This week we will look at the development of the Disney studio in its early years. We will look at the work of Ub Iwerks and the initial team, the move to California, changes in organization and structure. Disney’s studio identified the 12 principles that define character animation. They created works that were based on the personality of the characters. We will look at the feature films they made during the 30s and 40s, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em>, Fantasia<\/em> and Bambi<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n Jump to the different sections with the links below:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ub Iwerks<\/a> \/ Move to California<\/a> \/ Mickey Mouse<\/a> \/ Silly Symphonies<\/a> \/ Marketing<\/a> \/ Reorganization<\/a> \/ Studio Practices<\/a> \/ 12 Principles<\/a> \/ Snow White<\/a> \/ Features in the 40s<\/a><\/em> \/ Assignment<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Ub Iwerks (1901-1971) was an American animator who worked for Walt Disney’s studio during its early years and for much of his career. His style of animation helped define the “Disney” style, and he designed many characters, including Mickey Mouse.<\/p>\n Iwerks grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, as did Walt Disney, and they both started careers there, working in commercial art. Disney started the Laugh-O-Gram studio in 1922 with Iwerks as the head animator. The studio went bankrupt, and Disney decided to move to California, where much of the production of live action cinema had migrated.<\/p>\n Iwerks designed a character for Disney named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927 for a series of cartoons for Universal Pictures produced by Winkler Pictures, started by distributer Margaret Winkler. Disney’s studio was eventually removed from this series, which led Disney to vow to only work with characters to which he controlled the rights. Many of Disney’s staff left at that time for Winkler Pictures, but Iwerks stayed with Disney. He designed Mickey Mouse based on a sketch by Walt Disney, and Mickey Mouse appeared in Steamboat Willie<\/em>, animated entirely by Iwerks.<\/p>\n Iwerks animated many of the Silly Symphony<\/em> series for Disney until he left Disney in 1930. He started his own studio Iwerks Studio and developed a few new characters, “Flip the Frog” and “Willie the Whopper”. Though he had distribution deals with MGM, his films were never as successful as those produced by Disney’s studio.<\/p>\n Iwerks worked for Leon Schlesinger Productions on a few Looney Tunes <\/em>animations with “Porky Pig” and other characters. He also worked with Screen Gems in the 30s. He eventually returned to work with Disney in 1940. At this time he worked primarily on special effects. He helped develop the process for combining live action and animation used in Song of the South <\/em>and he also worked on some of the attractions in DisneyLand. Iwerks developed the technique of using xerography to print the pencil drawings of animators directly to cels, eliminating the need for inking.<\/p>\n<\/a>Ub Iwerks<\/h2>\n