How Walt Stole Mickey Mouse : The Story Of Ub Iwerks

You may not know his name, but you definitely know his work. Meet Ub Iwerks, the man behind the creation of Mickey Mouse and one of the pioneers of the animation industry.
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks met in Kansas City and worked together throughout the years to make their make on the world of animations through many ventures together, however only one of them ever gets the credit. From drawing every early Mickey Mouse cartoon, including Steamboat Willie to making technical innovations like they were nothing, Ub Iwerks deserves to have his story told.
00:02:09 Early Life
00:04:15 Laugh-O-Gram Studios
00:06:20 Alice & Oswald
00:07:55 Creating Mickey
00:09:41 Mickey Origin Stories
00:12:43 Ub Leaves Disney
00:14:55 Iwerks Studio Fails
00:15:30 Ub Comes Back
00:17:24 Disney's War Effort
JJJreact
#mickeymouse #steamboatwillie #waltdisney #ubiwerks #iwerks #ub #mickey #disney #disneyplus #publicdomain #waltdisneyimagineering #waltdisneyanimationstudios #waltdisneyanimation #waltdisneypictures #purplehippo

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

If you want to learn more about the group trying to turn the Laugh-O-Gram building into a museum I have a follow up video out where I get to go inside the building: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKSpd42Lg9qFY8Usi=iBCh6MKxdcfw7Nwm

[@YourMom-sq6iq]

They both developed it after they lost the Rights to Oswald, Walt later took Credit for it alone with that dumb "I had the Idea on the Train back Home" Story on his TV Show

[@gostowl]

Glad to see a doc on Ub. He’s been overlooked for so long. I’m glad more people such as you helping to increase his accomplishments and profile to more people. Gradually, he’s regaining that recognition.

[@callibor3119]

If we can get 1790 Copyright Act to be reapplied as state laws, we can give Ub Iwerks’ name a try, too, for a business name. He was the first to animate Mickey. And also, having 2009 as public domain could mean all of Disney up till 2009 can be made and remade by the public.

[@ching-jungyang62]

His granddaughter already made a documentary film about him, "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story". There is even a Marvel villain named after him to pay tribute.

[@dannyspelman1468]

There already is a documentary. Kelsey Grammer narrated it and it was produced by his granddaughter. It leaves nothing out about anything bad Disney did to Iwerks, even though it is available on a Disney DVD.

[@АлексейМомот-щ7о]

​@@ching-jungyang62 a villain is a tribute?

[@ching-jungyang62]

@@АлексейМомот-щ7о Oops! My mistake, it’s a DC Comics supervillian that was named in his honor, knock on wood.

[@megablueman]

Ub really is the underdog hero of Classic Disney's greatness. I always thought he never recovered after being screwed over, glad to hear he actually ended up thriving and even won Oscars.

[@teastrainer3604]

Just to balance this out. Walt used to introduce Ub to people as "the world's greatest animator." And Chuck Jones said Ub had no sense of humor whatsoever.

[@RayPointerChannel]

If the implication is that Walt "screwed over" Ub Iwerks, you need to go back to the books and read the history. First, Ub was with Walt from the very start. Ub's name was on the first Mickey Mouse and SILLY SYMPHONY cartoons. Look at the Main Title to THE SKELETON DANCE. Ub held a 1/3 interest in Walt Disney productions. Other sources claim in was 1/4. The person who "screwed over" Ub Iwerks was Pat Powers, who was Disney's initial distributor and had the Cinephone Sound System (which was a violation of the deForest Phonfilm Patent), and lured Iwerks away and set him up in his own studio. Walt and Roy discovered that Powers was "screwing them over," and Walt secured a formal distribution with Columbia. This was one of the motivations to lure Iwerks away. But Iwerks never came up with any characters to rival Mickey Mouse, as much as Powers thought he could. Also, with Iwerks exiting Disney, he sold his interest back to Disney. In a sense, Iwerks screwed himself for leaving because he was away during Disney's greatest growth period. While it has been reported that Disney held grudges against people who went against him (Art Babbitt being a prime example), he did take Ub back in 1940 and placed him where he was happiest, in the technical processes department. Then in 1964 he received the Oscar for his development of the Sodium Blue Screen matte process used for THE BIRDS and MARY POPPINS. Given these details, how could it be said that Disney "screwed over" Ub Iwerks when he took him back, appreciating his value, and gave him the opportunity to develop a process that won him an Academy Award? This is something to think about.

[@teastrainer3604]

@@RayPointerChannel The video is clickbait.

[@AndrewPriester]

Walt never screwed Ub

[@lilmissgearhead]

My history of animation class hammered Ub Iwerks’ role in the genre into us I’m glad more folks are learning about him

[@RayPointerChannel]

It would be interesting to know who that "Instructor" was and the qualifications for that person. There are a lot of people teaching animation or animation history who are nothing more than "cut and paste" self-made historians who have memorize the research published in books by true historians who have done the research.

