Category Archives: 1932-1941: Disney Glory Days

June 1932 – May 1941

Snow White on Tour

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Well, here we are, in Pittsburgh, on Friday, January 26th.  How’s 1940 treating you so far?  Brrr — Cold enough  for you?  Hey, hows about we take in a show tonight?  It just so happens I have a copy of … Continue reading →

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Life Drawings

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Á propos the inspiration of life drawing models that Disney employed, here are some of Babbitt’s original art from drawing sessions.

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Disney’s Art Models

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Art Babbitt

For the Disney artists of the 1930s and early 40s, a huge credit of their exponential growth is owed to the in-studio art classes.  And while teachers like Don Graham and Eugene Fleury deserve their due, this post is to … Continue reading →

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Babbitt’s Footage of the 1938 Oscars

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Happy Oscar season, everyone! The 10th Academy Awards was a unique event for the Disney Studios: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs received a nomination for best score, and The Old Mill won for best animated short. It was March 10th, 1938 … Continue reading →

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The Goldfish Story

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Perhaps the most well-documented Art Babbitt story is that of the goldfish. In Talking Animals and Other People (pp. 146-7), Disney animator Shamus Culhane wrote: In the mid-thirties, nobody in his right mind drank Los Angeles tap water.  It was … Continue reading →

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The Hyperion Horseflies Story

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Art Babbitt

It’s no secret that Chuck Jones and Art Babbitt were good friends from way back.  But in writing about Disney, Chuck borrowed one of Art’s own stories.  In Chuck Reducks (pp. 95-6) he writes: Disney animators were more likely to … Continue reading →

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The “China Shop” Story

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Art Babbitt

In Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston’s The Illusion of Life (pp72-73), they tell a story about the struggles of an early Disney cartoon and an anonymous animator.  It was mid-1933 and the artists, especially this particular animator, were much more … Continue reading →

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The Disney Training Program of the 1930s

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Assembled here are some quotations from primary sources about the training program that was in place at Disney’s in the early 1930s.  (Art Babbitt was part of Sharpsteen’s trainee unit from mid-1932 to early 1933.)  “…There were two of us … Continue reading →

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The Third Disney Task

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Art Babbitt

By early August, 1932, Babbitt had successfully proven himself among the ranks of the novice animation talent.  Ben Sharpsteen was probably impressed with Babbitt’s Pluto work on the previous assignment, so he gave him a few more Pluto scenes in … Continue reading →

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The Second Disney Task

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Art Babbitt

After Babbitt completed his first inbetweening test, news of his speed spread across the studio “like wildfire.”  Cartoons were, by their nature, expensive to make, requiring more time to produce six minutes of footage than a live action film required.  … Continue reading →

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