Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson

440 Pages·2006·6.59 MB·English

by  Tom Sito

Drawing the Line

Drawing

Line

the
The฀Untold฀Story฀
of฀the฀Animation฀Unions฀
from฀Bosko฀to฀Bart฀Simpson
Tom Sito
T ฀U ฀P ฀ ฀K
HE NIVERSITY RESS OF ENTUCKY
Publication฀of฀this฀volume฀was฀made฀possible฀in฀part฀by฀a฀grant฀
from฀the฀National฀Endowment฀for฀the฀Humanities.
Copyright฀©฀2006฀by฀The฀University฀Press฀of฀Kentucky
Scholarly฀publisher฀for฀the฀Commonwealth,
serving฀Bellarmine฀University,฀Berea฀College,฀Centre฀College฀of฀Kentucky,฀Eastern฀
Kentucky฀University,฀The฀Filson฀Historical฀Society,฀Georgetown฀College,฀Kentucky฀
Historical฀Society,฀Kentucky฀State฀University,฀Morehead฀State฀University,฀Murray฀
State฀University,฀Northern฀Kentucky฀University,฀Transylvania฀University,฀University฀
of฀Kentucky,฀University฀of฀Louisville,฀and฀Western฀Kentucky฀University.
All฀rights฀reserved.
Editorial฀and฀Sales฀Offices:฀The฀University฀Press฀of฀Kentucky
663฀South฀Limestone฀Street,฀Lexington,฀Kentucky฀40508–4008
www.kentuckypress.com
10฀09฀08฀07฀06฀ 5฀4฀3฀2฀1
Frontispiece:฀Don฀Figlozzi฀walking฀picket฀at฀Terrytoons,฀1947.฀Courtesy฀of฀MPSC฀
Local฀839,฀AFL-CIO฀Collection,฀Urban฀Archives฀Center,฀Oviatt฀Library,฀California฀
State฀University,฀Northridge.
Library฀of฀Congress฀Cataloging-in-Publication฀Data
Sito,฀Tom,฀1956-
฀฀Drawing฀the฀line฀:฀the฀untold฀story฀of฀the฀animation฀unions฀from฀Bosko฀to฀Bart฀
Simpson฀/฀Tom฀Sito.
฀฀฀฀฀฀฀p.฀cm.
฀฀Includes฀bibliographical฀references฀and฀index.
฀฀ISBN-13:฀978-0-8131-2407-0฀(hardcover฀:฀alk.฀paper)
฀฀ISBN-10:฀0-8131-2407-7฀(hardcover฀:฀alk.฀paper)฀฀1.฀฀Animators—Labor฀unions—
United฀States—History.฀฀I.฀Title.฀
฀฀NC1766.U5S58฀2006
฀฀331.88’1179143340973--dc22฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀2006016090
This฀book฀is฀printed฀on฀acid-free฀recycled฀paper฀meeting฀the฀requirements฀of฀the฀
American฀National฀Standard฀for฀Permanence฀in฀Paper฀for฀Printed฀Library฀Materials.
Manufactured฀in฀the฀United฀States฀of฀America.
Member฀of฀the฀Association฀of
American฀University฀Presses
To฀my฀fellow฀animation฀workers—
graphite-stained฀fingers,฀strained฀eyes,฀
Cel-Vinyl฀paint฀spots฀in฀their฀hair฀
from฀holding฀the฀brush฀in฀their฀teeth,฀
carpal-tunnel฀wrist฀braces,฀shiny฀pants฀bottoms,฀
stooped฀posture,฀hair฀prematurely฀gray.฀
The฀least-respected,฀worst-paid,฀
yet฀finest฀artists฀in฀the฀world.