[@house-ghost]

@@RayPointerChannel Why would an instructor teaching and emphasizing Ub’s role cause you to call into question their credentials? To me, that would reflect a well researched instructor as opposed to those that start with Disney and move forward. I was laughing at the usage of hammered.

[@TheAllcreatorLiveArchives]

I honestly had no idea Walt Disney owed SO MUCH to Ub. Not only did he help Walt out 3 times at the start of his career, he even warned him about Mints the third time... and Walt didn't even acknowledge it. Ub was a great friend to Walt. Such a shame that good people don't end up immortal in this world.

[@carlossmasher1]

Ub work with Disney in DisneyLand as an imageneer and His family work with Disney even today.

[@puppetprints8277]

​@@carlossmasher1that doesn't mean Ub doesn't deserve the recognition of all he did to get this now parasitic company off the ground.

[@milesgreb3537]

Walt helped him out by giving him a job too

[@spingleboygle]

it’s like how wozniak created literally every apple computer (until around steve jobs left the company) but jobs was credited for creating it himself

[@God-k5b]

Cope harder simp. That’s how the world works. Genghis Khan says hi. He wiped out countless civilizations. You gonna cry about it? You don’t have to do something good, you just have to do something big, or steal it and find ways to patent it as your own. Trust no one bro, not even yourself.

[@prakkari]

The man that created Daffy, Bugs Bunny, Haiwatha, Snow White and a slew of WB and Disney characters is never credited for it. His name is Charles Thorson. Canadian born in Iceland. It’s worth the effort to make a video about him also.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Appreciate the idea!

[@yosefdemby8792]

He didn't create _any_ of those characters! At most he designed an early version of Bugs!

[@prakkari]

@@yosefdemby8792 It’s worth mentioning that he also created the first Flintstones. He is the instigator of all this. He was a bit too fond of the bottle and that did have tragic effects on his life, but he was undeniably a pioneer in this field and his characters are still household names all over the world. The studios had the rights for all their characters, but it doesn’t mean they created them, just like in the case of Walt Disney.

[@prakkari]

@@yosefdemby8792 “Cartoon Charlie” has a dedicated museum celebrating his life’s work in Manitoba. Visit them and challenge them if you think you think you can debunk these facts.

[@yosefdemby8792]

@@prakkari Where did you read this?!

[@giovanifm1984]

Fun fact, in Brazil, the first Mickey is not yet public domain because Ub Iwerks died after Walt Disney and was co-creator of the animation. Author protection is based on a number of years from the author's death, also considering co-authors.

[@derekg5674]

I had absolutely no idea Walt didn’t create Steamboat Willie or Mikey. Glad you are bringing this to people’s attention.

[@CheeseMiser]

Mickey* Also have you never read the title screen of steamboat willie.

[@derekg5674]

@@CheeseMiser Obviously not. And thanks for the correction want a gold star?

[@dannyspelman1468]

​​@@CheeseMiserSteamboat Willie* Also, a written question should always end with a "?" question mark. Gold star for me. 🌟

[@xtrwombat4876]

its a lot more common than you think, people stealing credit for other peoples work. it goes mostly unnoticed but it is a problem. Bob kane stole credit for the creation of batman even though he had mostly nothing to do with batmans creation or the creation of batmans world. bill finger essentially came up with most of the ideas. then stan lee, would steal credit for much of jack kirbys work, then steve ditko (he created spiderman) ect. kirby would voice his frustration with stan lee often. alan moore did a good job exposing him. and you will see often that people like walt or bob or stan, that they will plaster their names all over the place, like in the credits they will get extra large highly decorated names, while everyone else has a very small names in plain text next to them. but like i said its way more common than you think, happens in the gaming industry too.

[@yosefdemby8792]

But he _did_ co-create the character! To say he had zero involvement in the creation of Mickey Mouse is not true!

[@Kawaiipony_Productions]

Finally, after all these years... a video about Ub Iwerks!!! I remember first learning about how Ub was Mickey's actual creator and being a major part of early Disney, I was probably around 8-10. It's sad to me how aside from animation students and fans, Ub Iwerks isn't recognized for his impact on the animation. I hope this video gains enough traction that more and more people learn about Ub Iwerks' importance of Disney's Disney's beginnings and being Mickey's proper creator.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

I appreciate the kind words!

[@UndeadSlayer5]

I mean Ub got an Oscar that should mean something but ur right more people should know more about him

[@dannyspelman1468]

There's an entire documentary about him. Fully produced by his granddaughter and narrated by Kelsey Grammer. It's on one of the Disney Oswald DVD.

[@graygarrison2692]

Very sad to know that Ub Iwerks died on July 7th 1971 in Burbank CA from a heart attack at age 70. How very sad for such a creative genius.@@PurpleHippoCinema

[@UndeadSlayer5]

@@graygarrison2692 he outlived Disney at least

[@joe6281]

Just goes to show how marketing and distribution is just as important as creation.

