45:57,153
    Life was sweet, he said,

776
00:45:57,155 --> 00:45:59,789
    and there was more to it
           than work.

777
00:45:59,791 --> 00:46:03,159
       He dove into a new
       exercise regimen,

778
00:46:03,161 --> 00:46:09,332
       went with Lillian
    on long horseback rides,

779
00:46:09,334 --> 00:46:14,837
     learned to play polo,
      and joined a league.

780
00:46:14,839 --> 00:46:16,973
            GABLER:
        Walt comes back
  from his nervous breakdown,

781
00:46:16,975 --> 00:46:19,842
       and he does change
his lifestyle.

782
00:46:19,844 --> 00:46:22,011
 But does Walt Disney withdraw?

783
00:46:22,013 --> 00:46:23,546
       Does he delegate?

784
00:46:23,548 --> 00:46:26,149
 Does he do the things that one
 might have expected him to do?

785
00:46:26,151 --> 00:46:27,617
        No, he does not.

786
00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:38,161
    (dramatic music playing)

787
00:46:43,301 --> 00:46:45,535
           (hooting)

788
00:46:45,537 --> 00:46:49,772
           NARRATOR:
Disney had never been shy about
 spending money on his vision,

789
00:46:49,774 --> 00:46:53,309
      even when the studio
         was cash poor.

790
00:46:53,311 --> 00:46:55,478
     He had already used up
  his earliest Mickey profits

791
00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:59,515
in the creation of a new series
       of cartoon shorts

792
00:46:59,517 --> 00:47:02,018
called<i> Silly Symphonies.</i>

793
00:47:02,020 --> 00:47:04,554
      (clock bell chiming)

794
00:47:08,860 --> 00:47:11,160
           (howling)

795
00:47:13,231 --> 00:47:14,530
                  (growling)

796
00:47:18,469 --> 00:47:23,206
            SMOODIN:
 The Silly Symphonies were much
  more about animation as art.

797
00:47:27,312 --> 00:47:30,446
     So The Skeleton Dance
      and others like them

798
00:47:30,448 --> 00:47:32,715
        were understood
      as these wonderful,

799
00:47:32,717 --> 00:47:36,819
    almost avant-garde films
  that merged music and dance

800
00:47:36,821 --> 00:47:40,823
      and made characters
         out of nature

801
00:47:40,825 --> 00:47:43,726
      and also other kinds
      of inanimate things

802
00:47:43,728 --> 00:47:46,863
in ways that people
   hadn't really seen before.

803
00:47:50,535 --> 00:47:53,302
      (harp notes chiming)

804
00:48:02,714 --> 00:48:06,215
           NARRATOR:
  Silly Symphonies raised Walt
     to near mythic status

805
00:48:06,217 --> 00:48:09,418
among cartoonists and animators.

806
00:48:09,420 --> 00:48:12,488
     Artists from all over
 the country packed their bags

807
00:48:12,490 --> 00:48:14,590
   and headed for California

808
00:48:14,592 --> 00:48:17,159
  just for the chance to work
  with the great Walt Disney.

809
00:48:19,264 --> 00:48:23,132
    The Hyperion staff grew
         to nearly 200.

810
00:48:25,470 --> 00:48:29,338
   (birds chirping in rhythm
        with the music)

811
00:48:29,340 --> 00:48:36,078
           NARRATOR:
Men ruled the studio, as they
 did all studios in the 1930s.

812
00:48:36,080 --> 00:48:37,847
   The women who came to work
           at Disney

813
00:48:37,849 --> 00:48:41,851
 were relegated to the low-wage
   ink-and-paint department.

814
00:48:41,853 --> 00:48:43,819
         In the middle
    of the Great Depression,

815
00:48:43,821 --> 00:48:48,524
      few complained about
 a steady job with steady pay.

816
00:48:48,526 --> 00:48:51,594
            NILSEN:
       It becomes, like,
     the studio to work at.

817
00:48:51,596 --> 00:48:54,730
   And all of those animators
          just thrive

818
00:48:54,732 --> 00:48:57,366
   because Disney sets it up
  as a legitimate profession.

819
00:48:57,368 --> 00:48:59,035
"Here I step in.

820
00:48:59,037 --> 00:49:00,536
 "I will recognize your talent.

821
00:49:00,538 --> 00:49:02,204
     I will pay you well."

822
00:49:02,206 --> 00:49:04,173
          BOB GIVENS:
It was like a renaissance to us.

823
00:49:04,175 --> 00:49:07,743
       It was a flowering
   of the animation industry.

824
00:49:07,745 --> 00:49:09,679
  It'd never been done before.

825
00:49:09,681 --> 00:49:12,481
       This was fine art,
    not just dumb cartoons.

826
00:49:12,483 --> 00:49:14,984
           (chirping)

827
00:49:19,023 --> 00:49:23,559
           NARRATOR:
    Disney's new series was
the test ground for innovation,

828
00:49:23,561 --> 00:49:25,962
          with firsts
   in sound technique, color,

829
00:49:25,964 --> 00:49:28,230
        and multi-plane
camera technology,

830
00:49:28,232 --> 00:49:30,633
         which produced
   a three-dimensional depth

831
00:49:30,635 --> 00:49:33,336
never before seen in animation.

832
00:49:36,908 --> 00:49:40,943
            GABLER:
    Walt intended the studio
        to be the place

833
00:49:40,945 --> 00:49:45,147
  where you created great art.

834
00:49:45,149 --> 00:49:46,682
       (thunder rumbling)

835
00:49:46,684 --> 00:49:48,351
         (wind howling)

836
00:49:48,353 --> 00:49:51,787
    (dramatic music playing)

837
00:49:51,789 --> 00:49:55,658
            GABLER:
    That was so instrumental

838
00:49:55,660 --> 00:50:00,262
    to Walt's understanding
         of the studio.

839
00:50:00,264 --> 00:50:05,267
 And that became, in many ways,
   the most powerful element

840
00:50:05,269 --> 00:50:08,504
        in how he dealt
with his workers.

841
00:50:19,350 --> 00:50:22,084
     They wanted to produce
         great things.

842
00:50:22,086 --> 00:50:24,954
  He made them want to produce
         great things.

843
00:50:26,958 --> 00:50:28,991
         (horn honking)

844
00:50:30,895 --> 00:50:32,361
             SITO:
      He was very jovial.

845
00:50:32,363 --> 00:50:33,763
     He was very informal.

846
00:50:36,934 --> 00:50:38,934
He's the one who first insisted

847
00:50:38,936 --> 00:50:42,438
   on only being referred to
       by his first name.

848
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:44,073
         RUTH TOMPSON:
             Boss?

849
00:50:44,075 --> 00:50:45,574
        He wasn't boss.

850
00:50:45,576 --> 00:50:49,178
        He was a friend.

851
00:50:49,180 --> 00:50:50,846
 And everybody called him Walt.

852
00:50:50,848 --> 00:50:53,849
 If they didn't call him Walt,
that was the end of that one.

853
00:50:56,554 --> 00:50:58,287
            GIVENS:
   We used to play volleyball
            at noon,

854
00:50:58,289 --> 00:51:01,190
  over there across the street
         in the annex.

855
00:51:01,192 --> 00:51:04,693
And Walt used to come over there
         and watch us.

856
00:51:04,695 --> 00:51:06,762
        He used to say,
    "Don't play too rough,"

857
00:51:06,764 --> 00:51:08,264
      he'd say, you know?

858
00:51:08,266 --> 00:51:09,765
And he wanted us to be careful,

859
00:51:09,767 --> 00:51:12,001
      not hurt our hands,
 our drawing hand particularly.

860
00:51:12,003 --> 00:51:15,271
      And we loved to win,
   because then he'd applaud.

861
00:51:15,273 --> 00:51:17,006
But he was the big daddy there.

862
00:51:17,008 --> 00:51:18,507
He didn't miss anything.

863
00:51:20,511 --> 00:51:23,079
           NARRATOR:
 Disney offered drawing classes
         at the studio

864
00:51:23,081 --> 00:51:26,115
   and brought in professors
from the Chouinard Art Institute

865
00:51:26,117 --> 00:51:27,883
         to teach them.

866
00:51:27,885 --> 00:51:32,555
 He invited experts to lecture
on Impressionism, Expressionism,

867
00:51:32,557 --> 00:51:36,225
 Cubism, the Mexican muralists.

868
00:51:36,227 --> 00:51:39,562
             HAHN:
 He was always very much about
  not only hiring the artists

869
00:51:39,564 --> 00:51:42,832
   but providing a safe place
   for them to do their job.

870
00:51:42,834 --> 00:51:45,134
 And by "safe," I mean a place
        to make mistakes

871
00:51:45,136 --> 00:51:48,437
and a place to fail
 and a place to take criticism

872
00:51:48,439 --> 00:51:52,541
without the fear of being fired,
and a place to be able to learn.

873
00:52:00,751 --> 00:52:03,052
           (cheering)

874
00:52:03,054 --> 00:52:06,622
            SUSKIND:
      He wanted a family,
     a community, a place.

875
00:52:06,624 --> 00:52:11,527
     "I can actually create
        a little world,

876
00:52:11,529 --> 00:52:14,263
        "bordered, mine,

877
00:52:14,265 --> 00:52:18,067
  "just what I need it to be,
 inhabited by all these people.

878
00:52:18,069 --> 00:52:22,972
 A community marked 'Disney.'"

879
00:52:25,176 --> 00:52:28,177
           NARRATOR:
    Walt Disney, not yet 35,

880
00:52:28,179 --> 00:52:32,047
  appeared to be in possession
of the magic beans.

881
00:52:32,049 --> 00:52:35,050
         His studio was
     a Technicolor rainbow

882
00:52:35,052 --> 00:52:39,155
in the middle of the pale, gray
    Depression-era America.

883
00:52:41,359 --> 00:52:43,926
His home life was thriving too.

884
00:52:43,928 --> 00:52:47,363
    Lillian had given birth
     to a daughter, Diane,

885
00:52:47,365 --> 00:52:51,901
and the Disneys would soon adopt
   a second daughter, Sharon.

886
00:52:51,903 --> 00:52:56,172
  But Disney wasn't satisfied.

887
00:52:56,174 --> 00:52:58,541
  He needed a "new adventure,"
         he would say,

888
00:52:58,543 --> 00:53:00,576
      "a kick in the pants

889
00:53:00,578 --> 00:53:03,045
 to jar loose some inspiration
        and enthusiasm."

890
00:53:10,655 --> 00:53:14,690
Disney's employees were still
telling the story decades later.

891
00:53:14,692 --> 00:53:17,493
      One evening in 1934,

892
00:53:17,495 --> 00:53:21,096
 Walt sent his entire staff out
      for an early dinner,

893
00:53:21,098 --> 00:53:24,133
  but told them to hurry back
   to the Hyperion soundstage

894
00:53:24,135 --> 00:53:26,569
        for an important
        company meeting.

895
00:53:26,571 --> 00:53:31,907
      The room was buzzing
by the time Walt took the stage.

896
00:53:33,711 --> 00:53:37,513
            GABLER:
         Disney is lit
      on the sound stage,

897
00:53:37,515 --> 00:53:41,317
      and he then proceeds
          to act out--

898
00:53:41,319 --> 00:53:44,186
        alone, just him,
a one-man show--

899
00:53:44,188 --> 00:53:47,189
    the story of Snow White.

900
00:53:47,191 --> 00:53:52,027
             WATTS:
 What he did was to go through
 the whole movie as he saw it,

901
00:53:52,029 --> 00:53:54,129
  acting out all of the parts,

902
00:53:54,131 --> 00:53:56,198
         impersonating
     all of the characters,

903
00:53:56,200 --> 00:53:59,635
going through all the emotions,
    all the ups and downs--

904
00:53:59,637 --> 00:54:01,537
    the queen, the princess,

905
00:54:01,539 --> 00:54:04,340
       the seven dwarves,
       even the animals.

906
00:54:06,477 --> 00:54:09,878
           NARRATOR:
   What Disney was proposing
      had never been done,

907
00:54:09,880 --> 00:54:12,681
     never even been tried:

908
00:54:12,683 --> 00:54:16,385
a feature-length,
     story-driven cartoon.

909
00:54:16,387 --> 00:54:19,588
             WATTS:
Roy Disney was pretty skeptical
       about all of this.

910
00:54:19,590 --> 00:54:21,624
    And the more he thought
      about it, actually,

911
00:54:21,626 --> 00:54:23,192
  the more convinced he became

912
00:54:23,194 --> 00:54:25,794
 that this could be a disaster
         for the studio

913
00:54:25,796 --> 00:54:29,131
   because he was afraid that
       it wouldn't sell,

914
00:54:29,133 --> 00:54:30,799
  that people wouldn't see it,

915
00:54:30,801 --> 00:54:34,670
  and it would drag the studio
     down into bankruptcy.

916
00:54:34,672 --> 00:54:37,339
   And Roy dug in his heels.

917
00:54:39,477 --> 00:54:41,510
           NARRATOR:
Walt would not let it go.

918
00:54:41,512 --> 00:54:43,212
        He was convinced

919
00:54:43,214 --> 00:54:45,648
        this century-old
    Brothers Grimm fairytale

920
00:54:45,650 --> 00:54:49,818
   about a virtuous princess
chased into a deep, dark forest

921
00:54:49,820 --> 00:54:54,523
   by her hateful stepmother
 was a can't-miss proposition.

922
00:54:54,525 --> 00:54:57,526
  He must have told that story
    after that first night,

923
00:54:57,528 --> 00:54:59,061
  you know, a thousand times.

