Nowadays, Walt Disney is fondly remembered by many as the man who brought us such childhood classics as Snow White and Cinderella. The very name Disney is synonymous with the character of Mickey Mouse, which is partially where the problem begins. Mickey Mouse was in fact largely the brainchild of head animator Ub Iwerks, who was only widely credited following the release of a documentary in 1999, 71 years after Mickey had made his debut on the silver screen. It was this lack of screen credit paid to animators at Disney throughout the 1930s, combined with stressful working conditions and seemingly random pay allocation, with some animators earning as much as $300 per week, whilst others were left on a wage of only $12, that lead to an effort to unionise.
By 1941, all the other major animation studios, such as Warner Brothers, had already formed unions. Within Walt Disney Studios, there was increased discontentment and a general sense that the studio had gone from a close-knit family at the forefront of animation to a factory trying to maximise profit; animators were forced to sign documents stating they had only worked forty hours a week, when this was far from the case.
After the release of Snow White in 1937, the animation crew were not given their promised bonuses for the overtime work they had done in order to complete the project in time; this was the first inkling of the storm to come. Instead of being shared amongst the animators, the massive earnings following the release of Snow White coincided with the building of a bigger, extravagant studio and further pay cuts – all during a time in which the repercussions of the Great Depression were still being keenly felt.
As objections about workers’ rights grew more widespread, Walt Disney created the Disney Federation of Screen Cartoonists instead of allowing an external animators’ union to represent his animators – unsurprisingly, this was simply a way to keep the agitation at bay, essentially acting as a puppet union in Disney’s interests.
Art Babbitt, the studio’s most prolific and highest-paid animator attempted to introduce an external union to the company after seeing his colleagues’ mistreatment. He played an essential role in helping to organize Disney Workers to join the Screen Cartoonists’ Guild.
When in 1941 they reached the decision to unionize, Walt responded in an aptly cartoonish way, exclaiming “If you boys sign with the union… I’ll… I’ll never let you swim in my pool again!” When this threat did little to placate the leaders of the labour movement and they decided to choose strike action, Walt reacted with fury, firing Babbitt and 16 other animators in direct violation of the National Labour Relations Act. The following day, May 29th 1941, the strike began, and a picket line was erected outside the studio. Disney reportedly called the picketers “commies” as he walked past them into the studio, taking pictures in order to identify them.
Eventually, a settlement was reached in a victory for the union, laying the foundations for equalised pay, a fair work environment where animators were able to raise concerns without fear of immediate firing and the reinstatement of the workers who had been fired.
Although this strike seems to have since faded from public memory in favour of the more wholesome image of Disney, it is forever preserved in films produced during that time, such as Dumbo, which was animated whilst the strikes and pay disputes were in full swing: there is a scene where circus clowns are seen striding off to confront their managers, singing “Oh, we’re going to hit the big boss for a raise.” The fact that a union had attained such success within a studio as large and respected as Disney increased the credibility of unions throughout Hollywood, as well as setting a precedent for the fair treatment of its workers.
Image “Disney” by Aziem Hassan is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.