[@kozlorog]

Waaaay more important. This said, important =/= essential.

[@bradensorensen966]

More important.

[@Kekimus]

Not as important as a sellable/real product. Unless you want to be branded as snake oil salesman.

[@mikafoxx2717]

Just look at Steve Jobs vs Wozniak.. the one that created their first computers versus the one that was the businessman

[@peanut_buddah]

nah, distribution and marketing is deception and copying, while creation is real

[@ChuckBerrington]

Interesting tale. Man had 20% of Disney. Co-created one of the most popular animated characters in the world, and developed several innovative technologies in film-making. I think he's lived a full life but it's all very bittersweet. To some degree it also highlights Walt's impression of animators, employees and overall business attitude...

[@Direness]

Very enjoyable! In the past, I was a part of various Lindy Hop groups in KC, and we'd have big dance weekends where we invited hundreds of fellow dancers into KC. Often they'd stay in our homes and we'd drive them to events, and I'd sometimes make a point of swinging past the old Laugh-O-Gram studio to point it out as the birthplace of Mickey Mouse and what would become eventually become the Disney brand. Our guests were always surprised that Disney itself hadn't bought the property to preserve it, but I shared that I thought it was likely a branding move - preserving it would admit Iwerks had done the real work behind Mickey. I'm glad you made this video, because we can only preserve history by sharing it as much as we can.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Really appreciate you sharing your experience! I know Disney, either the company or family, has given some money to the foundation trying to turn it into a museum, and this year they did get a big grant, so hopefully it can finally be turned into something people would want to come visit!

[@VesnaVK]

What years were you doing this? Great story.

[@silverdamascus2023]

Ub Iwerks deserves more credit, but saying that Walt Disney didn't help and Ub Iwerks did all the work while Walt Disney took all the credit is an exaggeration, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Mickey together, both were important.

[@yamato6114]

Indeed. Walt provided the personality and the voice.

[@cosmicspacething3474]

Kinda like what Jack Kirby was to Stan Lee?

[@Isaac-gh5ku]

When I watch the intro of Steamboat Willie, Ub Iwerks was even shown in the credits, but I think many of us overlook the credits.

[@silverhowl9331]

THIS ^

[@ItzCoinZ]

Walt’s wife named mickey mouse mickey, Ub created the character. Where tf does disney come in

[@GeneralDisarray666]

I started feeling sad when I got to the part about selling his Disney shares and his animation company going under. But was glad to see he ended up with a lot of success regardless.

[@dh2032]

that go to be close to the third member of the apple start company, sold shares back for something aediculae at the time?

[@Miguel-Raton]

Ub Iwerks is my personal hero after years of studying Walt's life & piecing that he was kind of a dick but learned of Ub. Everything is pretty much how I've learned his story. I own the book & the DVD. Thank you so much for respectfully telling this much deserved & still somewhat untold story.

[@hectormanuel8360]

which book?

[@Miguel-Raton]

@@hectormanuel8360 The Man Behind the Mouse

[@nicklundy9965]

I remember the doc in the 2000s I watched. I really opened my eyes as a kid trying to learn animation history.

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

Most of the "Walt was a d***" claims come from communist rag papers like The Daily Worker, who had a vested interest in smearing Walt because he opposed the attempts of the Cartoonist Union, brutally ran by communist-fellow-traveler fanatic Herbert K. Sorrell, a man infamous for fomenting multiple union riots that got many people badly injured, to try to take over the existing internal animator union in the Disney company. Should be noted it was Walt's animators that went to him and asked him to represent them against the attempts of Herbert Sorrell to muscle into and try to take them over.

[@TheDarkKRoo]

glad his design of mickey is in the domain. I feel that is what he would have wanted.

[@RayPointerChannel]

There are three 1928 versions of Mickey Mouse. The first, PLANE CRAZY has him without gloves and shoes. The second, GALLOPIN' GAUCHO has him with shoes, but no gloves. The third in STEAMBOAT WILLIE has him with gloves and shoes. BUT....the shoes got larger afterward. This was by Walt's thinking like a kid walking around in his father's shoes.

[@mrzachblk]

Wow, I did not know this story at all. Thank you for making this. Wow, I'm at a loss for words.

[@Blartyboy]

minor correction at 14:40, while it's commonly called the first animated feature film, Snow White and the seven dwarves is not the first Animated feature film. There were at least 7ish before it, with the argentinian film "El Apóstol" being considered the first by many historians (though Wikipedia mentions an earlier film called "Creation" that I haven't heard of elsewhere). Unfortunately it's lost, along with another film by the same director, Peludópolis (which was probably the first sound animated feature), both falling to a studio fire. The earliest animated feature we have is "The Adventures of Prince Achmed", which is also the first colour animated feature. In fact, depending on how you count it, Snow white and the seven Dwarves may not even be the first animated feature Disney released, the "Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons" was released earlier the same year as snow white, which was a collection of already-released cartoons by Disney. It was only 41 minutes, but that is enough to be considered a feature. It's not made up of original cartoons though, so it's debatable. (it also doesn't tell a single story, but the same is true of films such as "The Three Caballeros", which are considered canonical according to Disney) Snow white and the seven dwarves was, however, the first original cell-animated feature film, (all the previous examples, excluding the Disney one, where either cut-out animated or stop motion), so there is that. Otherwise, excellent video.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Really appreciate you sharing that information! And thanks for watching!