924
00:54:59,063 --> 00:55:01,096
    People would always say
he'd collar them in the hallway

925
00:55:01,098 --> 00:55:03,232
       and tell the story
      of Snow White again.

926
00:55:03,234 --> 00:55:05,534
     He'd have to repeat it
again and again and again

927
00:55:05,536 --> 00:55:07,569
    to keep them energized,
   to keep himself energized,

928
00:55:07,571 --> 00:55:10,205
     and to review the film
          in his head

929
00:55:10,207 --> 00:55:13,842
 so that it was always rolling.

930
00:55:13,844 --> 00:55:16,412
      This was obsession.

931
00:55:19,317 --> 00:55:23,152
           NARRATOR:
Walt's excitement was catching.

932
00:55:23,154 --> 00:55:25,554
  "We were just carried away,"
    remembered one animator.

933
00:55:25,556 --> 00:55:28,390
 "I would've climbed a mountain
        full of wildcats

934
00:55:28,392 --> 00:55:31,694
    to do everything I could
      to make Snow White."

935
00:55:31,696 --> 00:55:34,963
   Roy grudgingly came around

936
00:55:34,965 --> 00:55:37,299
          and managed
to shake the money free

937
00:55:37,301 --> 00:55:39,968
  from their longtime lender,
        Bank of America.

938
00:55:39,970 --> 00:55:41,637
   But he warned his brother

939
00:55:41,639 --> 00:55:45,040
 the bankers were very nervous
       about this gamble,

940
00:55:45,042 --> 00:55:47,276
     and they expected Walt
      to stay on schedule

941
00:55:47,278 --> 00:55:49,812
           and within
    the agreed-upon budget.

942
00:55:49,814 --> 00:55:53,882
   The schedule, the budget,
       the company's debt

943
00:55:53,884 --> 00:55:57,653
 were secondary considerations
  to Walt, who was preoccupied

944
00:55:57,655 --> 00:56:00,389
         with a single
      overriding problem:

945
00:56:00,391 --> 00:56:03,826
   how to translate his idea
to the big screen.

946
00:56:03,828 --> 00:56:06,862
     Snow White would have
   to captivate its audience

947
00:56:06,864 --> 00:56:10,999
      in a way no cartoon
        ever had before.

948
00:56:14,705 --> 00:56:17,573
            GABLER:
    In the shorter cartoons,
   you can make people laugh.

949
00:56:17,575 --> 00:56:20,576
    And the gag is the basic
   component of these things.

950
00:56:20,578 --> 00:56:23,379
    You get people to laugh.

951
00:56:23,381 --> 00:56:27,216
 But Walt Disney now is asking
       another question:

952
00:56:27,218 --> 00:56:29,752
    Can you make people cry?

953
00:56:29,754 --> 00:56:33,122
    Can you make people cry
        over a drawing?

954
00:56:34,892 --> 00:56:36,859
           NARRATOR:
One key, Disney believed,

955
00:56:36,861 --> 00:56:41,730
was to infuse his animated film
    with a natural realism.

956
00:56:41,732 --> 00:56:45,200
    He brought live animals
        into the studio

957
00:56:45,202 --> 00:56:48,203
         so his artists
  could study their movement.

958
00:56:48,205 --> 00:56:52,241
      He had his animators
      throw heavy objects

959
00:56:52,243 --> 00:56:54,109
  through plate glass windows

960
00:56:54,111 --> 00:56:56,812
        just to analyze
    the shattering effects.

961
00:57:00,251 --> 00:57:05,954
 Disney hired a teenage dancer
 to act the part of Snow White

962
00:57:05,956 --> 00:57:08,490
  so his animators could study
         how she looked

963
00:57:08,492 --> 00:57:12,561
      when she leaned over
or laughed or smiled

964
00:57:12,563 --> 00:57:15,964
 so they could see the movement
  of her dress as she danced.

965
00:57:21,338 --> 00:57:23,472
             WATTS:
  They would bring in actors,

966
00:57:23,474 --> 00:57:27,009
    and they would have them
  impersonate these characters

967
00:57:27,011 --> 00:57:29,678
   in front of the animators,

968
00:57:29,680 --> 00:57:33,015
who would try to capture certain
 qualities of their movements.

969
00:57:35,019 --> 00:57:38,887
They would even film them to try
 to get a sense of personality,

970
00:57:38,889 --> 00:57:41,123
    of movement, of realism.

971
00:57:46,464 --> 00:57:50,632
            BARRIER:
       What he was after
    was something different,

972
00:57:50,634 --> 00:57:53,068
making thought
      and emotion visible

973
00:57:53,070 --> 00:57:54,736
  in a way that seems natural

974
00:57:54,738 --> 00:57:56,572
      and not artificial.

975
00:58:05,249 --> 00:58:07,483
   Disney really kind of took
      the art of animation

976
00:58:07,485 --> 00:58:09,952
     and pushed it towards
    the animator as an actor

977
00:58:09,954 --> 00:58:11,286
     and about performance.

978
00:58:11,288 --> 00:58:14,656
    He wanted his animators
    to take acting classes--

979
00:58:14,658 --> 00:58:16,225
 studying their facial muscles,

980
00:58:16,227 --> 00:58:18,660
   how you say certain words,
           you know,

981
00:58:18,662 --> 00:58:21,530
    how is your lips shaped
       when you say "V,"

982
00:58:21,532 --> 00:58:24,566
or how is, like, "O," or "Ooh,"
you know?

983
00:58:24,568 --> 00:58:26,702
 How does it affect your eyes?

984
00:58:26,704 --> 00:58:29,538
      There were no rules.

985
00:58:29,540 --> 00:58:32,307
        They hadn't been
        invented before.

986
00:58:32,309 --> 00:58:35,377
  So you're kind of free to do
   anything you wanted to do.

987
00:58:35,379 --> 00:58:37,145
Follow your instincts and do it.

988
00:58:42,119 --> 00:58:45,420
           NARRATOR:
   Walt's stubborn insistence
  on getting the story right,

989
00:58:45,422 --> 00:58:48,724
         on innovation,
   and on attention to detail

990
00:58:48,726 --> 00:58:52,895
  meant the pace of production
    at Hyperion was glacial.

991
00:58:52,897 --> 00:58:57,499
            GABLER:
     To draw each of these
characters,

992
00:58:57,501 --> 00:59:00,502
   to draw these backgrounds,
       to do it in a way

993
00:59:00,504 --> 00:59:03,739
    that transcends anything
    that'd been done before,

994
00:59:03,741 --> 00:59:06,742
        is excruciating.

995
00:59:06,744 --> 00:59:08,043
         It's grueling.

996
00:59:08,045 --> 00:59:09,211
         It's painful.

997
00:59:09,213 --> 00:59:10,312
        It's tormenting.

998
00:59:17,354 --> 00:59:19,321
            GIVENS:
 We were the crew that did most
  of the Snow White drawings,

999
00:59:19,323 --> 00:59:21,156
       and we'd sometimes
        take a whole day

1000
00:59:21,158 --> 00:59:22,691
 for a close up of Snow White.

1001
00:59:22,693 --> 00:59:25,227
      That's how intricate
        the drawing was.

1002
00:59:25,229 --> 00:59:27,796
       It was so precise.

1003
00:59:27,798 --> 00:59:30,265
It was like making watches,
           you know?

1004
00:59:30,267 --> 00:59:32,134
 It was just such fine detail.

1005
00:59:32,136 --> 00:59:34,403
   You know, one little line
would throw the whole thing off.

1006
00:59:34,405 --> 00:59:38,707
           NARRATOR:
     The production process
        did not change.

1007
00:59:38,709 --> 00:59:43,011
  Key animators would draw the
 main characters in Snow White.

1008
00:59:45,115 --> 00:59:47,382
        "In-betweeners"
    would draw the movements

1009
00:59:47,384 --> 00:59:50,886
    between the key frames.

1010
00:59:53,557 --> 00:59:56,625
   The ink-and-paint artists
would add color to the drawings

1011
00:59:56,627 --> 00:59:58,994
       and transfer them
   to the transparent sheets,

1012
00:59:58,996 --> 01:00:01,663
or cels, to go to camera.

1013
01:00:01,665 --> 01:00:06,501
  At 24 frames per second and
 often multiple cels per frame,

1014
01:00:06,503 --> 01:00:13,542
 Snow White would require more
than 200,000 separate drawings.

1015
01:00:13,544 --> 01:00:16,778
            SMOODIN:
    Making the film required
       an army of people,

1016
01:00:16,780 --> 01:00:19,414
  and I'm not sure that Disney

1017
01:00:19,416 --> 01:00:21,316
     thought of all of them
           as talent.

1018
01:00:21,318 --> 01:00:23,885
  There are real workers here
 who are doing the grunt work.

1019
01:00:28,959 --> 01:00:31,259
           NARRATOR:
 The Disneys had already built

1020
01:00:31,261 --> 01:00:33,962
      a two-story addition
          at Hyperion,

1021
01:00:33,964 --> 01:00:36,598
but it wasn't near enough.

1022
01:00:36,600 --> 01:00:38,934
Roy was forced to rent bungalows

1023
01:00:38,936 --> 01:00:41,136
      and other buildings
      in the neighborhood

1024
01:00:41,138 --> 01:00:43,005
just to accommodate their staff,

1025
01:00:43,007 --> 01:00:46,875
       which grew to more
        than 600 people.

1026
01:00:46,877 --> 01:00:48,377
        Poor Roy Disney.

1027
01:00:48,379 --> 01:00:50,712
  You know, during this time,
  there's tremendous expansion

1028
01:00:50,714 --> 01:00:52,714
    and ideas and excitement
         by everybody,

1029
01:00:52,716 --> 01:00:54,950
     but Roy's the banker,

1030
01:00:54,952 --> 01:00:56,618
   and he's the guy that has
    to keep it all together.

1031
01:00:56,620 --> 01:00:59,254
 And there's weekly discussions
about how to make payroll.

1032
01:00:59,256 --> 01:01:01,323
     The feature was going
          overbudget.

1033
01:01:01,325 --> 01:01:04,926
The bankers from Bank of America
     were there frequently.

1034
01:01:04,928 --> 01:01:07,863
       And Roy's job was
     to keep everybody calm

1035
01:01:07,865 --> 01:01:12,034
  and to keep it all together
          financially.

1036
01:01:12,036 --> 01:01:14,569
            Supper!

1037
01:01:14,571 --> 01:01:17,239
      (shouting excitedly)

1038
01:01:19,510 --> 01:01:21,743
           NARRATOR:
       As the production
    dragged into its second

1039
01:01:21,745 --> 01:01:27,382
and then its third year, Walt's
demands began to look dangerous.

1040
01:01:27,384 --> 01:01:32,054
He repeatedly pushed deadlines,
and by the start of 1937,

1041
01:01:32,056 --> 01:01:34,589
     with the premiere set
       for that December,

1042
01:01:34,591 --> 01:01:39,161
    the studio was behind--
          <i> way</i> behind.

1043
01:01:39,163 --> 01:01:42,230
Ten months to the premiere date,

1044
01:01:42,232 --> 01:01:46,501
 and not a single animation cel
     had been shot on film.

1045
01:01:46,503 --> 01:01:50,505
     But Walt insisted that
 Snow White could not be rushed

1046
01:01:50,507 --> 01:01:53,308
     and could not be done
         on the cheap.

1047
01:01:58,749 --> 01:02:02,117
   (orchestral music playing)

1048
01:02:02,119 --> 01:02:06,154
           NARRATOR:
   Walt kept upping the ante,
  which meant Roy had to raise

1049
01:02:06,156 --> 01:02:11,193
Walt's original budget number
        six times over.

1050
01:02:11,195 --> 01:02:12,894
        The trade papers

1051
01:02:12,896 --> 01:02:15,497
were beginning to write stories
       about the delays.

1052
01:02:15,499 --> 01:02:18,934
 People were calling Snow White
       "Disney's Folly."

1053
01:02:18,936 --> 01:02:22,003
        Roy was worried
      they might be right.

1054
01:02:28,512 --> 01:02:31,179
            TOMPSON:
I was working the 12our deal,

1055
01:02:31,181 --> 01:02:35,417
   where you come in at 8:00
      and go home at 8:00.

1056
01:02:35,419 --> 01:02:40,021
And we really were cleaning cels
       and patching cels,

1057
01:02:40,023 --> 01:02:42,157
        fixing mistakes
     and things like that.

1058
01:02:42,159 --> 01:02:43,625
There were a lot.

1059
01:02:43,627 --> 01:02:46,595
         And the queen,
      the queen was, uh...

1060
01:02:46,597 --> 01:02:51,199
   She had the kind of paint
    that was kind of sticky.

1061
01:02:51,201 --> 01:02:54,636
      And so those things
  would come back from camera,

1062
01:02:54,638 --> 01:02:58,173
 and we'd have to clean them up
         and patch them

1063
01:02:58,175 --> 01:03:00,809
 and send them back to camera.

1064
01:03:00,811 --> 01:03:04,713
           DON LUSK:
     I worked my tail off.

1065
01:03:04,715 --> 01:03:09,084
      I was put in charge
of the clean-up and in-betweens.

1066
01:03:09,086 --> 01:03:11,753
  That's where it was lagging.

1067
01:03:11,755 --> 01:03:15,323
       We went in at 7:00
        instead of 8:00,

1068
01:03:15,325 --> 01:03:17,959
and we went to dinner

1069
01:03:17,961 --> 01:03:21,596
  and we came back and usually
   worked till almost 10:00.

1070
01:03:26,036 --> 01:03:27,502
            GIVENS:
 The ink-and-paint gals were...

1071
01:03:27,504 --> 01:03:28,837
    some of them were losing
        their eyesight.

1072
01:03:28,839 --> 01:03:30,071
   It was a hell of a thing.

1073
01:03:30,073 --> 01:03:31,540
     They were just slaves.

1074
01:03:31,542 --> 01:03:34,442
  They were doing it, but they
believed in this thing so much,

1075
01:03:34,444 --> 01:03:36,378
 they were willing to drop dead
          on the job.

1076
01:03:38,682 --> 01:03:41,550
           NARRATOR:
     The animators finished
       in early November,

1077
01:03:41,552 --> 01:03:46,955
   but the last cels weren't
painted until November 27th.

1078
01:03:46,957 --> 01:03:49,858
       Rumors were flying
        around Hollywood

1079
01:03:49,860 --> 01:03:52,561
      that there would be
   no print of the film ready

1080
01:03:52,563 --> 01:03:55,030
for the December 21st premiere.

1081
01:03:59,102 --> 01:04:03,939
        NEWS ANNOUNCER:
        Blasé Hollywood,
  accustomed to gala openings,

1082
01:04:03,941 --> 01:04:06,942
     turns out for the most
    spectacular of them all.

1083
01:04:06,944 --> 01:04:08,276
       The world premiere

1084
01:04:08,278 --> 01:04:10,846
of the million-and-a-half dollar
       fairytale fantasy

1085
01:04:10,848 --> 01:04:13,815
          <i> Snow White</i>
     <i> and the Seven Dwarfs.</i>

1086
01:04:13,817 --> 01:04:17,686
Replicas from the first
feature cartoon thrill thousands

1087
01:04:17,688 --> 01:04:19,654
   who turn out for a glimpse
   of lovely Marlene Dietrich

1088
01:04:19,656 --> 01:04:23,425
    with Doug Fairbanks Jr.
     and a parade of stars.

1089
01:04:23,427 --> 01:04:27,028
         Shirley Temple
     is just as enthralled

1090
01:04:27,030 --> 01:04:28,997
   as are the grown-up stars
         and moviegoers

1091
01:04:28,999 --> 01:04:30,398
with the seven fantastic dwarfs.

1092
01:04:32,803 --> 01:04:35,337
            GABLER:
      Walt was in a state
        of high anxiety.

1093
01:04:35,339 --> 01:04:39,407
He had no idea how the audience
     was going to respond.

1094
01:04:39,409 --> 01:04:42,744
        RADIO REPORTER:
Well, Walt, I think you're due
 to do all the talking tonight.

1095
01:04:42,746 --> 01:04:46,081
    Uh, tell us a little bit
 about this picture, will you?

1096
01:04:46,083 --> 01:04:48,383
            DISNEY:
   Well, it's been lot of fun
           making it,

1097
01:04:48,385 --> 01:04:50,085
   and we're very happy that

1098
01:04:50,087 --> 01:04:52,153
   it's being given this big
     premiere here tonight

1099
01:04:52,155 --> 01:04:53,889
      and all these people
        are turning out

1100
01:04:53,891 --> 01:04:55,390
     to take a look at it,

1101
01:04:55,392 --> 01:04:57,058
     and I hope they're not
       too disappointed.

1102
01:04:57,060 --> 01:04:58,226
           REPORTER:
 Well, I'm sure they won't be,

1103
01:04:58,228 --> 01:04:59,394
I've seen the picture, Walt...

1104
01:04:59,396 --> 01:05:01,997
         He didn't know
    if it would really work.

1105
01:05:01,999 --> 01:05:04,566
      And one part of him
   was almost agonizing over,

1106
01:05:04,568 --> 01:05:09,371
"Well, if people don't buy this,
   this will just fall flat,

1107
01:05:09,373 --> 01:05:11,806
   and then I will be done."

1108
01:05:22,352 --> 01:05:24,519
           NARRATOR:
    Audience members gasped

1109
01:05:24,521 --> 01:05:27,289
      at the opening shots
     of the Queen's castle.

1110
01:05:34,298 --> 01:05:40,635
   Slave in the magic mirror,
 come from the farthest space.

1111
01:05:40,637 --> 01:05:45,273
   Through in from darkness,
     I summon thee, speak!

1112
01:05:49,112 --> 01:05:53,281
           NARRATOR:
They howled in laughter
      at the antic dwarfs.

1113
01:05:53,283 --> 01:05:56,685
           (sniffing)

1114
01:05:56,687 --> 01:05:59,220
           Ah, soup!

1115
01:05:59,222 --> 01:06:00,155
            Hooray!

1116
01:06:13,437 --> 01:06:17,138
      (shouting over each other)

1117
01:06:17,140 --> 01:06:18,773
SNOW WHITE:
Uh-uh-uh, just a minute!

1118
01:06:20,978 --> 01:06:23,311
      The heart of a pig!

1119
01:06:23,313 --> 01:06:24,946
     And I've been tricked.

1120
01:06:28,919 --> 01:06:33,021
           NARRATOR:
    They hissed disapproval
       at the Evil Queen.

1121
01:06:33,023 --> 01:06:35,623
  And still, Walt was anxious.

1122
01:06:37,794 --> 01:06:39,894
              Don't let the wish
                      grow cold!

1123
01:06:41,898 --> 01:06:44,733
Oh, I feel strange.

1124
01:06:44,735 --> 01:06:49,037
           NARRATOR:
He sat gripping Lillian's hand
     for nearly 75 minutes,

1125
01:06:49,039 --> 01:06:53,008
nervously anticipating the scene
    that would put the power

1126
01:06:53,010 --> 01:06:55,977
     of his personal vision
     to the ultimate test.

1127
01:07:00,417 --> 01:07:04,519
      (cackling laughter)

1128
01:07:04,521 --> 01:07:08,189
Now I'll be fairest in the land!

1129
01:07:13,096 --> 01:07:16,097
  (solemn organ music playing)

1130
01:07:16,099 --> 01:07:20,201
           NARRATOR:
 When it arrived, the apparent
      death of Snow White,

1131
01:07:20,203 --> 01:07:22,704
    the theater was hushed.

1132
01:07:32,716 --> 01:07:37,685
            (crying)

1133
01:07:37,687 --> 01:07:39,754
            GABLER:
 The audience started weeping.

1134
01:07:39,756 --> 01:07:42,857
   And that's when Walt knew.

1135
01:07:42,859 --> 01:07:45,760
That's when they all knew.

1136
01:07:45,762 --> 01:07:50,465
   The audience had suspended
  its disbelief so thoroughly,

1137
01:07:50,467 --> 01:07:56,638
   so believed in the reality
        of the situation

1138
01:07:56,640 --> 01:08:03,178
      and of the dwarves,
     that they were crying.

1139
01:08:03,180 --> 01:08:06,014
  That was really the triumph
          of the film.

1140
01:08:06,016 --> 01:08:13,755
          ¶ One song,
         only for you ¶

1141
01:08:13,757 --> 01:08:16,658
        ¶ One heart... ¶

1142
01:08:16,660 --> 01:08:21,229
            SUSKIND:
 Clark Gable and Carole Lombard
          are weeping.

1143
01:08:21,231 --> 01:08:23,998
 They don't know what hit them.

1144
01:08:24,000 --> 01:08:28,736
You know, what hit them is that
they crossed a barrier

1145
01:08:28,738 --> 01:08:31,339
    from the life they live

1146
01:08:31,341 --> 01:08:36,845
     to the internal world,
 where myth lives in all of us,

1147
01:08:36,847 --> 01:08:40,482
and Disney provides the passage.

1148
01:08:40,484 --> 01:08:43,251
   And it ain't kid's stuff.

1149
01:08:57,868 --> 01:09:00,101
           NARRATOR:
  When the curtain came down,

1150
01:09:00,103 --> 01:09:02,437
       the audience rose
        from their seats

1151
01:09:02,439 --> 01:09:04,706
           and broke
   into a thunderous ovation.

1152
01:09:04,708 --> 01:09:12,680
   ¶ Someday, when my dreams
         come true... ¶

1153
01:09:12,682 --> 01:09:17,185
           NARRATOR:
  "I could not help but feel,"
one rival movie producer gushed,

1154
01:09:17,187 --> 01:09:20,688
"that I was in the midst
  of motion picture history."

1155
01:09:39,676 --> 01:09:41,843
           SCHICKEL:
  I know the first movie I saw

1156
01:09:41,845 --> 01:09:43,645
         was<i> Snow White</i>
     <i> and the Seven Dwarfs.</i>

1157
01:09:43,647 --> 01:09:46,481
  Now, I didn't know anything
  but to be delighted with it.

1158
01:09:46,483 --> 01:09:48,416
       It was wonderful.

1159
01:09:48,418 --> 01:09:51,186
     I mean, I still think
        it's wonderful.

1160
01:09:51,188 --> 01:09:53,922
     Snow White lies dead.

1161
01:09:53,924 --> 01:09:55,623
            TOMPSON:
       I loved the queen.

1162
01:09:55,625 --> 01:10:00,061
       She was so awful,
  but she was just beautiful.

1163
01:10:00,063 --> 01:10:02,397
       Behold her heart!

1164
01:10:02,399 --> 01:10:05,333
She was so beautifully drawn
        and everything.

1165
01:10:08,171 --> 01:10:12,073
           SCHICKEL:
Kids had to be carried screaming
 out of Radio City Music Hall.

1166
01:10:12,075 --> 01:10:13,641
   They were too frightening
           for them.

1167
01:10:13,643 --> 01:10:16,945
  That's an important aspect.

1168
01:10:16,947 --> 01:10:22,917
  Disney understood that kids
   could take more scariness

1169
01:10:22,919 --> 01:10:27,088
      than people thought
        they could take.

1170
01:10:27,090 --> 01:10:29,424
     So they wet the pants
        and wet the seat

1171
01:10:29,426 --> 01:10:31,693
   in Radio City Music Hall.

1172
01:10:31,695 --> 01:10:32,961
          (screaming)

1173
01:10:32,963 --> 01:10:35,830
 But they'd had an experience,
you know?

1174
01:10:35,832 --> 01:10:37,265
   That's what was important.

1175
01:10:37,267 --> 01:10:39,534
     It was not just bland.

1176
01:10:39,536 --> 01:10:44,105
 It was serious stuff going on
     in their little heads.

1177
01:10:48,411 --> 01:10:50,078
            SUSKIND:
   Think about what he does.

1178
01:10:50,080 --> 01:10:55,550
Well, he's like, "These cartoons
don't have to be just slapstick.

1179
01:10:55,552 --> 01:11:01,489
  "They can carry everything,
     all the biggest stuff.

1180
01:11:01,491 --> 01:11:05,493
    "They can carry ancient
   and powerful mythologies.

1181
01:11:05,495 --> 01:11:07,996
  They can carry everything."

1182
01:11:07,998 --> 01:11:11,633
                       My hands!

1183
01:11:11,635 --> 01:11:15,403
     That was a huge leap,
and that's an artistic leap.

1184
01:11:15,405 --> 01:11:18,706
 He's creating a new art form.

1185
01:11:28,318 --> 01:11:31,319
           NARRATOR:
<i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i>

1186
01:11:31,321 --> 01:11:33,488
      played at New York's
     Radio City Music Hall

1187
01:11:33,490 --> 01:11:38,393
    for five straight weeks
   at the beginning of 1938.

1188
01:11:38,395 --> 01:11:42,830
   No other film had ever run
  more than three weeks there.

1189
01:11:42,832 --> 01:11:46,467
   National and international
       releases followed.

1190
01:11:46,469 --> 01:11:49,904
Lines wrapped around small-town
    theaters in New England,

1191
01:11:49,906 --> 01:11:53,441
    the South, the Midwest,
         the Far West.

1192
01:11:53,443 --> 01:11:59,714
The film was a box office smash
 in London, Paris, and Sydney.

1193
01:11:59,716 --> 01:12:03,785
     It grossed $8 million
       in its first year,

1194
01:12:03,787 --> 01:12:07,088
       the equivalent of
    over $100 million today

1195
01:12:07,090 --> 01:12:09,657
     and more than any film
           before it.

1196
01:12:09,659 --> 01:12:15,029
 Roy paid off the studio's $2.3
million debt to Bank of America

1197
01:12:15,031 --> 01:12:18,333
    while the film was still
        in its first run

1198
01:12:18,335 --> 01:12:19,934
       and helped oversee

1199
01:12:19,936 --> 01:12:23,237
        an unprecedented
    merchandising campaign.

1200
01:12:23,239 --> 01:12:26,174
            SMOODIN:
   There are Snow White jars

1201
01:12:26,176 --> 01:12:29,277
and Snow White jelly
    and Snow White scarves.

1202
01:12:29,279 --> 01:12:32,347
   There are Snow White shows
 going on at department stores.

1203
01:12:32,349 --> 01:12:39,754
   So the film and the space
of commerce are completely one.

1204
01:12:39,756 --> 01:12:43,257
   It's a commercial triumph
           for Disney

1205
01:12:43,259 --> 01:12:45,126
        not just because
      of the film itself,

1206
01:12:45,128 --> 01:12:48,863
  but because of the way that
 the merchandise is tied to it.

1207
01:12:48,865 --> 01:12:53,668
           NARRATOR:
   Walt Disney was celebrated
  as a true American original,

1208
01:12:53,670 --> 01:12:55,837
  a man capable of harnessing

1209
01:12:55,839 --> 01:12:58,873
    the power of technology
and storytelling,

1210
01:12:58,875 --> 01:13:02,210
          a man adept
      at art and commerce.

1211
01:13:02,212 --> 01:13:05,079
  Harvard University gave him
  an honorary Master of Arts,

1212
01:13:05,081 --> 01:13:10,118
     and so did Yale, whose
     trustees called Disney

1213
01:13:10,120 --> 01:13:13,020
          "The creator
   of a new language of art."

1214
01:13:18,762 --> 01:13:21,295
            SUSKIND:
     He's hailed in Paris.

1215
01:13:21,297 --> 01:13:22,864
    He's hailed in New York.

1216
01:13:22,866 --> 01:13:24,699
      He's living a dream.

1217
01:13:24,701 --> 01:13:28,970
   And that's a moment where
he starts to think very boldly.

1218
01:13:28,972 --> 01:13:33,608
     He almost is released
       from hesitations.

1219
01:13:33,610 --> 01:13:35,910
He's like, "I am that guy
       that I dreamed of.

1220
01:13:35,912 --> 01:13:37,345
           "I am him.

1221
01:13:37,347 --> 01:13:39,847
     So now what do we do?"

1222
01:13:56,299 --> 01:14:00,701
           NARRATOR:
   Disney cultivated the look
    of the artist in public,

1223
01:14:00,703 --> 01:14:05,640
          but at home,
     he was just plain Dad.

1224
01:14:05,642 --> 01:14:08,176
       Walt made a point
to drive his two young daughters

1225
01:14:08,178 --> 01:14:09,977
      to school every day,

1226
01:14:09,979 --> 01:14:15,817
 chased them around their house
cackling like the Wicked Witch,

1227
01:14:15,819 --> 01:14:20,154
 and read them bedtime stories.

1228
01:14:20,156 --> 01:14:21,889
            GABLER:
      There's no question,

1229
01:14:21,891 --> 01:14:23,458
he adored them.

1230
01:14:23,460 --> 01:14:24,992
    Absolutely adored them.

1231
01:14:24,994 --> 01:14:29,030
      He was a man who had
     a lively sense of play

1232
01:14:29,032 --> 01:14:32,700
      that he'd never lost
 from the time he was a child.

1233
01:14:32,702 --> 01:14:36,904
             WATTS:
     He was very domestic,
         very nurturing

1234
01:14:36,906 --> 01:14:39,540
     in a way that usually
      in that day and age

1235
01:14:39,542 --> 01:14:43,277
      was associated more
      with mother's role.

1236
01:14:43,279 --> 01:14:49,617
    Lillian was a bit aloof,
  a bit reserved, a bit cool,

1237
01:14:49,619 --> 01:14:53,488
    even with her children,
and Walt was just the opposite.

1238
01:14:53,490 --> 01:14:56,557
He was overflowing
        with enthusiasm.

1239
01:14:56,559 --> 01:15:00,261
       I think in a way,
        he was reacting

1240
01:15:00,263 --> 01:15:03,998
   against his own childhood
       and against Elias.

1241
01:15:04,000 --> 01:15:06,767
         Because Elias
     was so stern with him,

1242
01:15:06,769 --> 01:15:10,505
   Disney often said, "I want
 to spoil my children terribly.

1243
01:15:10,507 --> 01:15:12,173
  I just want to spoil them."

1244
01:15:14,310 --> 01:15:17,245
           NARRATOR:
He had had only sporadic contact
      with his own parents

1245
01:15:17,247 --> 01:15:19,947
 since his move to California.

1246
01:15:19,949 --> 01:15:23,251
    But the Disney studio's
     new financial success

1247
01:15:23,253 --> 01:15:26,921
afforded Walt the chance
      to draw them closer.

1248
01:15:26,923 --> 01:15:31,792
       Walt and Roy moved
Elias and Flora to Los Angeles,

1249
01:15:31,794 --> 01:15:34,228
     and as a 50th wedding
      anniversary present,

1250
01:15:34,230 --> 01:15:37,365
          the brothers
      bought them a house.

1251
01:15:37,367 --> 01:15:40,001
         In the middle
   of the Snow White frenzy,

1252
01:15:40,003 --> 01:15:42,837
they also threw a golden wedding
       anniversary party,

1253
01:15:42,839 --> 01:15:46,107
    which they deemed worthy
   of preserving for history.

1254
01:15:48,478 --> 01:15:51,812
            DISNEY:
        Well, you know,
       here it is, 1937,

1255
01:15:51,814 --> 01:15:53,481
and you folks are almost ready

1256
01:15:53,483 --> 01:15:55,283
     to celebrate your 50th
      wedding anniversary.

1257
01:15:55,285 --> 01:15:56,651
             FLORA:
   We're not gonna celebrate.

1258
01:15:56,653 --> 01:15:57,985
            DISNEY:
            Why not?

1259
01:15:57,987 --> 01:15:59,387
             FLORA:
      Oh, what's the use?

1260
01:15:59,389 --> 01:16:00,755
            DISNEY:
 Well, Dad likes to celebrate.

1261
01:16:00,757 --> 01:16:02,156
He's always enjoyed a good time.

1262
01:16:02,158 --> 01:16:03,791
             FLORA:
     We've been celebrating
         for 50 years.

1263
01:16:03,793 --> 01:16:05,192
      Getting tired of it.

1264
01:16:05,194 --> 01:16:06,360
            DISNEY:
      What about you, Dad?

1265
01:16:06,362 --> 01:16:07,495
Don't you want to make
        a little whoopee

1266
01:16:07,497 --> 01:16:09,263
     on your golden wedding
          anniversary?

1267
01:16:09,265 --> 01:16:11,265
             ELIAS:
    Oh, we don't want to go
to any extremes with it at all.

1268
01:16:11,267 --> 01:16:12,533
            DISNEY:
     Well, I expect you...

1269
01:16:12,535 --> 01:16:13,834
    I hoped you wouldn't go
        to any extremes

1270
01:16:13,836 --> 01:16:15,202
  if you're whoopeeing it up.

1271
01:16:15,204 --> 01:16:17,171
           (laughing)

1272
01:16:17,173 --> 01:16:19,440
             FLORA:
         He don't know
      how to make whoopee.

1273
01:16:24,147 --> 01:16:29,617
           NARRATOR:
Walt sometimes seemed compelled
to talk about the old days.

1274
01:16:29,619 --> 01:16:31,519
     Even as his fame grew,

1275
01:16:31,521 --> 01:16:34,388
  his family's early struggle
     remained a touchstone.

1276
01:16:34,390 --> 01:16:38,359
    He held fast to the idea
      of himself as a man

1277
01:16:38,361 --> 01:16:41,696
     formed in the crucible
    of want and deprivation

1278
01:16:41,698 --> 01:16:45,232
     in the great forgotten
     middle of the country.

1279
01:16:45,234 --> 01:16:51,639
         HIGGINBOTHAM:
   He feels it very important
  to identify and to make note

1280
01:16:51,641 --> 01:16:56,010
  of his Midwestern background
  and to propagate that story.

1281
01:16:56,012 --> 01:16:59,313
         He understood
      the value of labor,

1282
01:16:59,315 --> 01:17:02,917
and that that is not something
        he learned about

1283
01:17:02,919 --> 01:17:06,687
      from somebody else;
rather it's naturally who he is.

1284
01:17:06,689 --> 01:17:10,625
           NARRATOR:
 Walt Disney had been a player
     in the movie business

1285
01:17:10,627 --> 01:17:15,630
     for more than 15 years
and a celebrity for nearly ten,

1286
01:17:15,632 --> 01:17:18,766
  but the acclaimed filmmaker
 still did not think of himself

1287
01:17:18,768 --> 01:17:21,402
    as a Hollywood insider.

1288
01:17:21,404 --> 01:17:25,239
    He complained that other
      major film producers

1289
01:17:25,241 --> 01:17:28,643
refused to acknowledge animation
       as serious cinema.

1290
01:17:28,645 --> 01:17:30,544
And he wasn't wrong.

1291
01:17:30,546 --> 01:17:33,514
   When the Academy of Motion
    Picture Arts and Sciences

1292
01:17:33,516 --> 01:17:37,251
   announced the ten nominees
 for the Best Picture of 1938,

1293
01:17:37,253 --> 01:17:42,490
<i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i>
      was not on the list.

1294
01:17:42,492 --> 01:17:45,726
   Instead, Disney was given
        a special Oscar

1295
01:17:45,728 --> 01:17:50,431
    for his pioneering work
  in feature-length cartoons.

1296
01:17:50,433 --> 01:17:52,466
     I'm sure the boys and girls
              in the whole world

1297
01:17:52,468 --> 01:17:54,935
      are going to be very happy
              when they find out

1298
01:17:54,937 --> 01:17:56,837
the daddy of<i> Snow White</i>
     <i> and the Seven Dwarfs,</i>

1299
01:17:56,839 --> 01:17:59,407
    Mickey Mouse, Ferdinand,
       and all the others

1300
01:17:59,409 --> 01:18:01,509
        is going to get
     this beautiful statue.

1301
01:18:03,680 --> 01:18:05,312
                 Isn't it bright
                      and shiny?

1302
01:18:05,314 --> 01:18:06,514
Oh, it's beautiful.

1303
01:18:06,516 --> 01:18:08,683
         Aren't you proud of it,
                     Mr. Disney?

1304
01:18:08,685 --> 01:18:11,652
Why, I'm so proud,
I think I'll bust.

1305
01:18:11,654 --> 01:18:13,788
         He got sort of
     the honorable mention,

1306
01:18:13,790 --> 01:18:15,289
       which is... crap.

1307
01:18:15,291 --> 01:18:16,791
     He doesn't want that.

1308
01:18:16,793 --> 01:18:22,363
He has created something
    absolutely magnificent.

1309
01:18:22,365 --> 01:18:24,031
   He knows it's magnificent.

1310
01:18:24,033 --> 01:18:27,268
    Audiences have told him
       it's magnificent.

1311
01:18:27,270 --> 01:18:29,670
  He believed in this so much,

1312
01:18:29,672 --> 01:18:34,075
   he put himself personally
   on the line for his films

1313
01:18:34,077 --> 01:18:36,010
       and his products,
       and for animation,

1314
01:18:36,012 --> 01:18:37,678
and the furthering of animation.

1315
01:18:37,680 --> 01:18:43,684
 And Hollywood just didn't seem
ready to view animation as art,

1316
01:18:43,686 --> 01:18:46,187
       or as filmmaking.

1317
01:18:46,189 --> 01:18:48,289
    It had to have smarted.

1318
01:18:56,733 --> 01:18:59,066
           NARRATOR:
Disney had dreams of producing

1319
01:18:59,068 --> 01:19:02,670
      a new feature-length
animated film every six months,

1320
01:19:02,672 --> 01:19:05,272
         and almost all
      from source material

1321
01:19:05,274 --> 01:19:07,074
 that played to his strengths:

1322
01:19:07,076 --> 01:19:10,644
     fairytales, folktales,
       or popular novels

1323
01:19:10,646 --> 01:19:13,280
        already familiar
        to his audience.

1324
01:19:13,282 --> 01:19:16,317
        His two projects
      following<i> Snow White</i>

1325
01:19:16,319 --> 01:19:18,519
  were coming-of-age stories.

1326
01:19:18,521 --> 01:19:21,222
      First up was<i> Bambi,</i>
        based on a novel

1327
01:19:21,224 --> 01:19:23,891
       about a young deer
        becoming a stag;

1328
01:19:23,893 --> 01:19:25,993
and then<i> Pinocchio,</i>

1329
01:19:25,995 --> 01:19:29,330
  a popular late 19th century
        Italian folktale

1330
01:19:29,332 --> 01:19:33,601
     about a wooden puppet
  who wants to be a real boy.

1331
01:19:33,603 --> 01:19:37,371
  Disney hit snags right away
           on<i> Bambi,</i>

1332
01:19:37,373 --> 01:19:39,907
  and began to worry the story
      was too complicated

1333
01:19:39,909 --> 01:19:42,476
      and needed more time
        in development.

1334
01:19:42,478 --> 01:19:44,211
     So he moved<i> Pinocchio</i>

1335
01:19:44,213 --> 01:19:48,249
 to the front of the production
    line and hit more snags.

1336
01:19:48,251 --> 01:19:51,585
            GABLER:
    They struggled mightily
with the story of Pinocchio.

1337
01:19:51,587 --> 01:19:53,454
     As Walt himself said,

1338
01:19:53,456 --> 01:19:58,859
  he's not a very nice puppet
     in the original story.

1339
01:19:58,861 --> 01:20:02,229
    He's kind of a wiseacre.

1340
01:20:02,231 --> 01:20:06,200
So there was something they had
to tackle immediately, which is,

1341
01:20:06,202 --> 01:20:11,405
  "How do you make this puppet
     into someone likable?"

1342
01:20:17,180 --> 01:20:19,814
           NARRATOR:
 Disney was still puzzling out
      the Pinocchio story

1343
01:20:19,816 --> 01:20:24,652
      in the fall of 1938
   when the phone call came.

1344
01:20:24,654 --> 01:20:28,055
    His parents had suffered
   carbon monoxide poisoning

1345
01:20:28,057 --> 01:20:30,858
caused by a malfunction
     of the heating system

1346
01:20:30,860 --> 01:20:34,995
   at the house Walt and Roy
      had bought for them.

1347
01:20:34,997 --> 01:20:37,698
      Elias had survived.

1348
01:20:37,700 --> 01:20:40,401
         Flora had not.

1349
01:20:40,403 --> 01:20:45,840
   Walt went to her funeral,
 and then he went back to work.

1350
01:20:45,842 --> 01:20:50,911
        He never talked
  of his mother's death again.

