Category Archives: 1941: The Disney Strike

May-August 1941

THE DISNEY STRIKE – pt.1

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Art Babbitt

The Disney Strike has shaped Hollywood politics for 75 years.  It was during an age in which an entire industry (film) was slowly becoming unionized, and an entire workforce (animation artists) was the last to do so.  More than three … Continue reading →

Posted in 1932-1941: Disney Glory Days, 1941: The Disney Strike, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Leave a comment

Courtroom Testimony: THE DISNEY PROCESS

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Art Babbitt

October 8, 1942.  Disney animator Art Babbitt sits on the witness stand in California Superior Court.  He is using Walt Disney Productions over wrongful termination. On November 24, 1941, 98 Disney artists were laid off.  For the most part, these … Continue reading →

Posted in 1932-1941: Disney Glory Days, 1941: The Disney Strike, 1942-1946: Repercussions | Tagged | 1 Comment

This Year’s Books and Docs on Disney’s Golden Age

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Art Babbitt

This year alone has seen the release of so many great works on Disney history.  Let’s take a look at some of the standouts! Behind the Magic: Snow White, produced for ABC How could I not start with this?  Besides … Continue reading →

Posted in 1932-1941: Disney Glory Days, 1941: The Disney Strike, Animation, Disney, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Leave a comment

La Huelga de Disney

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Art Babbitt

Unless you’re a subscriber to Spain’s magazine Historia Y Vida, you missed a very detailed article about the Disney Strike.  Spain is jumping on the Babbitt Wagon and and just printed this six-page (six-page!) article on Walt, Babbitt, and the … Continue reading →

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Gunther Lessing and the Strike

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Art Babbitt

A homemade presentation on the origins of the Disney Strike, and tumultuous relationship between Babbitt and Walt Disney’s V.P.

Posted in 1932-1941: Disney Glory Days, 1941: The Disney Strike | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Disney Fires Babbitt How Many Times?

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Art Babbitt

A question was posed to me recently: How many times did Walt fire Babbitt? In his later years, Art Babbitt was fond of saying things like “Disney tried to fire me five different times” for his union activity at the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941: The Disney Strike, miscellaneous, WWII | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Feature Films and Screen Credits

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Last fall and winter, I had the pleasure of helping out the storyboard department on the feature film Epic for Blue Sky Studios.  I was only on the project for a few months, but it was the first mainstream feature … Continue reading →

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Disney on Unfair List

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Art Babbitt

On this date in Disney history, the Walt Disney Studios was spotlighted for the U.S. government’s list of companies with Unfair Labor Practices (ULP).  As the Daily Worker trumpets, “Los Angeles Labor Council Places Products of Disney Firm on Unfair … Continue reading →

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The Disney Strike Remembered: Cult of Personality

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Art Babbitt

It was 72 years ago today that a picket line formed outside the Disney Studios in Burbank, and hundreds of artist went out on strike.  It was Day One of what would ultimately be the largest (and most dramatic) strike … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941: The Disney Strike, Disney, Labor, New York | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Technicolor sides with Strikers

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Art Babbitt

Here’s an interesting handbill.  Dated July 11 (1941), it advertises the support of the color film processors’ union for the Disney strikers. Caricatured below is Walt, hiding behind Willie Bioff.  The company hired Bioff to represent the company during arbitration … Continue reading →

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