[@lucaspadilla4815]

Also Snow White sweeping the oscars statemennt, the answer is more nuanced. Walt Disney wanted a Best Picture nom, but it didn't get it because of the industry's bias towards animation. The film only got one nomination for original score and lost, and was only given the infamous "one tall and seven small" special academy award a full year later at the following ceremony after Disney raised hell in the press

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@PurpleHippoCinema yeah, first cel-animated seems about correct, because when people think of animation, mostly it’s 2D, and that includes cel-animated.

[@CheeseMiser]

First colored animated full length film

[@Jess-dm8hl]

I love Lottie Reinger (creator of The Adventures of Prince Achmed) and her work so much!!! Not only are her puppets stunning but the effects she and her team created for the film and her various shorts are incredible! They achieved some amazing technical feats for animation for the time and dont get any of the credit. She really needs to be present in more talk about animation because she was a huge contributor to early animation and was one only few female creators at that time. There are SO many women that have done some amazing work in animation and have been completely forgotten 😢

[@silverblue73]

Even as a kid I was never convinced Walt had anything to do with Mickey. We never saw him draw anything. He was a presenter and did that well.

[@yamato6114]

He was also the voice of Mickey and provided a lot of the mannerisms for the character. Lillian Disney found it hard to watch anything with Mickey in it after Walt’s passing because she just saw too much of her husband in him.

[@TECfan1]

He had plenty to do with the creation of Mickey. Ub and Walt created him together.

[@cosmicspacething3474]

@Scorpio.Incubus Hate the corporation, not the man

[@Disneyfan82]

@@TECfan1 People here on this video are so ridiculous and narrow minded, hearing and seeing what they wanna hear.

[@bamm86]

Same! I’m an artist myself and I was always confused by the fact that we never saw the guy drawing. That’s just weird.

[@picksalot1]

I hadn't heard of Ub Iwerks before. Thanks for helping make him and his very important contributions to animation and Disney more widely known. His story deserves a place of honor. 👍

[@Korbynnator]

This is great! Ub Iwerks deserves more glory than he gets, he was a masterful animator and artist, and he was the driving force behind Disney in its beginning, I hope this video spreads and more people learn about the truth behind Mickey Mouse.

[@Disneyfan82]

It's bullshit, only half truth in it that's what it is.

[@defaultusername123]

Ub needs WAY more recognition. Walt has been immortalized in KC, Ub not so much sadly

[@simonward-horner7605]

Thanks for this. I hope the Kansas City studio is preserved. As a boy I'd read about the history of Disney and those early days fascinated me - they still do.

[@yosefdemby8792]

He did not steal Mickey from Iwerks. As Ollie Johnston said, “Ub gave him movement and design, but Walt gave Mickey’s spirit.”

[@therealjaystone2344]

Walt bought Mickey, as to buy for the copyright.

[@OscarOSullivan]

Like Elton John and Ernie Tarpin

[@autobotstarscream765]

Walt gave Mickey Oswald's spirit. 😂

[@yosefdemby8792]

@@therealjaystone2344 He co-citrates the character, helping to give Mickey his personality.

[@pramanabudiman9761]

​@autobotstarscream765 Well, Walt doesn't have the ownership for Oswald. He was still owned by Universalv at that time, remember?

[@Larry]

Most excellent video Sir, I really enjoyed this!!! Kudos!!!

[@PestilentAllosaurus]

This was brilliantly made! Thank you for teaching and showing me everything! I had no idea, I kinda feel ashamed for _not_ knowing just how important of a man Ub had been. Such a humble individual so full of passion & talent! How proud his family must be of him. Thanks again for teaching all of us about the truth and what a amazing person Ub was!

[@username5155]

I would love to see this stuff covered in one of those KZbin documentaries summarizing the whole history of a character in 15 minutes. Something like: “Mickey Mouse is a world-famous cartoon character originally created by one Walt Disney after he stumbled upon a nearly identical-looking mouse by the same name drawn by someone else. Walt then hired the man, named Ub Iwerks, to animate a few small films for him starring Walt’s newest creation. After two small test films, one of which involved the mouse sexually assaulting his girlfriend, Walt’s third animation starring the character would be the first to be fully released to the public. Unfortunately, Walt developed a severe case of spontaneous amnesia shortly after the film’s release and forgot Ub Iwerks existed, despite keeping him around for many years to come.”

[@yosefdemby8792]

According to Ub Iwerks' son Don Iwerks, the animator said, “It isn’t the creation of the character that counts, it's what you do with it after you created it.”