1351
01:20:58,855 --> 01:21:02,857
            NILSEN:
 It was something he dealt with
         within himself

1352
01:21:02,859 --> 01:21:05,726
      as a private matter.

1353
01:21:05,728 --> 01:21:07,228
      Even with his wife,

1354
01:21:07,230 --> 01:21:09,430
I don't think that relationship
      he shared very much.

1355
01:21:09,432 --> 01:21:13,167
His emotions were internalized,

1356
01:21:13,169 --> 01:21:17,605
 and that's why cinema I think
   offered this way to emote

1357
01:21:17,607 --> 01:21:20,307
in a way that he couldn't emote
    in his own private life.

1358
01:21:31,254 --> 01:21:34,355
            GABLER:
   Walt Disney once exploded
     during a story session

1359
01:21:34,357 --> 01:21:35,756
  and he pounded on the table.

1360
01:21:35,758 --> 01:21:38,559
          And he said,
"We're not making cartoons here!

1361
01:21:38,561 --> 01:21:42,463
  We're not making cartoons."

1362
01:21:42,465 --> 01:21:47,434
      Walt Disney had made
        this separation

1363
01:21:47,436 --> 01:21:50,671
 between Mickey Mouse and some
 of the early Silly Symphonies.

1364
01:21:50,673 --> 01:21:52,539
They're cartoons.

1365
01:21:52,541 --> 01:21:54,808
       But now we're not
        making cartoons.

1366
01:21:54,810 --> 01:21:57,044
       We're making art.

1367
01:21:57,046 --> 01:22:00,080
 And art has a higher standard.

1368
01:22:00,082 --> 01:22:03,717
        And the standard
   is the emotional response

1369
01:22:03,719 --> 01:22:06,320
    that we get from people.

1370
01:22:06,322 --> 01:22:09,924
 Can you make them feel deeply?

1371
01:22:09,926 --> 01:22:12,092
            SUSKIND:
        Art doesn't work
unless it gets to the big stuff.

1372
01:22:12,094 --> 01:22:13,560
     Call it what you will.

1373
01:22:13,562 --> 01:22:18,933
   Entertainment doesn't work
  unless it gets at the core,

1374
01:22:18,935 --> 01:22:21,835
   the stuff that we really,
      really wrestle with.

1375
01:22:21,837 --> 01:22:27,107
Make you laugh, make you cry,
 make you sing, make you sigh.

1376
01:22:27,109 --> 01:22:28,676
    But you gotta get at it.

1377
01:22:28,678 --> 01:22:33,480
           NARRATOR:
  Disney wasn't thinking small
         on Pinocchio.

1378
01:22:33,482 --> 01:22:36,483
     Snow White had proved
    that his animated films

1379
01:22:36,485 --> 01:22:39,386
     could tackle the sweep
     of the human condition

1380
01:22:39,388 --> 01:22:43,057
 with all the light and shadow
         of real life.

1381
01:22:43,059 --> 01:22:46,660
Now he went deep inside himself
        for inspiration

1382
01:22:46,662 --> 01:22:49,430
          and emerged
  with a magical story elixir

1383
01:22:49,432 --> 01:22:51,966
          that became
the Disney trademark:

1384
01:22:51,968 --> 01:22:54,868
      outsiders struggling
        for acceptance,

1385
01:22:54,870 --> 01:22:57,638
      coming-of-age heroes
       bucking authority,

1386
01:22:57,640 --> 01:23:04,979
 temptation, loss, redemption,
         and survival.

1387
01:23:04,981 --> 01:23:07,181
         So now Walt's
   wading through the story,

1388
01:23:07,183 --> 01:23:08,916
      throwing things out
   left and right and saying,

1389
01:23:08,918 --> 01:23:10,651
   "What's the essence of it?

1390
01:23:10,653 --> 01:23:12,252
   "What's this story about?

1391
01:23:12,254 --> 01:23:13,354
        "Who's it about?

1392
01:23:13,356 --> 01:23:14,355
        "Why do I care?

1393
01:23:14,357 --> 01:23:16,023
 Why do I want to watch this?"

1394
01:23:16,025 --> 01:23:20,260
         DOUGLAS BRODE:
Pinocchio becomes about
   what it means to be human,

1395
01:23:20,262 --> 01:23:24,498
       about how you have
      to achieve humanity.

1396
01:23:24,500 --> 01:23:26,433
      You have to earn it.

1397
01:23:26,435 --> 01:23:28,669
             HANH:
   They take huge liberties.

1398
01:23:28,671 --> 01:23:30,337
   Walt Disney doesn't care.

1399
01:23:30,339 --> 01:23:31,872
       He says, you know,
    "We're taking the title,

1400
01:23:31,874 --> 01:23:33,407
 "we're taking the puppet thing

1401
01:23:33,409 --> 01:23:35,776
   and we're gonna make that
        into our story."

1402
01:23:35,778 --> 01:23:41,048
           NARRATOR:
     Difficult as they were
   and engaging as they were,

1403
01:23:41,050 --> 01:23:42,583
      Pinocchio and Bambi

1404
01:23:42,585 --> 01:23:46,387
did not capture Walt's
      undivided attention.

1405
01:23:46,389 --> 01:23:49,089
     There was an enticing
    new experiment going on

1406
01:23:49,091 --> 01:23:51,658
      right down the hall.

1407
01:24:02,104 --> 01:24:04,805
     The project had begun
       as a cartoon short

1408
01:24:04,807 --> 01:24:08,375
   based on a symphony titled
  "The Sorcerer's Apprentice,"

1409
01:24:08,377 --> 01:24:09,843
     starring Mickey Mouse,

1410
01:24:09,845 --> 01:24:11,578
with the backing of an orchestra

1411
01:24:11,580 --> 01:24:14,748
  conducted by the celebrated
       Leopold Stokowski.

1412
01:24:27,997 --> 01:24:31,398
      Disney was so taken
     with the first results

1413
01:24:31,400 --> 01:24:34,768
  that he decided to expand it
into a feature-length film:

1414
01:24:34,770 --> 01:24:37,471
           <i> Fantasia.</i>

1415
01:24:37,473 --> 01:24:41,975
He and Stokowski selected eight
 separate classical symphonies

1416
01:24:41,977 --> 01:24:47,281
  and Walt and his team began
thinking about imagery to match.

1417
01:24:47,283 --> 01:24:52,252
 The Disney Studio was crawling
    with musicians, dancers,

1418
01:24:52,254 --> 01:24:57,124
  even famous scientists like
  the astronomer Edwin Hubble.

1419
01:24:57,126 --> 01:24:58,592
             HANH:
     So here's Stravinsky,

1420
01:24:58,594 --> 01:25:00,561
     and George Balanchine
      comes by the studio,

1421
01:25:00,563 --> 01:25:02,529
    "Well, let's choreograph
     some dancing for us."

1422
01:25:02,531 --> 01:25:04,598
So these experts
     are coming and going,

1423
01:25:04,600 --> 01:25:06,500
  and there's a ballet company
   in the next room dancing.

1424
01:25:06,502 --> 01:25:09,002
   And here's Hubble talking
  about theories of deep space

1425
01:25:09,004 --> 01:25:10,270
and where the cosmos came from.

1426
01:25:10,272 --> 01:25:12,840
 And there's a dinosaur expert.

1427
01:25:12,842 --> 01:25:16,944
    And it is this cultural
       kind of petri dish

1428
01:25:16,946 --> 01:25:18,979
       of people together
   working and collaborating,

1429
01:25:18,981 --> 01:25:20,447
       creating<i> Fantasia.</i>

1430
01:25:20,449 --> 01:25:26,320
    And he loves it because
  this is a huge, fun sandbox.

1431
01:25:26,322 --> 01:25:29,656
            GABLER:
Well, he's dealt with realism
    and realistic emotions,

1432
01:25:29,658 --> 01:25:33,494
      but now he's trying
       to get to emotion

1433
01:25:33,496 --> 01:25:36,630
      in a different way,
     circumventing realism.

1434
01:25:36,632 --> 01:25:40,300
    This is absolutely alien
     to the Disney process,

1435
01:25:40,302 --> 01:25:43,303
         to try and see
    if you can reach emotion

1436
01:25:43,305 --> 01:25:47,307
 directly through abstraction.

1437
01:25:47,309 --> 01:25:50,644
  He's saying, "I want to try
     what heroes of art do.

1438
01:25:50,646 --> 01:25:55,816
   "I want the great artists
  of the time to join in here.

1439
01:25:55,818 --> 01:25:59,453
      I want to create art
     that lasts centuries."

1440
01:26:03,759 --> 01:26:05,826
NARRATOR:
       The Disney studio
       ran to the rhythms

1441
01:26:05,828 --> 01:26:08,028
   of Walt's bursting energy,

1442
01:26:08,030 --> 01:26:11,665
 which appeared to be spilling
  beyond rational boundaries.

1443
01:26:13,669 --> 01:26:16,270
       The boss had three
       major productions

1444
01:26:16,272 --> 01:26:18,338
    spinning simultaneously

1445
01:26:18,340 --> 01:26:23,510
   and had nearly doubled the
 number of full-time employees.

1446
01:26:23,512 --> 01:26:26,180
        The Disneys were
     in dire need of space

1447
01:26:26,182 --> 01:26:28,749
         to house their
      thousand-plus staff,

1448
01:26:28,751 --> 01:26:33,587
and another addition at Hyperion
    was not going to cut it.

1449
01:26:33,589 --> 01:26:37,291
Without consulting with Roy,
 who was in Europe at the time,

1450
01:26:37,293 --> 01:26:40,194
         Walt selected
    a 51-acre building lot,

1451
01:26:40,196 --> 01:26:42,229
  empty but for a polo field,

1452
01:26:42,231 --> 01:26:45,432
    on the other side of the
  Hollywood Hills, in Burbank.

1453
01:26:45,434 --> 01:26:49,937
      Then he went to work
    making his dream studio.

1454
01:27:02,084 --> 01:27:06,220
            GABLER:
        It was designed
    for absolute efficiency,

1455
01:27:06,222 --> 01:27:10,924
   but also to engender this
 wonderful sense of community.

1456
01:27:10,926 --> 01:27:12,459
  In fact, there was one point

1457
01:27:12,461 --> 01:27:14,962
         where he said,
  "You know what'd be great is

1458
01:27:14,964 --> 01:27:19,132
if we build an apartment complex
     here on the studio lot

1459
01:27:19,134 --> 01:27:22,636
 so no one ever has to leave."

1460
01:27:22,638 --> 01:27:25,038
   It's so that his employees
       could become part

1461
01:27:25,040 --> 01:27:27,874
 of this very insular community

1462
01:27:27,876 --> 01:27:31,178
   where they would all work
together in this common mission

1463
01:27:31,180 --> 01:27:34,214
to make these great animations.

1464
01:27:34,216 --> 01:27:37,417
And that's what this new studio
     was really all about.

1465
01:27:37,419 --> 01:27:41,788
    It was really all about
    creating a perfect place

1466
01:27:41,790 --> 01:27:44,057
    to create perfect films.

1467
01:27:46,161 --> 01:27:50,130
           NARRATOR:
 The day after Christmas 1939,
most of the Disney staff

1468
01:27:50,132 --> 01:27:53,500
  began the move from Hyperion
          to Burbank.

1469
01:27:53,502 --> 01:27:55,869
 The heart of the studio campus

1470
01:27:55,871 --> 01:27:58,238
      was the three-story
      animation building,

1471
01:27:58,240 --> 01:28:00,774
       with Walt's office
       on the top floor.

1472
01:28:00,776 --> 01:28:05,979
Each animator had a single big,
  airy sunlit room to himself,

1473
01:28:05,981 --> 01:28:09,316
 with an oversized work-table,
      a stylish area rug,

1474
01:28:09,318 --> 01:28:13,453
  an easy chair to recline in,
          and drapes.

1475
01:28:13,455 --> 01:28:16,690
      The entire facility
      was air-conditioned.

1476
01:28:16,692 --> 01:28:20,460
      Landscaped pathways
led to a theater, a restaurant,

1477
01:28:20,462 --> 01:28:22,296
        a soda fountain.

1478
01:28:22,298 --> 01:28:24,331
             LUSK:
       It was wonderful.

1479
01:28:24,333 --> 01:28:27,801
       We had things that
     we'd never had before.

1480
01:28:27,803 --> 01:28:29,636
   If you wanted a milkshake,

1481
01:28:29,638 --> 01:28:31,605
     you'd call the little
          coffee shop

1482
01:28:31,607 --> 01:28:33,373
      right in the middle
         of the place,

1483
01:28:33,375 --> 01:28:34,775
   and then they had runners

1484
01:28:34,777 --> 01:28:37,644
         that would run
      these things to us,

1485
01:28:37,646 --> 01:28:39,846
a sandwich, whatever we wanted.

1486
01:28:39,848 --> 01:28:42,049
      It was just heaven.

1487
01:28:42,051 --> 01:28:44,484
             SITO:
      It had a cafeteria.

1488
01:28:44,486 --> 01:28:46,953
It had a gymnasium

1489
01:28:46,955 --> 01:28:49,723
       with an ex-member
  of the Swedish Olympic team

1490
01:28:49,725 --> 01:28:51,792
     as a personal trainer.

1491
01:28:51,794 --> 01:28:53,760
     The studio had its own
          gas station.

1492
01:28:53,762 --> 01:28:55,562
    You know, you could get
       your car repaired

1493
01:28:55,564 --> 01:28:57,097
     while you're at work.

1494
01:28:57,099 --> 01:28:58,265
        This is amazing.

