I'm always watching and reading biographies. Some people like biographies because they enjoy the gossip. I like biographies because I want to learn how ordinary people do extraordinary things.

So yesterday I saw a biography about Ub Iwerks, The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story . I had never heard of him before, but it turns out that without him, the Disney corporation would have been just another little cartoon studio, and Walt Disney would have been just another cartoon studio manager.

Ub Iwerks is the creator of Mickey Mouse. (I always thought it was Walt Disney because the Disney company keeps saying that Walt created Mickey, but it turns out that Disney was just the manager.)

And all those "Wow!" techniques that Disney pioneered... Iwerks was behind them.

Iwerks was the inventor of many movie techniques still used today. He animated the first cartoon with sound, Steamboat Willie and the first color cartoon, Flowers and Trees. He was the first person to mix animation with live actors (and today, almost every movie in the theater and film on YouTube contains some special effect that requires mixing animation, now done on computers, with real people). He invented the multiplane camera (for making amazing perspective animation). He invented the Wet Gate process for transferring 16mm film images to 35mm film. He used Xerox machines to copy drawings to cells to reduce production time. He invented the special effect that allows one person to play two different characters in a movie and have both characters appear on screen at the same time (e.g. The Parent Trap). He created the camera to make forced-perspective shots. He created the projection technique to make those statues sing in the Haunted Mansion. He was involved somehow in nearly every attraction at Disneyland. He invented Circarama (later called Circle Vision). Ub Iwerks was the Benjamin Franklin of the animation and special effects industry.

He also worked with non-Disney studios, including MGM and Warner Bros. He created Flip the Frog. He worked on Hitchcock's the Birds. He was even the mentor of some of the greatest animators, like Chuck Jones and Grim Natwick.

So why didn't I learn about him sooner? Why don't they have a museum at Disneyland dedicated to Ub the way they do for Walt? Was Disney so egotistical that he wouldn't give proper credit to the man who made him the Walt Disney?

I used to always think of Disney as an inspiring, creative artist, but after learning about Ub, I decided to do a bit more research on Disney.

Walt Disney was a producer, a businessman, a manager, and a commercial genius. While Iwerks created art with cartoon drawings, Disney made an art form out of business. He wanted to conquer the entertainment industry, and he did. He created an animation company. He hired the best creative people. He diversified (a key to success in any area of life). He expanded into television shows, amusement shows, live theater shows, lunch boxes, pencils, etc. His marketing strategies and business methods were brilliant.

For me, the partnership between Iwerks and Disney shows how popularity and profits require superb creativity as well as a deep understanding of people and consumerism. The greatest artist in the world will likely go unknown without a good marketing team, and the greatest entrepreneur in the world won't make a penny without good creative team. I know so many artists who fear going commercial because they think it will stifles their creativity, and I know so many intelligent business people who refuse to work with "eccentric artistic types" because they don't care enough about the profit margin. Funny.

Funny how the success we often seek requires us to embrace the very things we rebel against.

Labels: Inspiring People I Admire