[@yadrak2354]

This was wonderful. I too had seen what you had seen on the Simpson's with the unrecogized artist behind itch and drew the same correlation as you not knowing this man's true name was Ub Iwerks. Now I don't think I'll ever forget it. You did such a wonderful job bringing it altogether and showing so much more than we'd ever known without. Truly a heart warming tale of an unsung hero.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Really appreciate your support!

[@NeoCon3K8]

My goodness me ur channel has this “calming and artsy luxurious” vibe due to the music back ground . Very much underrated video editing skills. Should have deserved 10000 subscribers by now

[@OMJames]

Really impressive! I thought I knew just about everything about Ub, but I learned a lot. The audio leaves a bit to be desired, but other than that excellent work!

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Appreciate the feedback and thanks for watching!

[@clarkvaughan]

I just kept thinking about people like Steve Wozniak, Steve Ditko, and Bill Finger when i saw this. There's always an uncredited genius in the background. I will learn from this.

[@zovalentine7305]

Rest in peace 🙏 Walter Elias Disney 5 December 1901 ~ 15 December 1966⚘

[@infineoinfinite]

Now, this... ... is truly the most interesting video I've ever watched. Well, I'd be damned, the Mouse (and the Lucky Rabbit) is stolen the entire time. Ub Iwerk deserves more credit.

[@Polyphemus47]

The very first cartoons I saw on my grandparents' little tv screen were Ub Iwerks' "Flip The Frog" cartoons, which were shown on local Minneapolis tv before Howdy Doody in the early '50s. I've been a fan ever since.

[@clarkvaughan]

Wow. You guys are geniuses. That was a top-notch documentary. On par with any doc on KZbin. Thank you so much.

[@rlgood]

Thank you for giving Ub this spotlight. I will be sharing this with others.

[@RM-yw6xe]

A very well done essay! Just bear in mind that consistent volume is just as important as your written essay. Still, very nice work here, best of luck on your next production.

[@puppetprints8277]

This is is really well made! Im glad the yt algorithm recommended this and i look forward to seeing more from you!

[@VesnaVK]

So Ub is the Woz to Walt's Jobs. Wow!

[@Chao-Feng]

Incidentally, Thunderbean Animation recently released a blu-ray of restored Flip the Frog shorts. They've already released a Willie the Whopper collection and plan to release a ComiColor set as well.

[@lykosgen7973]

One thing to remember is that Walt had to have Ub create the mouse because if Walt did it Mickey would have been lost to Universal. This would be due to the contract Walt had with universal that stated, anything Walt created under the time period of the contract would be the property of universal pictures. Also Walt was the voice of this iconic character which gave Mickey life.

[@MrMelgibstein]

That's not what this bloke is trying to portray or persuade,this is basically a hatchet job by an amateur.

[@RayPointerChannel]

Ub was not an attorney. So that conclusion is baseless. When Mintz took Oswald, Walt had no contract with Universal or anyone else. So he was free to get a contract elsewhere. He had no contract when Mickey Mouse was created. They made the three cartoons on the hopes of getting a distribution pick up. The action of Mintz taking Oswald drove home his need to own what he created. That was hard-learned lesson. Iwerks had nothing to do with that realization. And it was a good thing that he did have the ownership defined in his contracts from that point on because that stopped Powers from stealing Mickey Mouse when he stole Iwerks from Disney thinking he had the key to Disney's success. That proved wrong. And while the loss of Iwerks was felt for a while, Walt stayed with the struggle, and took Mickey and the rest of the animation beyond the level that Iwerks had established. This is a MOST important fact to be considered. Because these advances were the result of Disney's drive which was extended to the people he hired. So in short, he was, and continued to be the guiding spirit as they collectively explored ways of improving the product and raising the industry standards in the process.

[@lykosgen7973]

@@RayPointerChannel First I never said ub was an attorney. Second the Disney studio was under contract to universal because Walt was freelance. That’s how Oswald was “created and owned” by universal. At the time Disney was under contract, not just for Oswald cartoons but for his characters created. Along with that ub made the first Mickey short by himself while Walt was in New York, trying to get more for the Oswald cartoons. Though ub did all the animating Walt gave Mickey life. Mickey was a part of Walt Disney as are all the big 5 in some way or another. Listen to “the backside of water” podcasts about mickeys toon town and they explain how Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are parts of Walt Disney. Totally amazing. Mickey was also created under the disney company umbrella so even if ub claimed credit Mickey belonged to Disney just like Oswald belonged to universal. Last Walt Disney said that he had to stop drawing for his company. Dropping the drawing side of it allowed him to build the empire he created. I will not argue about Walt. He is a personal hero of mine. He is, was, and will forever be a genius. Sorry I ruffled your feathers.

[@gonegogone]

PERFECT time to release this mini-documentary. Hope you ride the algorithm to success, Purple HIppo!