1495
01:29:08,744 --> 01:29:14,014
¶ Like a boat out of the blue ¶

1496
01:29:14,016 --> 01:29:20,454
        ¶ Fate steps in
   and sees you through... ¶

1497
01:29:20,456 --> 01:29:23,223
           NARRATOR:
     By the time the studio
 was ready to launch<i> Pinocchio</i>

1498
01:29:23,225 --> 01:29:26,593
        in New York City
in February of 1940,

1499
01:29:26,595 --> 01:29:28,829
 Walt Disney was selling hard.

1500
01:29:28,831 --> 01:29:35,168
   ¶ Your dreams come true. ¶

1501
01:29:35,170 --> 01:29:37,671
           NARRATOR:
   He was singing the praises
       of Jiminy Cricket,

1502
01:29:37,673 --> 01:29:41,541
    Lord High Keeper of the
 Knowledge of Right and Wrong.

1503
01:29:41,543 --> 01:29:43,343
    ¶ Give a little whistle,
           Yoo-hoo! ¶

1504
01:29:43,345 --> 01:29:45,746
    ¶ Give a little whistle,
           Woo-hoo! ¶

1505
01:29:45,748 --> 01:29:50,784
¶ And always let your conscience
        be your guide ¶

1506
01:29:50,786 --> 01:29:53,320
¶ And always let your conscience
        be your guide! ¶

1507
01:29:56,191 --> 01:29:57,758
                       (banging)

1508
01:29:59,762 --> 01:30:02,195
NARRATOR:
     He was also talking up
   the studio's breakthroughs

1509
01:30:02,197 --> 01:30:04,631
      in camera technology
      and special effects.

1510
01:30:04,633 --> 01:30:06,400
Wake!

1511
01:30:06,402 --> 01:30:09,236
The gift of life
is bound.

1512
01:30:12,741 --> 01:30:13,874
            Father!

1513
01:30:13,876 --> 01:30:15,242
           NARRATOR:
      "For the first time

1514
01:30:15,244 --> 01:30:17,811
  in the field of animation,"
       Disney proclaimed.

1515
01:30:17,813 --> 01:30:21,715
"audiences will see in<i> Pinocchio</i>
       underwater effects

1516
01:30:21,717 --> 01:30:24,885
  that look like super-special
      marine photography."

1517
01:30:24,887 --> 01:30:27,320
        Can you tell me
   where we can find Monstro?

1518
01:30:29,558 --> 01:30:30,657
Gee!

1519
01:30:30,659 --> 01:30:32,426
        They're scared.

1520
01:30:32,428 --> 01:30:34,194
You really have to stop yourself
            and say,

1521
01:30:34,196 --> 01:30:35,962
   "This was all blank paper.

1522
01:30:35,964 --> 01:30:38,298
 This all began as blank paper.

1523
01:30:38,300 --> 01:30:39,699
       It doesn't exist."

1524
01:30:39,701 --> 01:30:41,468
You know, we believe it's water,

1525
01:30:41,470 --> 01:30:43,470
         and we believe
   those characters are real,

1526
01:30:43,472 --> 01:30:46,173
     and that's the summit
     of the animator's art.

1527
01:30:46,175 --> 01:30:50,343
  That's the pinnacle of what
 we call personality animation,

1528
01:30:50,345 --> 01:30:53,547
 which is creating a completely
artificial world that we accept.

1529
01:30:53,549 --> 01:30:55,148
            Father!

1530
01:30:57,085 --> 01:31:00,086
Mm...

1531
01:31:00,088 --> 01:31:04,491
           SCHICKEL:
    <i> Pinocchio</i> has richness
         and dimensions

1532
01:31:04,493 --> 01:31:08,195
  that other animated cartoons
          don't have.

1533
01:31:08,197 --> 01:31:11,097
        And when you are
        growing too old,

1534
01:31:11,099 --> 01:31:14,134
  you will make good firewood!

1535
01:31:16,271 --> 01:31:19,573
     I mean, he's swallowed
 by a whale, for Christ's sake.

1536
01:31:32,688 --> 01:31:36,756
         He is in peril
     throughout the movie.

1537
01:31:39,695 --> 01:31:40,927
  Hey, blubber mouth, open up!

1538
01:31:40,929 --> 01:31:42,496
     I gotta get in there!

1539
01:31:42,498 --> 01:31:45,599
     And at the same time,
    there's Jiminy Cricket,

1540
01:31:45,601 --> 01:31:48,902
you know, who's delightful
          and charming

1541
01:31:48,904 --> 01:31:52,072
  and takes some of the sting
       off of this movie.

1542
01:31:52,074 --> 01:31:54,241
But that's a pretty dark movie.

1543
01:31:54,243 --> 01:31:59,679
 Pinocchio is just a wooden boy
   who's trying to be human.

1544
01:31:59,681 --> 01:32:02,215
One would think that that means
     he can make mistakes,

1545
01:32:02,217 --> 01:32:05,218
that he would be allowed to have
   the faults of being a boy.

1546
01:32:05,220 --> 01:32:08,355
                         Please,
              you gotta help me!

1547
01:32:08,357 --> 01:32:10,624
         HIGGINBOTHAM:
 And instead, any indiscretion

1548
01:32:10,626 --> 01:32:15,028
 is met with the possible death
of his adopted father

1549
01:32:15,030 --> 01:32:16,796
     or the transformation
         into a donkey.

1550
01:32:16,798 --> 01:32:19,599
  The stakes are so very high.

1551
01:32:19,601 --> 01:32:22,936
        (braying loudly)

1552
01:32:34,783 --> 01:32:36,683
     Oh! What's happened?!

1553
01:32:36,685 --> 01:32:38,852
    I hope I'm not too late!

1554
01:32:38,854 --> 01:32:40,687
         What'll I do?

1555
01:32:42,624 --> 01:32:48,695
  Pinocchio is seeking a home.

1556
01:32:48,697 --> 01:32:51,131
     He's seeking identity.

1557
01:32:51,133 --> 01:32:52,799
      He's seeking place.

1558
01:32:52,801 --> 01:32:54,768
      He wants to be real.

1559
01:32:57,139 --> 01:33:02,208
          BLUE FAIRY:
     Prove yourself brave,
    truthful, and unselfish,

1560
01:33:02,210 --> 01:33:05,745
          and someday
    you will be a real boy.

1561
01:33:05,747 --> 01:33:08,148
            SUSKIND:
That's what the goal is.

1562
01:33:08,150 --> 01:33:10,717
    "I want to feel my life
          most fully."

1563
01:33:14,523 --> 01:33:16,790
 "And then once I feel my life,

1564
01:33:16,792 --> 01:33:20,760
     "I will have a chance
    to feel the big truths,

1565
01:33:20,762 --> 01:33:24,130
    the things that give us
          sustenance."

1566
01:33:24,132 --> 01:33:25,665
        I'm alive, see?

1567
01:33:25,667 --> 01:33:27,601
           And I'm...

1568
01:33:30,839 --> 01:33:32,639
           I'm real.

1569
01:33:32,641 --> 01:33:34,274
        I'm a real boy!

1570
01:33:34,276 --> 01:33:36,176
GEPETTO:
You're alive!

1571
01:33:36,178 --> 01:33:38,912
         And you are a real boy!

1572
01:33:38,914 --> 01:33:40,480
         Yay! Whoopee!

1573
01:33:40,482 --> 01:33:41,414
        (meows happily)

1574
01:33:43,685 --> 01:33:45,619
 This calls for a celebration!

1575
01:33:45,621 --> 01:33:49,856
           NARRATOR:
Audiences across the country
   walked away from<i> Pinocchio</i>

1576
01:33:49,858 --> 01:33:54,661
      emotionally drained
   and enormously satisfied.

1577
01:33:54,663 --> 01:33:56,229
       The critics raved.

1578
01:33:56,231 --> 01:33:58,431
          "Walt Disney
     has created something

1579
01:33:58,433 --> 01:34:02,335
     "that will be counted
in our favor, in all our favor,

1580
01:34:02,337 --> 01:34:04,004
     "when this generation
       is being appraised

1581
01:34:04,006 --> 01:34:06,072
       by the generations
        of the future,"

1582
01:34:06,074 --> 01:34:08,174
      the<i> New York Times'</i>
       movie critic wrote.

1583
01:34:08,176 --> 01:34:09,309
             Well!

1584
01:34:09,311 --> 01:34:12,612
      This is practically
where I came in.

1585
01:34:12,614 --> 01:34:16,716
           NARRATOR:
      "For it will be said
       that no generation

1586
01:34:16,718 --> 01:34:19,619
  "which produced a<i> Snow White</i>
         and a<i> Pinocchio</i>

1587
01:34:19,621 --> 01:34:21,554
        could have been
        altogether bad."

1588
01:34:21,556 --> 01:34:25,992
        ¶ When you wish
        upon a star... ¶

1589
01:34:28,096 --> 01:34:32,632
           NARRATOR:
   The downside of<i> Pinocchio </i>
was apparent from the jump too.

1590
01:34:32,634 --> 01:34:36,469
Walt's insistence on innovation
  had pushed production costs

1591
01:34:36,471 --> 01:34:39,806
      to nearly twice that
         of<i> Snow White,</i>

1592
01:34:39,808 --> 01:34:43,076
and the picture was not going
  to earn back the investment.

1593
01:34:43,078 --> 01:34:46,246
          Ticket sales
in the United States were slow.

1594
01:34:46,248 --> 01:34:50,483
     In Europe, now at war,
      they were moribund.

1595
01:34:50,485 --> 01:34:53,887
 The Disneys had burned through
      more than $2 million

1596
01:34:53,889 --> 01:34:56,256
       of the net profits
        from<i> Snow White,</i>

1597
01:34:56,258 --> 01:34:58,825
    while borrowing heavily
      from Bank of America

1598
01:34:58,827 --> 01:35:02,295
    to fund the dream studio
          in Burbank.

1599
01:35:02,297 --> 01:35:05,699
          Walt Disney
   is kind of under the gun.

1600
01:35:05,701 --> 01:35:09,569
     The costs of<i> Fantasia</i>
and<i> Pinocchio,</i>

1601
01:35:09,571 --> 01:35:13,440
     and even<i> Bambi</i> in its
  early stages, are enormous.

1602
01:35:13,442 --> 01:35:18,878
    And the war has cut off
      the European market.

1603
01:35:18,880 --> 01:35:21,681
    So Walt Disney has lost
        a giant market,

1604
01:35:21,683 --> 01:35:28,021
and he is worrying about how he
 can finance all of these films

1605
01:35:28,023 --> 01:35:32,392
 under his new project to make
   feature films constantly,

1606
01:35:32,394 --> 01:35:34,828
  one every six months or so.

1607
01:35:34,830 --> 01:35:38,364
           NARRATOR:
     Roy Disney had a plan.

1608
01:35:38,366 --> 01:35:42,268
 They would go public and issue
     shares in the company.

1609
01:35:42,270 --> 01:35:46,206
His kid brother wasn't happy
 at the thought of shareholders

1610
01:35:46,208 --> 01:35:49,843
      sticking their noses
    in his creative process,

1611
01:35:49,845 --> 01:35:52,045
   but he saw little choice.

1612
01:35:52,047 --> 01:35:56,783
       In April of 1940,
    as the last of the staff

1613
01:35:56,785 --> 01:35:59,619
      made the transition
     to the Burbank studio,

1614
01:35:59,621 --> 01:36:03,089
    Walt Disney Productions
     issued 155,000 shares

1615
01:36:03,091 --> 01:36:05,191
      of preferred stock,

1616
01:36:05,193 --> 01:36:08,061
      netting the company
       nearly $4 million.

1617
01:36:08,063 --> 01:36:12,065
  Roy and Walt had both signed
      seven-year contracts

1618
01:36:12,067 --> 01:36:13,566
      as part of the deal.

1619
01:36:13,568 --> 01:36:17,203
Roy was guaranteed a salary
       of $1,000 a week,

1620
01:36:17,205 --> 01:36:20,573
        and Walt $2,000.

1621
01:36:20,575 --> 01:36:22,675
The company reassured investors

1622
01:36:22,677 --> 01:36:26,579
  by taking out a $1.5 million
     life insurance policy

1623
01:36:26,581 --> 01:36:31,017
       on its key asset:
          Walt Disney.

1624
01:36:32,354 --> 01:36:42,862
   (Bach's<i> Toccata and Fugue</i>
            playing)

1625
01:36:42,864 --> 01:36:49,002
             WATTS:
 <i> Fantasia</i> opens with the Bach
 <i> Fugue and Toccata in D minor,</i>

1626
01:36:49,004 --> 01:36:52,071
  but it is pure abstraction,
         no characters,

1627
01:36:52,073 --> 01:36:55,341
no nothing that is recognizable
in the natural world,

1628
01:36:55,343 --> 01:36:59,679
    which gets the movie off
  in a very interesting vein.

1629
01:36:59,681 --> 01:37:02,615
       (music continues)

1630
01:37:16,932 --> 01:37:24,771
         (Tchaikovsky's
 <i> The Nutcracker Suite</i> playing)

1631
01:37:24,773 --> 01:37:28,308
         HIGGINBOTHAM:
 Fantasia is wildly ambitious.

1632
01:37:33,682 --> 01:37:35,849
You can feel it in every scene.

1633
01:37:35,851 --> 01:37:37,917
     But it's very uneven.

1634
01:37:37,919 --> 01:37:39,586
       (music continues)

1635
01:37:44,993 --> 01:37:50,063
             WATTS:
     When the movie worked,
       it's spectacular.

