Walt Disney: The Mouse That Roared (Legends of Animation)

145 Pages·2011·5.87 MB·English

by  Jeff Lenburg

Legends
of
Walt
Disney
Legends of Animation
Tex Avery:
Hollywood’s Master of Screwball Cartoons
Walt Disney:
The Mouse that Roared
Matt Groening:
From Spitballs to Springfield
William Hanna and Joseph Barbera:
The Sultans of Saturday Morning
Legends
of
Walt
Disney
The Mouse that Roared
Jeff Lenburg
Walt Disney: The Mouse that Roared
Copyright © 2011 by Jeff Lenburg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the
publisher. For information contact:

Chelsea House
An Infobase Learning Company
132 West 31st Street
New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lenburg, Jeff.
Walt Disney : the mouse that roared / Jeff Lenburg. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Legends of animation)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60413-836-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-60413-836-X (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4381-3725-4 (e-book) 1. Disney, Walt, 1901-1966—
Juvenile literature. 2. Animators—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature.
I. Disney, Walt, 1901-1966. II. Title. III. Series.
NC1766.U52D54533 2011
791.43092—dc22
[B] 2010051580
Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk
quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call
our Special Sales Department in New York at [phone] or [phone].
You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at
http://www.infobaselearning.com
Text design by Kerry Casey
Cover design by Takeshi Takahashi
Composition by EJB Publishing Services
Cover printed by Yurchak Printing, Landisville, Pa.
Book printed and bound by Yurchak Printing, Landisville, Pa.
Date printed: May 2011
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.

All links and Web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of
publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links
may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.
To my literal “other half” (and “full man”),
my twin brother, Greg, with love

CONTENTS
Y
Acknowledgments 9
1 An Innovator in the Making 11
2 The Unrepentant Animator 22
3 A Perfect Fit: A Mouse Named Mickey 41
4 Stretching the Imagination 57
5 Breaking New Ground 69
6 Making Dreams Come True 94
7 Planning for Tomorrow 115
Selected Resources 129
Selected Bibliography 131
Index 134
About the Author 142

ACkNOwlEdgmENTS
Y
S
pecial thanks to David R. Smith of the Walt Disney Studios
Archives for his kind and generous assistance in providing numer-
ous details, answers, and pieces of information on Disney animation in
chronicling previous histories and that proved helpful to the biographer.
Many thanks to the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Archives of Performing Arts and
the Regional History Collections at the University of Southern Cali-
fornia; the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive of the University of
California, Los Angeles Library; Arizona State University West, Fletcher
Library; Associated Press, and United Press International for the use of
research; oral histories; transcripts; books; newspaper, magazine and
trade articles; photographs; and other documents vital to the success of
this project.
My deepest gratitude to the following publications—the Anaheim
Bulletin, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter,
The Film Daily, Motion Picture Herald, Motion Picture News, The Moving
Picture World, Variety, Film Comment, Funnyworld, Griffithiana, Journal of
Popular Culture, and Mindrot—for their extensive coverage of the sub-
ject’s films and career that were of great value in researching and writing
this biography.
Finally, to the legendary Walt Disney, thank you for your inspira-
tion and for instilling in this former Disneyland cast member and gen-
erations of followers the common belief that if you follow your heart,
dreams will come true.
9