[@theoddbox]

Ub has always been one of my favorite animators and probably one of my idols in a way. I see him more as a cautionary tale though for all "sensative artist" types trying to make it in the industry

[@reddblackjack]

I like the part where he essentially became a civilian war hero helping make training movies for the army. Awesome!

[@CalDiscs]

It's so sad that the original building that got Disney off the ground is abandoned right now. It could be a museum, Kansas City has the Jazz museum & the WWI museum, they could have a Walt Disney (and Ub!!) / Entertainment history museum there.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

KC does have great museums and hopefully the laugh-o-gram can join them!

[@yosefdemby8792]

Stalling didn’t return to Disney full time, just freelancing. He went to Warner Brothers once Iwerks’ studio folded.

[@justjeff8361]

I am so glad that somebody brought this to light.

[@tailsknuxfan101]

This was enjoyable to watch, ive always wanted to learn more about Ub!

[@MrTrincent]

This channel deserves MORE VIEWS!

[@mdub2000]

Gosh I thought i wouldnt watch the whole vid but you did a such a good job.. thank you for sharing this story

[@scratchbaddofficial4030]

Underrated KZbinr, Definitely a compelling video.

[@GiovanniKody100]

Overrated*

[@vanleeuwenhoek]

Great source material. Solid narrative. Some choppy edits, but damn was your pacing quick and kept me in it. I learned something important, and now I can see how a wiz like Iwerks could establish the technical innovator culture that would be essential to later work happening in the computer industry and film in sunny CA. Kudos bro.

[@robertskitch]

I had a Walt Disney biography on my bookshelf growing up, and the Mickey creation story it went with was definitely the pet mouse/train ride combo, so I was learning that piece of marketing at a very young age.

[@TheProfessional15]

Some errors Steamboat Willie wasnt the first ever cartoon with sound The first feature lenght animated movie was The Apostol, a lost movie

[@SG-BLAST]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS!!! MORE FOLKS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UB IWERKS!!!

[@OpEditorial]

It's interesting how, even from the start, Walt was more interested in combining *live action with animation* , being more of a slick entrepreneur and taking credit for the work of shy talented introverts like Ub. And while Disney's imagination and peerless confidence far outweighed his ability to draw, his old friend would be one of many in a seemingly endless procession of creative people to work for him. Now if there's anything that can be learned from this story, is if you have 20% shares in a "start-up" that would one day become the single biggest media empire on earth dont sell. The Disney Company, in its current state (of being a somewhat terrifying mega corporation), basically owes everything to Ub Iwerks... whose most enduring contribution to the cultural zeitgeist, *Steamboat Willie* just entered the public domain.

[@tvsonicserbia5140]

Walt is also said to have been introverted in person. But yeah he was downright machiavellian in business

[@yosefdemby8792]

If Ub Iwerks was the true genius behind Disney, then Iwerks' studio would not have failed.

[@OpEditorial]

@@yosefdemby8792 I wouldn't say Ub was the true genius behind it all, Walt Disney was and is the leader of his industry for a reason, he knew how to sell a product. Now is the iconic mascot character that Walt apparently called "Mortimer" until his wife convinced him to change it to "Mickey" that Ub originally designed and animated a big part of what makes Disney the globe spanning titan brand that it is? Yeah I'd say so. But Ub on his own wasn't a savvy business man the way Walt was.

[@yosefdemby8792]

@@OpEditorial You forget that Disney gave Mickey his personality, his soul. And his voice.

[@OpEditorial]

@@yosefdemby8792 this is also true, putting sound to the pictures was revolutionary back then. Walt Disney was to Mickey Mouse what Seth MacFarlane is to most of the male voices in the Family Guy and American Dad cast.

[@myragroenewegen5426]

I love the storytelling work here. Ub's caution with the tumultuous business world of the animation he was good at is pretty relatable. In the end, he was probably mostly okay with being able to have stable work doing what he loved, rather than glory, after so many business scares himself and times saving Walt's team from business collapse. In this telling it seems that Walt was reckless where he was cautious, so Walt's gamble could easily have failed spectacularly, hurting much other talent in the process. Instead Walt implausibly succeeded and Ub was outsmarted by fate. Nice to see that he doesn't seem to have been embittered and found a comfortable nd secure place for himself.

[@ModernMouse]

Great work on this! As someone who always wants to put focus on the animators and people below Walt in my videos, this was a nice little essay to see pop up on my recommendations! Subscribed!

[@silverblue73]

I appreciate you taking the time to put this all together and I have some notes. The volume levels fluctuate from clip to clip and your own narration sounds monotone as if you're very bored.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Very valid criticisms! Appreciate the feedback!

[@Something_Disgusting]

​@@PurpleHippoCinema also, the audio for certain clips was only in the left channel (making sound only emit from the left side of earbuds). Overall, not shabby.

[@Mankey619]

Ub Iwerks deserves to be recognized by everyone around the world, cause he's the one true creator of Mickey Mouse. Now that he's public domain. We will continue to credit Ub, instead of Disney. If only he got credited 95 years ago.