And฀especially฀for฀Pat.
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Contents
List฀of฀Illustrations฀ ix
Acknowledgments฀ xiii
Introduction฀ 1
Why฀a฀History฀of฀Animation฀Unions?
฀1.฀The฀World฀of฀the฀Animation฀Studio฀ 7
The฀Cartoon฀Assembly฀Line
฀2.฀Suits฀ 31
Producers฀as฀Artists฀See฀Them
฀3.฀Hollywood฀Labor,฀1933–1941฀ 57
The฀Birth฀of฀Cartoonists฀Unions
฀4.฀The฀Fleischer฀Strike฀ 77
A฀Union฀Busted,฀a฀Studio฀Destroyed
฀5.฀The฀Great฀Disney฀Studio฀Strike฀ 101
The฀Civil฀War฀of฀Animation
฀6.฀The฀War฀of฀Hollywood฀and฀the฀Blacklist฀ 153
1945–1953
฀7.฀A฀Bag฀of฀Oranges฀ 197
The฀Terrytoons฀Strike฀and฀the฀Great฀White฀Father
฀8.฀Lost฀Generations฀ 213
1952–1988
฀9.฀Animation฀and฀the฀Global฀Market฀ 247
The฀Runaway฀Wars,฀1979–1982
10.฀Fox฀and฀Hounds฀ 285
The฀Torch฀Seen฀Passing
11.฀Camelot฀ 293
1988–2001
12.฀Animation฀.฀.฀.฀Isn’t฀That฀All฀Done฀on฀Computers฀Now?฀ 319
The฀Digital฀Revolution
Conclusion฀ 345
Where฀to฀Now?
Appendix฀1.฀Animation฀Union฀Leaders฀ 353
Appendix฀2.฀Dramatis฀Personae฀ 359
Appendix฀3.฀Glossary฀ 373
Notes฀ 387
Bibliography฀ 409
Index฀ 415
Illustrations
Don฀Figlozzi฀walking฀picket฀at฀Terrytoons,฀1947฀ ii
Animator฀Al฀Eugster฀at฀his฀desk฀at฀Walt฀Disney฀Hyperion฀Studio฀annex,฀
circa฀1937฀ 10
Animator฀Kevin฀Koch฀at฀his฀digital฀workstation฀at฀DreamWorks฀
Animation,฀circa฀2005฀ 10
Animators฀clowning฀around฀on฀the฀roof฀of฀the฀Sullivan฀studio฀in฀
Manhattan,฀1928฀ 14
Two฀of฀the฀lead฀animators฀on฀Disney’s฀Lion฀King฀clowning฀around,฀
Glendale,฀California,฀1994฀ 14
Inkers฀and฀painters฀at฀Walt฀Disney฀Studios,฀1957฀ 24
Disney฀internal฀memo฀sent฀to฀artist฀job฀applicant฀Frances฀Brewer,฀
May฀9,฀1939฀ 25
Gag฀cartoon฀of฀Bill฀Scott฀and฀Grim฀Natwick฀assassinating฀a฀production฀
manager฀at฀Walter฀Lantz฀studio,฀1947฀ 32
Early฀animation฀producer-agent฀Margaret฀Winkler฀at฀the฀age฀of฀
ninety-three฀ 37
Pat฀Sullivan฀at฀a฀desk฀with฀Otto฀Messmer,฀1928฀ 39
Typical฀animation฀story฀meeting,฀Walt฀Disney฀studio,฀circa฀1936฀ 48
Floyd฀Norman฀having฀some฀fun฀with฀Pixar฀director฀John฀Lasseter’s฀love฀
of฀Hawaiian฀shirts฀ 53
Ub฀Iwerks฀self-caricature,฀1931฀ 70
Animation฀camera฀stand฀at฀Walt฀Disney฀studio,฀circa฀1936฀ 71
Van฀Beuren฀inker฀Sadie฀Bodin,฀the฀first฀person฀to฀picket฀an฀animation฀
studio฀ 73
Fleischer฀studio฀crew฀photo,฀1931฀ 78
Fleischer฀studio฀internal฀newsletter,฀the฀Fleischer฀Animated฀News,฀
1935฀ 80
CADU฀strike฀flyer,฀1937฀ 86
ix