1636
01:37:50,065 --> 01:37:54,200
      When it didn't work,
       it's sort of dumb.

1637
01:37:57,572 --> 01:38:00,974
     The critical reaction
was extremely divided.

1638
01:38:00,976 --> 01:38:04,244
   Some people thought Disney
  had pulled off this alliance

1639
01:38:04,246 --> 01:38:07,413
    of visual art and music

1640
01:38:07,415 --> 01:38:10,383
   and created something new
        and compelling.

1641
01:38:13,021 --> 01:38:16,856
   Other critics thought that
       it was a disaster,

1642
01:38:16,858 --> 01:38:20,360
   and they slammed the movie
        very, very hard

1643
01:38:20,362 --> 01:38:24,898
  for dragging classical music
 traditions down into the dust.

1644
01:38:29,104 --> 01:38:31,070
      Walt Disney had made
         his reputation

1645
01:38:31,072 --> 01:38:33,439
 in the intellectual community
    as being unpretentious.

1646
01:38:33,441 --> 01:38:38,177
And when he makes<i> Fantasia,</i>
           guess what?

1647
01:38:38,179 --> 01:38:40,380
       He's pretentious.

1648
01:38:45,020 --> 01:38:48,154
         HIGGINBOTHAM:
        Fantasia raises
     a number of questions

1649
01:38:48,156 --> 01:38:53,660
         as to if Walt
  is stepping beyond himself,

1650
01:38:53,662 --> 01:38:57,397
    if he's not appreciating
          his limits.

1651
01:38:57,399 --> 01:39:00,099
    And Walt will take this
          personally.

1652
01:39:00,101 --> 01:39:03,336
   He didn't handle criticism
        very well, ever.

1653
01:39:03,338 --> 01:39:08,474
And the criticism over<i> Fantasia</i>
     I think really rankled.

1654
01:39:08,476 --> 01:39:14,981
And what it did was to encourage
a kind of anti-intellectualism

1655
01:39:14,983 --> 01:39:17,083
     that was always there
          with Disney,

1656
01:39:17,085 --> 01:39:20,954
   but I think increasingly,
 he drifts in the direction of,

1657
01:39:20,956 --> 01:39:23,323
      "These are eggheads.

1658
01:39:23,325 --> 01:39:26,259
   "They don't know anything
     about ordinary people,

1659
01:39:26,261 --> 01:39:28,261
    and to hell with them."

1660
01:39:35,337 --> 01:39:37,770
           NARRATOR:
  <i> Fantasia's</i> financial losses

1661
01:39:37,772 --> 01:39:40,139
        were far greater
       than<i> Pinocchio's,</i>

1662
01:39:40,141 --> 01:39:42,475
largely because so few theaters

1663
01:39:42,477 --> 01:39:44,911
       had the expensive
        new sound system

1664
01:39:44,913 --> 01:39:49,582
        Disney required
to show his film-symphony.

1665
01:39:49,584 --> 01:39:51,751
 The deficits left the company

1666
01:39:51,753 --> 01:39:54,320
  unable to pay its guaranteed
       quarterly dividend

1667
01:39:54,322 --> 01:39:56,589
   to preferred shareholders.

1668
01:39:56,591 --> 01:39:59,025
  And the expensive new studio

1669
01:39:59,027 --> 01:40:02,395
  was already starting to feel
   more like a dropped anchor

1670
01:40:02,397 --> 01:40:07,066
    than a sail spread wide
  to catch the creative winds.

1671
01:40:07,068 --> 01:40:11,637
             WATTS:
   The new Burbank studio was
   a kind of a case study in

1672
01:40:11,639 --> 01:40:15,274
 "Be careful what you ask for."

1673
01:40:15,276 --> 01:40:17,677
         It was so nice
  that it was almost sterile.

1674
01:40:17,679 --> 01:40:20,146
It was all rationalized.

1675
01:40:20,148 --> 01:40:23,483
     It was all organized.

1676
01:40:23,485 --> 01:40:26,419
   And something, the quality
  of the creative experience,

1677
01:40:26,421 --> 01:40:31,090
    was almost designed out
       of the operation.

1678
01:40:31,092 --> 01:40:35,261
           NARRATOR:
      There was something
    unmistakably mechanical

1679
01:40:35,263 --> 01:40:39,532
     at the heart of Walt's
       workplace utopia.

1680
01:40:39,534 --> 01:40:43,936
People were segregated by task,
   as at an industrial plant.

1681
01:40:43,938 --> 01:40:47,540
       Company hierarchy
 was more rigid, more obvious,

1682
01:40:47,542 --> 01:40:52,045
   and more carefully policed
   by Disney administrators.

1683
01:40:52,047 --> 01:40:53,980
The tonier perks accrued

1684
01:40:53,982 --> 01:40:57,150
      to the highest links
  of the corporate pay chain.

1685
01:40:57,152 --> 01:40:59,585
           Membership
     in the Penthouse Club,

1686
01:40:59,587 --> 01:41:02,455
      with its gymnasium,
  steam room, and restaurant,

1687
01:41:02,457 --> 01:41:06,859
  was reserved for top writers
 and animators, all men still.

1688
01:41:06,861 --> 01:41:11,064
    So were office niceties
    like area rugs, drapes,

1689
01:41:11,066 --> 01:41:14,367
   easy chairs and armoires.

1690
01:41:14,369 --> 01:41:18,571
     When animator Don Lusk
 started doing friends a favor

1691
01:41:18,573 --> 01:41:21,541
    by picking up the slack
      on lower-level jobs

1692
01:41:21,543 --> 01:41:27,713
like clean-up and in-between,
   somebody above took note.

1693
01:41:27,715 --> 01:41:30,450
      I came into the room
      on a Monday morning,

1694
01:41:30,452 --> 01:41:33,820
   and all that was in there
          was a desk.

1695
01:41:33,822 --> 01:41:36,622
       The rug was gone.

1696
01:41:36,624 --> 01:41:39,525
   The coat closet was gone.

1697
01:41:39,527 --> 01:41:42,862
         My easy chair,
    fold-out chair was gone.

1698
01:41:42,864 --> 01:41:48,401
      Everything was gone
  except my desk and a chair.

1699
01:41:48,403 --> 01:41:49,969
   I called up and thought...

1700
01:41:49,971 --> 01:41:52,305
            I said,
  "What the hell is going on?

1701
01:41:52,307 --> 01:41:54,607
      And they said, well,
       I'm not animating,

1702
01:41:54,609 --> 01:41:58,377
so you don't get a rug
         on your floor.

1703
01:41:58,379 --> 01:42:03,082
            GIVENS:
I missed the old Hyperion place.

1704
01:42:03,084 --> 01:42:05,518
 It was beginning to feel like
       corporate America.

1705
01:42:05,520 --> 01:42:07,753
  It was just getting too big
  and losing the family touch.

1706
01:42:07,755 --> 01:42:10,022
The studio had grown so rapidly

1707
01:42:10,024 --> 01:42:14,360
  that there were all of these
folks in the animation process:

1708
01:42:14,362 --> 01:42:17,430
    the assistant animators,
       the in-betweeners.

1709
01:42:17,432 --> 01:42:19,599
 They didn't know Walt Disney.

1710
01:42:19,601 --> 01:42:23,369
   And they weren't well paid
        by Walt Disney,

1711
01:42:23,371 --> 01:42:26,472
as the master animators were.

1712
01:42:26,474 --> 01:42:28,474
     I think Walt Disney's
         attitude was,

1713
01:42:28,476 --> 01:42:30,843
         "Look, anybody
       can do that stuff.

1714
01:42:30,845 --> 01:42:33,412
     "The master animators,
       that's one thing.

1715
01:42:33,414 --> 01:42:35,281
  "But doing in-between work,

1716
01:42:35,283 --> 01:42:38,017
  "why am I going to pay them
          top dollar?

1717
01:42:38,019 --> 01:42:40,119
     They're not artists."

1718
01:42:40,121 --> 01:42:43,289
             SITO:
 Some of the people who told me
      about the cafeteria,

1719
01:42:43,291 --> 01:42:44,924
    they said the cafeteria
         was wonderful,

1720
01:42:44,926 --> 01:42:46,826
 but most of the rank-and-file
            artists

1721
01:42:46,828 --> 01:42:48,194
couldn't afford to eat there.

1722
01:42:48,196 --> 01:42:49,762
    They still had to go out
     to the sandwich wagon

1723
01:42:49,764 --> 01:42:51,030
       out on the street

1724
01:42:51,032 --> 01:42:53,032
      'cause the salaries
    were all over the place.

1725
01:42:53,034 --> 01:42:56,802
I mean, there were people making
      $200 and $300 a week

1726
01:42:56,804 --> 01:42:58,471
 and people making $12 a week.

1727
01:42:58,473 --> 01:43:02,875
           NARRATOR:
     Workers at the bottom
      of the Disney ladder

1728
01:43:02,877 --> 01:43:06,879
    were starting to grumble
            in 1940.

1729
01:43:06,881 --> 01:43:08,714
     Now that the company's
     finances were public,

1730
01:43:08,716 --> 01:43:12,818
  everybody knew the boss was
making five or ten times more

1731
01:43:12,820 --> 01:43:16,189
 than the highest-paid members
     of his creative team,

1732
01:43:16,191 --> 01:43:17,957
  and more than 100 times that

1733
01:43:17,959 --> 01:43:20,927
      of the women working
       in ink-and-paint.

1734
01:43:20,929 --> 01:43:23,429
   Disney, who still insisted

1735
01:43:23,431 --> 01:43:26,232
     that all his employees
        call him "Walt,"

1736
01:43:26,234 --> 01:43:29,368
was oblivious to the complaints
       at his new studio.

1737
01:43:29,370 --> 01:43:33,272
    It was no longer common
to see him wandering the halls,

1738
01:43:33,274 --> 01:43:37,710
   engaging in idle chatter,
  batting around story ideas.

1739
01:43:37,712 --> 01:43:41,280
   He spent most of his time
in his own suite of offices,

1740
01:43:41,282 --> 01:43:43,583
     with its private bath
          and bedroom

1741
01:43:43,585 --> 01:43:48,521
   and a team of secretaries
  standing guard at his door.

1742
01:43:52,794 --> 01:43:54,460
      Hollywood was famous

1743
01:43:54,462 --> 01:43:57,830
 for its glamorous movie stars
         and directors,

1744
01:43:57,832 --> 01:43:59,532
but it would not have functioned

1745
01:43:59,534 --> 01:44:02,768
   without the men and women
   working behind the scenes

1746
01:44:02,770 --> 01:44:08,374
building sets, adjusting lights,
       drawing animation.

1747
01:44:08,376 --> 01:44:12,011
    When federal legislation
       had passed in 1935

1748
01:44:12,013 --> 01:44:14,213
allowing collective bargaining,

1749
01:44:14,215 --> 01:44:18,184
Hollywood's backstage hands
       began to organize.

1750
01:44:18,186 --> 01:44:20,720
     More than a half-dozen
  Hollywood unions and guilds

1751
01:44:20,722 --> 01:44:23,856
   emerged in the late 1930s

1752
01:44:23,858 --> 01:44:27,560
 to bargain for better working
   conditions and better pay.

1753
01:44:27,562 --> 01:44:30,329
         Among them was
 the Screen Cartoonists Guild,

1754
01:44:30,331 --> 01:44:34,066
  which offered representation
       for the animators,

1755
01:44:34,068 --> 01:44:37,203
   assistants, in-betweeners,
   and ink-and-paint artists

1756
01:44:37,205 --> 01:44:40,806
  working across the industry.

1757
01:44:40,808 --> 01:44:43,576
 By 1940, the Cartoonists Guild

1758
01:44:43,578 --> 01:44:45,411
         had organized
the animation departments

1759
01:44:45,413 --> 01:44:48,981
  at all of the major studios
        except Disney's,

1760
01:44:48,983 --> 01:44:51,250
         which employed
more than half the men and women

1761
01:44:51,252 --> 01:44:54,120
      working in the field
         of animation.

1762
01:44:54,122 --> 01:44:57,823
             SITO:
   Even after organizing MGM
      and Warner Brothers

1763
01:44:57,825 --> 01:45:00,359
 and Screen Gems and George Pal
       and Walter Lantz,

1764
01:45:00,361 --> 01:45:04,597
          it only came
   to maybe about 150 people,

1765
01:45:04,599 --> 01:45:08,067
 while Disney's was, like, 600.

1766
01:45:08,069 --> 01:45:10,369
    If unionism was to work
         in Hollywood,

1767
01:45:10,371 --> 01:45:12,004
Disney was the ultimate battle.

1768
01:45:21,916 --> 01:45:25,117
           NARRATOR:
 Walt Disney saw little reason
         to be worried.

1769
01:45:25,119 --> 01:45:28,220
  He was not like those other
     fat-cat studio heads,

1770
01:45:28,222 --> 01:45:29,522
        he told himself.

1771
01:45:29,524 --> 01:45:32,258
       He and his "boys,"
  as he called his animators,

1772
01:45:32,260 --> 01:45:35,127
  were in this thing together.

1773
01:45:43,037 --> 01:45:47,006
         HIGGINBOTHAM:
Walt sees himself as the father
        of this company,

1774
01:45:47,008 --> 01:45:49,608
       and that everyone
       who works for him

1775
01:45:49,610 --> 01:45:51,544
believes in what they are doing,

1776
01:45:51,546 --> 01:45:55,748
         the enterprise
of being animators,

1777
01:45:55,750 --> 01:45:58,317
       of being artists,
  and being part of a business

1778
01:45:58,319 --> 01:46:01,954
    and part of the studio.

1779
01:46:01,956 --> 01:46:06,759
            GABLER:
       "Why in the world
   would anyone need a union

1780
01:46:06,761 --> 01:46:10,096
 when I'm giving you everything
   you could possibly want?"

1781
01:46:10,098 --> 01:46:12,131
   He didn't see paternalism
            in this.

1782
01:46:12,133 --> 01:46:14,500
        He saw kindness
     and generosity in it.

1783
01:46:20,875 --> 01:46:24,143
           NARRATOR:
  There were plenty of people
           at Burbank

1784
01:46:24,145 --> 01:46:27,880
   who did not see the labor
 situation as Walt Disney did,

1785
01:46:27,882 --> 01:46:33,386
and among them was one of his
  best animators, Art Babbitt.

1786
01:46:33,388 --> 01:46:36,422
  Babbitt had been with Disney
      for nearly a decade,

1787
01:46:36,424 --> 01:46:39,225
contributing to every major film

1788
01:46:39,227 --> 01:46:41,627
   and almost single-handedly
            creating

1789
01:46:41,629 --> 01:46:44,163
  the popular character Goofy.

1790
01:46:44,165 --> 01:46:47,333
   He was one of the highest
       salaried animators

1791
01:46:47,335 --> 01:46:49,101
      on the Burbank lot,

1792
01:46:49,103 --> 01:46:51,771
     but made little effort
     to hide his sympathies

1793
01:46:51,773 --> 01:46:55,074
for other animators who had been
   denied on-screen credits,

1794
01:46:55,076 --> 01:46:57,443
      or for the hundreds
of assistants and inkers

1795
01:46:57,445 --> 01:47:01,046
        who were barely
      eking out a living.

1796
01:47:01,048 --> 01:47:04,583
            GABLER:
     He was rather a large
          personality.

1797
01:47:04,585 --> 01:47:08,053
 He wasn't subservient to Walt.

1798
01:47:08,055 --> 01:47:11,557
    He didn't have that kind
    of relationship to him.

1799
01:47:11,559 --> 01:47:15,327
      He was his own man,
      he was independent,

1800
01:47:15,329 --> 01:47:17,663
    and Walt didn't like it.

1801
01:47:17,665 --> 01:47:21,634
             SITO:
 Babbitt used to tell the story
     about a young painter

1802
01:47:21,636 --> 01:47:24,203
   who was making $16 a week

1803
01:47:24,205 --> 01:47:27,039
   whose husband had run off
because of the Great Depression.

1804
01:47:27,041 --> 01:47:30,109
 And what she was doing is that
    she was skipping lunches

1805
01:47:30,111 --> 01:47:33,012
   because she wanted to keep
      feeding her family.

1806
01:47:33,014 --> 01:47:35,881
   And one day, she actually
   fainted from malnutrition.

1807
01:47:35,883 --> 01:47:39,919
           NARRATOR:
 Disney didn't see the problem,

1808
01:47:39,921 --> 01:47:42,588
   and certainly didn't want
       to hear about it.

1809
01:47:42,590 --> 01:47:44,690
        He was incensed
      when he learned that

1810
01:47:44,692 --> 01:47:49,361
  the Screen Cartoonists Guild
was trying to organize his shop.

1811
01:47:49,363 --> 01:47:52,131
He was certain he had the right
to run his own company

1812
01:47:52,133 --> 01:47:54,433
         as he saw fit.

1813
01:47:54,435 --> 01:47:57,503
      In February of 1941,

1814
01:47:57,505 --> 01:48:00,506
          Walt decided
  to make his case personally

1815
01:48:00,508 --> 01:48:02,575
      to the men and women
        working for him.

1816
01:48:02,577 --> 01:48:07,079
  He gathered the staff in the
 only auditorium at the studio

1817
01:48:07,081 --> 01:48:12,785
  big enough to hold all 1,200
       of his employees.

1818
01:48:12,787 --> 01:48:16,422
      DISNEY (recording):
  In the 20 years I have spent
       in this business,

1819
01:48:16,424 --> 01:48:18,757
 I have weathered many storms.

1820
01:48:18,759 --> 01:48:21,694
It's been far from easy sailing,

1821
01:48:21,696 --> 01:48:26,398
  which required a great deal
of hard work, struggle,

1822
01:48:26,400 --> 01:48:29,101
         determination,
       confidence, faith,

1823
01:48:29,103 --> 01:48:32,705
 and, above all, unselfishness.

1824
01:48:32,707 --> 01:48:36,809
 Some people think that we have
class distinction in this place.

1825
01:48:36,811 --> 01:48:39,979
      They wonder why some
get better seats in the theater

1826
01:48:39,981 --> 01:48:41,747
          than others.

1827
01:48:41,749 --> 01:48:45,017
    They wonder why some men
 get spaces in the parking lot

1828
01:48:45,019 --> 01:48:47,052
       and others don't.

1829
01:48:47,054 --> 01:48:51,390
      I have always felt,
     and always will feel,

1830
01:48:51,392 --> 01:48:54,827
  that the men who contribute
  the most to the organization

1831
01:48:54,829 --> 01:48:59,298
should, out of respect alone,
     enjoy some privileges.

1832
01:48:59,300 --> 01:49:02,568
    My first recommendation
   to the lot of you is this:

1833
01:49:02,570 --> 01:49:05,104
  put your own house in order.

1834
01:49:05,106 --> 01:49:08,073
      You can't accomplish
 a damn thing by sitting around

1835
01:49:08,075 --> 01:49:11,176
     and waiting to be told
          everything.

1836
01:49:11,178 --> 01:49:13,812
   If you're not progressing
         as you should,

1837
01:49:13,814 --> 01:49:15,881
      instead of grumbling
         and growling,

1838
01:49:15,883 --> 01:49:19,485
     do something about it.

1839
01:49:19,487 --> 01:49:25,724
           NARRATOR:
       Much of the staff
left the auditorium infuriated.

1840
01:49:25,726 --> 01:49:28,894
"This speech recruited
          more members

1841
01:49:28,896 --> 01:49:30,729
        "for the Screen
       Cartoonists Guild

1842
01:49:30,731 --> 01:49:35,568
  than a year of campaigning,"
reported one left-wing magazine.

1843
01:49:35,570 --> 01:49:40,472
Babbitt was now convinced Disney
workers needed a real union and

1844
01:49:40,474 --> 01:49:44,209
 signed his Screen Cartoonists
     Guild membership card,

1845
01:49:44,211 --> 01:49:47,613
  which made him the highest-
    ranking Disney employee

1846
01:49:47,615 --> 01:49:50,449
 to openly challenge the boss.

1847
01:49:50,451 --> 01:49:55,554
 Walt Disney saw Babbitt's move
    as a personal betrayal.

1848
01:49:55,556 --> 01:49:58,624
         "I don't care
if you keep your goddamn nose

1849
01:49:58,626 --> 01:50:02,127
   glued to the board all day
or how much work you turn out,"

1850
01:50:02,129 --> 01:50:04,897
        he told Babbitt
    in the hallway one day.

1851
01:50:04,899 --> 01:50:08,200
 "If you don't stop organizing
         my employees,

1852
01:50:08,202 --> 01:50:12,338
  I'm going to throw you right
the hell out of the front gate."

1853
01:50:12,340 --> 01:50:16,742
    At the end of May 1941,

1854
01:50:16,744 --> 01:50:19,678
      Disney sent a letter
   of termination to Babbitt,

1855
01:50:19,680 --> 01:50:23,949
        citing as cause
      "union activities."

1856
01:50:23,951 --> 01:50:29,521
 Word of Babbitt's firing shot
 through the studio in Burbank.

1857
01:50:29,523 --> 01:50:32,024
Disney employees
    who supported the guild

1858
01:50:32,026 --> 01:50:34,760
         met after work
     the following evening

1859
01:50:34,762 --> 01:50:37,463
   and by a vote of 315 to 4

1860
01:50:37,465 --> 01:50:40,899
   determined to take a stand
      against their boss.

1861
01:50:40,901 --> 01:50:45,304
           (applause)

1862
01:50:53,814 --> 01:50:58,717
 When he drove up to his studio
     gate on May 29, 1941,

1863
01:50:58,719 --> 01:51:00,919
   the picketers were already
         on the march.

1864
01:51:00,921 --> 01:51:05,357
     Walt Disney was forced
        to wend his way

1865
01:51:05,359 --> 01:51:07,860
     through more than 200
    of his striking workers.

1866
01:51:14,869 --> 01:51:19,538
  Nearly half of the studio's
art department had walked out,

1867
01:51:19,540 --> 01:51:23,475
       and it wasn't just
     the low-wage workers.

1868
01:51:23,477 --> 01:51:26,145
        Some of Disney's
     most trusted animators

1869
01:51:26,147 --> 01:51:29,281
 were also on the picket line.

1870
01:51:29,283 --> 01:51:32,518
             HANH:
 The street's full of strikers,

1871
01:51:32,520 --> 01:51:34,453
      not only from Disney
    but from other studios,

1872
01:51:34,455 --> 01:51:36,855
    parading back and forth
          with signs,

1873
01:51:36,857 --> 01:51:41,760
  and this wonderful, idyllic,
 utopian place is in shambles.

1874
01:51:41,762 --> 01:51:44,329
        All of a sudden,
   the moment of the shared,

1875
01:51:44,331 --> 01:51:46,532
 that "We are in this together,

1876
01:51:46,534 --> 01:51:50,035
the victories
   are all of our victories,"

1877
01:51:50,037 --> 01:51:53,639
    that spell gets broken.

1878
01:51:53,641 --> 01:51:56,442
            NILSEN:
     He poured his passion,
   everything he believed in

1879
01:51:56,444 --> 01:51:58,510
        into his studio.

1880
01:51:58,512 --> 01:52:01,680
  It was the studio that went
   against him at this point.

1881
01:52:01,682 --> 01:52:03,482
    It was his own creation
     that went against him.

1882
01:52:03,484 --> 01:52:09,521
             BRODE:
        A certain light,
      if not had gone out,

1883
01:52:09,523 --> 01:52:12,591
        at least dimmed
      inside Walt Disney.

1884
01:52:12,593 --> 01:52:18,931
   There is before the strike
       and there's after,

1885
01:52:18,933 --> 01:52:22,367
and he was two different people.

1886
01:52:22,369 --> 01:52:24,670
           NARRATOR:
          Another man
     might have walked away

1887
01:52:24,672 --> 01:52:27,639
   from his shattered utopia
      and called it a day.

1888
01:52:27,641 --> 01:52:31,777
But Disney still had work to do,

1889
01:52:31,779 --> 01:52:36,849
    and woe be to the forces
    that stood in his path.

1890
01:52:44,325 --> 01:52:47,025
           APPRAISER:
     Now, you told me there
   was an interesting story.

1891
01:52:47,027 --> 01:52:50,929
              MAN:
       After the strike,
   Walt distrusted everybody.

1892
01:52:50,931 --> 01:52:52,698
            Mother!

1893
01:52:52,700 --> 01:52:54,700
              MAN:
 By the time the film came out,

1894
01:52:54,702 --> 01:52:58,504
it was almost as if Disney
       had become passé.

1895
01:52:58,506 --> 01:53:01,840
             WOMAN:
 He said, "I want a place where
  people can take their family

1896
01:53:01,842 --> 01:53:04,009
     and have a good time."

1897
01:53:04,011 --> 01:53:05,644
             WOMAN:
     He affects all of us.

1898
01:53:05,646 --> 01:53:08,514
      No one is untouched
        by Walt Disney.

1899
01:53:08,516 --> 01:53:10,449
        <i> The conclusion</i>
       <i> of "Walt Disney,"</i>

1900
01:53:10,451 --> 01:53:12,151
    <i> on</i> American Experience.

1901
01:53:14,688 --> 01:53:16,722
  Exclusive corporate funding
    for<i> American Experience</i>

1902
01:53:16,724 --> 01:53:18,991
         is provided by
   Liberty Mutual Insurance.

1903
01:53:21,228 --> 01:53:23,328
<i> In 1906,</i>
  <i> radio brought us together.</i>

1904
01:53:23,330 --> 01:53:27,699
  is provided by the National
 Endowment for the Humanities,

1905
01:53:27,701 --> 01:53:30,269
    bringing you the stories
        that define us.

1906
01:53:34,175 --> 01:53:36,375
      <i> American Experience</i>
      is also made possible

1907
01:53:36,377 --> 01:53:39,244
       by the Corporation
    for Public Broadcasting

1908
01:53:39,246 --> 01:53:43,448
and by contributions to your PBS
 station from viewers like you.

1909
01:54:09,977 --> 01:54:13,278
    <i> There's more</i> American
  Experience<i> online at pbs.org,</i>

1910
01:54:13,280 --> 01:54:15,280
    <i> where you can find out</i>
<i> how to join the discussion</i>

1911
01:54:15,282 --> 01:54:17,115
   <i> on Facebook and Twitter.</i>

1912
01:54:17,117 --> 01:54:21,620
   American Experience:<i> "Walt</i>
 <i> Disney" is available on DVD.</i>

1913
01:54:21,622 --> 01:54:26,992
  <i> To order, visit shopPBS.org</i>
    <i> or call 1-800-play-PBS.</i>

1914
01:54:26,994 --> 01:54:29,361
     American Experience<i> is</i>
  <i> also available for download</i>

1915
01:54:29,363 --> 01:54:30,796
          <i> on iTunes.</i>

1916
01:54:38,672 --> 01:54:30,796
          Captioned by
    Media Access Group at WGBH 
        access.wgbh.org