[@chimedemon]

11:45 for context those are timing sheets for animating frames. If you alter an animation by even a frame, the timing for a few seconds could feel super weird slightly jarring- so him doing that to the WHOLE sheet is like if you kept randomly changing the speed of a video 24 times a second, for 5 minutes. (at least that's what I'm pretty sure, animating is weird. plus time cards back then were super strict- as with modern day you can just draw as soon as you have an idea. Back then you would have to imagine the animation timing before you even started to animate.)

[@Jess-dm8hl]

Yeah it sounds like an overreaction to someone who doesn’t know much about timing sheets but I’m a 2D animator myself and just the idea of someone doing that would drive me crazy

[@ZacharyRoy1]

Really enjoyed the video. Telling one of my favorite stories in animation, but it would recommend checking the audio balance before publishing,

[@zacksaulness]

First of all, Walt Disney did not steal Mickey Mouse. He hired his friend Ub to make a better design of Mickey

[@yosefdemby8792]

Exactly.

[@lukemeyers4221]

This is a great piece on some amazing KC history! Thanks for bringing this forward. Awesome job!

[@passaggioalivello]

Thank you for this analysis, it's very accurate. Ub Iwerks was a genius. About the Laugh-o-Grams building, are there some forecasts for the restoration? I know there is a society, "Thank you Walt Disney", and it's trying to restore the building, but after the car accident, are they still pursuing their goal?

[@MrMelgibstein]

Disney owned the studio and suggested a mouse , Ub could have been drawing donkeys without Walt's idea .

[@littlerelief5029]

I thought I'd watch a cute little doco about Ub, but ive realised I've been the Ub in many situations... Lets change that for 2024.

[@TheDrexxus]

I feel like from Ub's perspective, this is almost like some sort of fairy tale you'd tell to kids about teaching them loyalty and persistence. If they man had just sucked it up that one time instead of jumping ship, he would've been extraordinarily rich and still have been an owning partner in the company. But instead, he threw in the towel just before the getting got good. And while he did eventually regret it and go back to Disney, he'd never be partner again and never have the amount of money he could've had. Damn shame.

[@barttheraven]

A lot of the audio only goes in the left earphone, and for some reason there's a blue loading symbol in the bottom left hand corner from time to time.

[@GamingGardevoir]

My left ear really liked this video. A tip for getting mono audio to come through both sides: put it on a separate audio track from the stereo audio.

[@aisforapple2494]

In 1930, Ub Iwerks' studio created the character, Flip The Frog. Flip's debut cartoon, 'Fiddlesticks', was the first color cartoon, shot in two-strip 'Harriscolor', similar to 'Technicolor' technology.

[@TheStreetFoolosopherMr187]

Correct 💯

[@Elmerstudd007]

Nice documentary, well paced, lot of good reference material, solid script, but editing needs to be polished up a bit especially in the sound department, some of the archive footage is dramatically quieter than the voice over, and some voice over is significantly lower quality than others. Overall not a big deal but I can tell you are passionate about this and the amount of work you put in shows and it would be a shame to not see your work reach its fullest potential.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Appreciate the kind words and the feedback! Totally agree there could've been a lot more polish!

[@buster5661]

The sound balancing definitely needs work

[@Elmerstudd007]

@PurpleHippoCinema of course, I hope I did not come off as if I were complaining because I am not, the documentary was awesome and I subscribed with the ol bell because I want to see more of your stuff. Can't wait to see where the future of this channel goes

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

@@Elmerstudd007 Appreciate your support!

[@littlelambs7044]

Sickening. Thank you Ub Iwerks for bringing us Mickey Mouse!!

[@RupeeRhod]

I really suggest editing with headphones on so you easily catch when a mono track suddenly is hard left panned. It detracts a lot from watching when every time you use old source footage it's 1 channel only.

[@carolberridge6102]

Thanks! A lot of well presented information and visuals. And, seconding prakkari's suggestion below, hope you will make a similar film on Charles Thorson. All the best to the group trying to get the museum going.

[@stevennorthrup5790]

Ub Iwerks singlehandedly animated the “Plane Crazy” short by himself. He did it in two weeks at a rate in 700 drawings a day. In fact, he’s actually responsible for drawing and creating the design of Mickey Mouse, while Walt Disney was only responsible for coming up with a name. Because Disney decided to be a credit hog, Iwerks left him and went on to create other characters for his own set of series, such as Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper.

[@buster5661]

To be honest, walts wife came up with the name "mickey"

[@buster5661]

@@wolf2912 because of course the animators don't get credit for his "personality"

[@yosefdemby8792]

@@buster5661 But did any of the animators _voice_ Mickey? Act him out? I think not. To say it is only animators who give personality to cartoon characters, and not writers, directors, and voice actors, is a lie.

