Disney animators' strike

The Disney animators' strike was a labor strike by the animators of Walt Disney Studios in 1941.

History

The 1930s led to a rise of labor unions in motion pictures as in other industries such as The Screen Actors Guild which was formed in 1933. Animators of Fleischer Studios went on strike in 1937 when Max Fleischer fired 15 employees, all who were a part of American Art-Union.^[1] The Fleischer strike was eventually solved by forming The Screen Cartoonists' Guild in 1938. The leader of the Guild was Herbert Sorrell who was described as a "tough left-winger". In 1941, he began a push and obtained contracts with Terrytoons, Walter Lantz Productions, Screen Gems, George Pal and MGM. Leon Schlesinger, whose Leon Schlesinger Productions produced the popular Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Bros., attempted a lockout, but soon gave in to the union and then asked, "What about Disney?"^[2]

Although Disney artists were the best paid and worked under the best conditions in the industry, there was discontent.^[3] Many of the employees had given Disney large quantities of free overtime during the drive to complete the 1937 Snow White". Despite the fact that Snow White was an enormous success, Walt Disney kept postponing their bonouses, because he had read a book on psychology and postponing their bonuses might make his animators work harder.^[4] However Hitler's War in Europe cut off 40% of Disney's foreign release market which led to Disney's two following films Pinocchio and Fantasia to fail at the box office. In return Disney could no longer afford to give the animators their bonuses and the animators feared that Walt would start a string of layoffs. Although reletivly few amount layoffs actually occurred the salary structure became disorganized, and the only general wage increase Disney granted in those years was self-serving: he brought a number of workers up over the forty-dollar-a-week level, at which point, under the Wagner Labor Relations Act, they ceased being entitled to time-and-a-half for overtime." When animator Art Babbitt became one of the union leaders he started questioning Walt's authority and "rallying his staff against him" in Walt's words.^[5]

As the biggest and most successful animation studio, Disney was an obvious target for the Screen Cartoonists' Guild. Sorrell approached Walt and demanded that he sign an agreement with the Guild and threatened to go on strike if he refused. Walt said that he should put it to a secret vote with his top employees. Sorrel claimed that he was he was a fool and he was going to "crush Disney to a dustball"^[2]

The final spark that started the strike was when Disney fired Babbit who he regarded as a "troublemaker" and a "Bolshevik" .^{[2] [6]}The next day on May 29, 1941, the strike began, instigated by Sorrell and lead by Babbit.

The strike occurred during the making of the animated feature Dumbo, and a number of strikers are caricatured in the feature as clowns who go to "hit the big boss for a raise".

During the strike, cartoonists from other studios offered support for the strikers. Cartoonists from Warner Bros., including Chuck Jones, volunteered their cars to form a motorcade around the Disney studio.^{[citation needed]}

The strike lasted five weeks. Toward the end, Disney accepted a suggestion by Nelson Rockefeller, then head of the Latin American Affairs office in the State department, that he make a tour of Latin America as a goodwill ambassador. His removal from the scene enabled passions to cool, and in his absence the strike was settled with the help of a federal mediator, who found in the Guild's favor on every issue. The Disney studio signed a contract and has been a union shop ever since.^[2]

Aftermath and notable departures

Following the strike, irreparable damage to the psychology and mood of the studio had, nevertheless, been done. Before the strike, the number of employees had been about 1200, but after it ended, it was reduced to 694.^[7] Schickel quotes a letter in which Disney said that "it cleaned house at our studio" and got rid of "the chip-on-the-shoulder boys and the world-owes-me-a-living lads".

In addition to Babbitt, among the notable animators that left following the strike were Bill Tytla, Walt Kelly and Virgil Partch. The departures also included David Hilberman and John Hubley, who all went on to form a new animation studio known as United Productions of America, or UPA. Leaving for the MGM studio were Kenneth Muse, Ray Patterson (he briefly worked at Screen Gems for a year under Tashlin's supervision before going to MGM) , Preston Blair, Ed Love, Walter Clinton, and Grant Simmons. Animators who would resurface at Leon Schlesinger Productions (then under contract to produce cartoons for Warner Brothers) included Bill Meléndez, Frank Tashlin (who had worked at Schlesinger before moving to Disney), Emery Hawkins, Basil Davidovich, Maurice Noble, Cornett Wood, Ted Bonnicksen, and Jack Bradbury (Bradbury and Noble would return many years later).

Other notable animators to leave following the strike included Bob Wickersham, Volus Jones, Claude Smith, Bernie Wolf, Alfred Abranz, William Hurtz, T. Hee, and Howard Swift. An unfair labor practices suit brought by Babbitt (by this point drafted into the Armed Forces) worked its way through the courts, and Disney was forced to rehire him after World War II. But Disney, who had blamed Babbitt for instigating the strike, never forgave him for what he had done. Babbitt finally left Disney for good and on his own free will in 1947.

The strike also had an impact on Walt Disney. Before the strike he (and the other employees) felt as if they were "one big family", but during and after the strike Walt felt betrayed and he was not sure whether he could trust anyone. He became moody, grouchy and was cruel to those who had been a part of the strike.^[8] It took years before he returned to his regular lighthearted self.

References

1. ^ Gabler, Neal-(2006) Walt Disney, The Triumph of American Imagination, Alfred A. Knopf Inc, New York City
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Isbouts, Jean-Pierre (Director) (2001). Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (Television documentary film). ABC/Walt Disney Home Video. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296273/. 
3. ^ Thomas, Bob (1994). WALT DISNEY: AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL. Disney Editions. ISBN 0786860278. 
4. ^ Gabler, Neal-(2006) Walt Disney, The Triumph of American Imagination, Alfred A. Knopf Inc, New York City
5. ^ Gabler, Neal-(2006) Walt Disney, The Triumph of American Imagination, Alfred A. Knopf Inc, New York City
6. ^ Gabler, Neal-(2006) Walt Disney, The Triumph of American Imagination, Alfred A. Knopf Inc, New York City
7. ^ SEP 16 Disney History
8. ^ Gabler, Neal-(2006) Walt Disney, The Triumph of American Imagination, Alfred A. Knopf Inc, New York City

• Sito, Tom. Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 2006. ISBN 0813124077

External links

Organized labour portal

• The Disney strike, from Cartoonists' Unions: A survey of our history
• Another look back at the 1941 Disney Studio strike; includes contemporary article from Screen Actor magazine