Tag Archives: Walt Disney

Meeting Walt Disney

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Art Babbitt

Babbitt retelling his first encounter with Walt – and Walt’s first hint that Babbitt meant trouble. All footage and photos are original from the Babbitt Collection.

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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 →

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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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1931 Disney Staff Caricatures & Profiles – pt 8

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Art Babbitt

In this, the final installment of snippets from the June 20, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Daily, I had to composite some various images together to doctor a complete caricature of Walt and Frank Churchill.  Enjoy this glimpse at Walt … 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 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 First Disney Task

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Art Babbitt

When Art finally got hired at Disney Studios in July 1932, he, like countless others before and after him, was assigned to inbetween another animator’s drawings. Inbetweening is low on the animation rung, but luckily for Art, the studio had … Continue reading →

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Walt Disney Praises his Victor Camera

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Art Babbitt

An original ad, circa 1935, featuring Walt and Art.  From Art Babbitt’s collection.

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1936 Lecture: Animation is Music

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Art Babbitt

In the 1930s, Walt Disney moved forward with his in-studio education program.  As was regular office practice at the time, he also had stenographers keeping track of all discussions and notes. A training course lecture series was started to allow … Continue reading →

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Aldous Huxley on New Years Day

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Art Babbitt

To give you an idea of the scope of Babbitt’s celebrity while working at the Disney Studios, at age 34 he was invited to Aldous Huxley’s home for New Years.  A quote from Babbitt’s journal on Jan 1, 1942: Rang … Continue reading →

Posted in 1932-1941: Disney Glory Days, 1941: The Disney Strike, Alice in Wonderland, Animation, California, Disney, Dumbo, Fantasia, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment