Line #146 Creator/UbIwerks


1	[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ub-iwerks2.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:288:The Hand Behind The Mouse.[[note]]Or, in front, going by the context of this picture.[[/note]]]]
3
4	->''"The greatest animator in the world."''
5	-->-- '''Creator/WaltDisney'''
6
7	Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971) (pronounced "Aub", not "Oobe" or "U.B.") was a prolific American animator, director and technician of Dutch descent, and had a very important role in the HistoryOfAnimation, and particularly in the history of Disney [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts shorts]] [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon and films]]. He is recognized as the co-creator of WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, as well as his [[WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit precursor]].
8
9	Iwerks and Disney first met in late 1919, both trying to make a living as artists. While they had a brief stint together for the UsefulNotes/KansasCity Film Ad Company, Walt decided to leave and start his own studio in 1922, with Ub being the first man he hired due to admiring his drawing skills, to work on his earliest cartoons, the "WesternAnimation/NewmanLaughOGrams". Unfortunately, Walt's fledgling studio quickly went bankrupt, with Ub going back to the Kansas City company while Walt left for Hollywood to start fresh. Circa 1924, when Walt began work on his WesternAnimation/AliceComedies, he quickly contacted Iwerks for help, resulting in a six year partnership with him.
10
11	Ub quickly gained a reputation among the earliest Disney animators for his drawing and animating skill – as Creator/FrizFreleng recalled, "At the time, just making a character move was an accomplishment. He could make characters walk and move; he could move a house in perspective. I thought he was a genius when it came to the mechanics of animation."
12
13	When producer Charles Mintz swindled the bulk of Walt's animators out from under him, as well as Walt's character WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit, Ub was one of the three animators that stayed loyal to Walt, and left with him to form his own studio. In two weeks, Iwerks managed to crank out [[WesternAnimation/PlaneCrazy the first short]] starring a character that he had created with Walt – an early WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse. More impressively, Iwerks managed to singlehandedly animate the entire cartoon in two weeks, animating as many as 700 drawings a day, beating a record set by another animator of the day, Creator/BillNolan. Soon after, Ub helped out Walt by animating the bulk of a prototype sound cartoon that would change the face of animation forever – ''WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie''.
14
15	Over the next year or two, Iwerks continued animating for Disney, as well as training many of the new recruits coming in. But tension soon rose between Walt and Ub due to issues with control over his work, with Walt wanting to retime Ub's work, much to his anger, among other issues. Upon being asked by Mr. Pat Powers to lead his own studio, Ub left Disney, dealing a crippling blow to the studio which had relied on him so much.
16
17	In the meantime, Ub started work on a new series of short comedies called ''WesternAnimation/FlipTheFrog'', obviously intended as something of an anti-Mickey Mouse. Despite being backed by a fairly good budget and a league of excellent staff, including top animator Creator/GrimNatwick, the Flip series failed to catch on with audiences, who favored Disney's own shorts instead. Ub tried again with an even shorter-lived series called ''WesternAnimation/WillieWhopper'', which was once again a failure. During this time, Ub managed to build a prototype for what would later become the Multi-Plane Camera. Ub also began work on a series of independently distributed WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies clones called the WesternAnimation/ComiColorCartoons, but poor distribution and audience reception quickly sank the series after three years. Ub tried to stay afloat by having two WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes shorts, "Porky & Gabby" and "Porky's Super Service", outsourced to his studio, but after a seven-year run and around 77 shorts made, Iwerks finally had to close up shop.
18
19	Ub returned to Disney in the 40's to work on improving/introducing new technology for them (including a new matte system to allow live action/animation blending in films like ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros''. He also created the infamous Xeroxing process used in Disney's [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age films]], starting with ''101 Dalmatians'') and did the same later in his life on hit films such as Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'', introducing a new matte system which allowed the titular birds of the film to appear on screen (since it was impossible to train all of those birds the way the film required them to do in live action).
20
21	He also contributed on various projects in the Ride/DisneyThemeParks including "It's a Small World", Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, and the Hall of Presidents.
22
23	If you're looking to find his work, check out the following:
24	* '''Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection''' Vol. 1 & 2
25	* '''Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black & White''' Vol. 1 & 2
26	* '''Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'''
27	* '''Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities'''
28	* '''Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies''' and '''More Silly Symphonies'''
29	* '''Alice in Cartoonland''' [=DVDs=] from VCI and Inkwell Images
30	* '''Return of the 30's Characters''': For a handful of shorts missing from the other collections, anyways.
31
32	You can find his life story, a documentary created by his own grand-daughter, Leslie Iwerks, on the "Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" DVD. It is also available in book form.
33	----
34	[[folder: Filmography]]
35
36	!1928
37
38	* WesternAnimation/PlaneCrazy: Animated the whole short on two weeks notice. First WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoon produced.
39	* The Gallopin' Gaucho: Same here.
40	* WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie: Animated the bulk of the short. More on this one below.
41
42	!1929
43
44	* Springtime: Director.
45	* WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance: Animated the bulk of the short, save for the skeleton xylophone gag, which was done by [[Creator/DisneysNineOldMen Les Clark]]. More information below.
46	* Hell's Bells
47
48	!1930
49
50	* Summer: Last Disney short before leaving to form his own studio.
51	* Fiddlesticks: First ''WesternAnimation/FlipTheFrog'' short.
52	* Autumn: Last Disney short he worked on that was released.
53	* Puddle Pranks
54	* The Cuckoo Murder Case
55	* The Village Barber
56
57	!1931
58
59	* The Village Smitty
60	* Laughing Gas
61	* Africa Squeaks
62	* Ragtime Romeo
63	* Spooks
64	* The Village Specialist
65	* Movie Mad
66	* The Soup Song
67	* The New Car
68
69	!1932
70
71	* The Office Boy
72	* Room Runners
73	* Phoney Express
74	* Funny Face
75	* The Goal Rush
76	* The Music Lesson
77	* The Milkman
78	* School Days
79	* Stormy Seas
80	* Nurse Maid
81	* What a Life
82	* The Bully
83
84	!1933
85
86	* Techno-Cracked
87	* Jack and the Beanstalk
88	* Chinaman's Chance
89	* Soda Squirt
90	* Flip's Lunch Room
91	* The Air Race
92	* Stratos Fear
93	* Cuckoo the Magician
94
95	!1934
96
97	* The Headless Horseman
98	* Viva Willie
99	* Jack Frost
100	* Insultin' the Sultan
101	* The Good Scout
102	* The Brave Tin Soldier
103	* Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
104	* Rasslin' Round
105	* The Little Red Hen
106	* Don Quixote
107	* The Valiant Tailor
108	* Puss in Boots
109	* The Queen of Hearts
110
111	!1935
112
113	* Old Mother Hubbard
114	* Humpty Dumpty
115	* Mary's Little Lamb
116	* Simple Simon
117	* Sinbad the Sailor
118	* Summertime
119	* The Brementown Musicians
120	* Hell's Fire
121	* The Three Bears
122	* WesternAnimation/BalloonLand
123
124	!1936
125
126	* The Big Bad Wolf
127	* Dick Whittington's Cat
128	* Tom Thumb
129	* Little Boy Blue
130	* Ali Baba
131	* Happy Days
132
133	!1937
134
135	* WesternAnimation/PorkyAndGabby: First of four Creator/WarnerBros shorts outsourced to his studio. He is attributed as being the cartoons director in the credits, but in truth it was ghost-directed by Creator/BobClampett and Creator/ChuckJones.
136	* Porky's Super Service: Second of four cartoons outsourced to his studio. Similar to the above, he is credited as director, but it was ghost-directed by Clampett and Jones.
137	* Porky's Badtime Story: Third of them. Directed by Creator/BobClampett.
138	* Get Rich Quick Porky: Fourth of them. Also directed by Creator/BobClampett.
139
140	!1941
141
142	* Film/TheReluctantDragon: Special effects worker on the film.
143
144	!1946
145
146	* Film/SongOfTheSouth: Special effects worker.
147
148	!1947
149
150	* WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree: Special effects technician.
151
152	!1950
153
154	* Beaver Valley: Part of Disney's True Life Adventures series. Special effects worker.
155
156	!1952
157
158	* The Olympic Elk: Fourth of The True Life Adventures series. Special effects worker.
159
160	!1959
161
162	* Toby Tyler: Special effects worker.
163
164	!1960
165
166	* Pollyanna: Special effects worker.
167
168	!1961
169
170	* Ten Who Dared
171	* The Parent Trap
172
173	!1963
174
175	* The Three Lives of Thomasina
176	* Film/TheBirds
177
178	[[/folder]]
179	----
180	'''Noteworthy shorts done by him:'''
181
182	* ''Trolley Troubles'': The debut of Disney's first real star, WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit.
183	* ''WesternAnimation/PlaneCrazy'': The debut of WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, though Disney itself has always considered the first "true" Mickey toon to be...
184	* ''WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie'': The first commercially-viable sound cartoon, and the "official" first Mickey cartoon.
185	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance'': The first of the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Silly Symphonies line of cartoons]].
186	----
187	'''Real life people whom are influenced by him:'''
188	* Creator/ChuckJones worked for Ub – twice, in fact – but was fired both times. He still spoke highly of him in "Chuck Reducks".
189	* Creator/JohnKricfalusi repeatedly praises his work, despite his otherwise-longstanding dislike of the Disney style.
190	* Creator/OsamuTezuka, the God of Manga himself, was heavily inspired by Iwerks' art style.
191	----
192	!!Tropes related to his career:
193
194	* ChristmasSpecial: 1934's ''Jack Frost'' often shows up on collections of public-domain Christmas-themed cartoons, even though Christmas is never mentioned in the short. On the other hand, it premiered in theaters on Christmas Eve.
195	* {{Homage}}: The train sequence of ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros'' was [[Creator/DisneysNineOldMen Les Clark's]] tribute to Ub's early, simplistic art style.
196	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The bulk of his independent studio cartoons (Flip the Frog, Willie Whopper and the Comicolor cartoons) are on DVD, 67 of the 77 cartoons total with the releases of both volumes of Cartoons That Time Forgot, and both Thunderbeans ''Attack of the 30s Characters'' DVD and their Willie Whopper Blu-Ray and DVD set. Only a few of the Flip and Comicolor shorts haven't made it to home video yet, but Thunderbean is currently working on a future DVD and blu-ray release of both Flip and the Comicolor cartoons that will make Ub's entire body of work available to watch.
197	* PunnyName: Ub and Walt named their first partnership "Iwerks-Disney Studio Commercial Artists," after Walt quipped that "Disney-Iwerks" sounded too much like an eyeglass manufacturer.
198	* RubberHoseLimbs: Ub was a prolific user of these.
199	* TheRunaway: The bear cub in the 1934 Comicolor short "Jack Frost" decides to run away after he's spanked by his mother for sneaking out of bed. He soon discovers the hard way that the warnings about Old Man Winter were true, but gets home safely thanks to Jack Frost himself.

Context Creator / UbIwerks