[@buster5661]

@@yosefdemby8792 irrelevant information

[@djsupernick]

Ub Iwerks also produced ComiColor cartoons which later got into the public domain just like Mickey Mouse. One example is the 1935 animated version of The Three Bears.

[@TheStreetFoolosopherMr187]

YUP 👍

[@princessmarlena1359]

Ub: “When I complained to Walt, his thugs kicked me out of his office and dropped an anvil on me. Luckily, I was carrying an umbrella at the time!”

[@robcat2075]

This has all been hashed and re-hashed for 50 years and Ub Iwerks is not news to anyone in animation. For a better documentary look for the one his grand daughter made, "The Hand Behind the Mouse". Ub Iwerks had his chance to strike out on his own with his own cartoons and his own characters and... he struck out. Walt Disney was the real reason Mickey Mouse was a success

[@TimBaxleyTattoos]

Why is the "background" music louder than the interviews?!!!

[@KallusGarnet]

Because they didn't hire an audio engineer, this is a low budget video don't be so harsh.

[@Cartoonicus]

Walt and Ub were a super team together. Ub was the technical mind while Walt was the vissionary and storyteller. This video seems to suggest that Ub created the character of Mickey jus because he designed his artwork. I agree that he doesn't get nearly enough credit but I dont blame Walt for that.

[@brawlytorres6285]

I’m baffled that even something like the Mickey Mouse Wikipedia page gives so much of the credit to Walt and not Ub. I grew up with a collector’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD set that included a documentary dedicated entirely to Ub’s legacy, and in hindsight it feels so much like a “there, we technically have you props, now we can go back to our revisionist history narrative” kind of gesture.

[@grahamhill6340]

Good presentation of UB IWERKS... I had worked for Disney and my daughter continues to, Walt was long dead by then, but the best description of him came from one of his striking animators who famously said "Walt had a genius for using other people genius" and no better example is his using Ub's genius. If you look back at so many famous inventors like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Marconi, you'll find similar stories of so-called "geniuses" using other people's genius and taking credit and all the financial rewards. So many of Walt's animation innovations like rotoscoping, were stolen from rival Max Fleischer's Studio, Walt even raided many of his top animators forcing him to fail. Another example of Walt's stealing, was never giving credit or praise to his animators, or even his older brother Roy Disney, who truly was the financial genius who built the Disney empire from scratch and kept it going! Ub Iwerks overcame the humiliations and just wanted to work and invent, whilst Disney had a miserable personal life fueled by depression and alcohol, and the Disney brothers relationship suffered badly too.

[@wolf2912]

Walt was not a saint or a devil but even iwerks family say they both created Mickey Mouse If his staff hated him why did many defend him untill their death

[@grahamhill6340]

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" - compared to today's Disney, Walt was a saint, and what his staff, namely the famous "Grand Old Men aka the Disney legends" say publicly and in print, is totally different to what they'd really like to say in private... or rather in my case got to hear firsthand when working with them in the 1970's. They respected Walt, but they didn't really like him too much. Walt was an absolute master of self-promotion, just think what a career he could've had in politics. He was someone you "worked for" and never "with", as was clearly shown in the infamous 1941 strike, which saw him firing many of his top animators who only wanted to be treated fairly. Unlike other HOLLYWOOD studios, Walt was always the main star, he got all the awards, all the worldwide acclaim and adoration, and to speak against that was heresy, like spitting on the flag... it's cognitive dissonance that stops people wanting to hear the truth, and that's why his name is still the biggest asset of the company, not the Marvel or Star Wars universe, just good old "uncle Walt." Thank you for your comment...@@wolf2912

[@MrMelgibstein]

Walt gave Mickey his voice and personality ,it would have been hilarious if Ub would have used his voice and introverted personality.The mouse would never have left the hole.

[@montibass]

This is good documentary on a great subject. Very well done. I do have one suggestion. You have stock "jazz" music playing through the documentary. It's meant to be background, but at times, it is louder then the foreground and when there is other music playing, it clashes. In the future, consider automating the background tune. Great job!

[@mikeydeloa7348]

I think Stan Lee did sort of the same thing. I believe he had an long time artist do most if not all the physical work, but He took most if not all the credit, he lived like a Rock Star and when the actual artist wanted some of the same limelight recognition Stan Lee was nasty to him.

[@rmyers99]

This was really good! I listened to it on a set of AirPods and noticed the audio mix was a little uneven - all of the inserts from other footage only play on the left channel which is disorienting. The backing jazz track could be taken down a bit. And some of the interview segments have really quiet audio. Hope you don't take this poorly, I think you do excellent work and wanted to give some feedback. A tiny amount of polish on the audio would go a long way, I think.

[@PurpleHippoCinema]

Definitely appreciate the feedback and that's definitely all valid things I would like to improve on! Thanks for the watch!

[@Hanna-zh1ti]

I just discovered that Ub Iwerks is in my family tree

[@RayPointerChannel]

It is good to see the other side of the story. And there is no doubt that on his own, Ub Iwerks was not able to succeed with memorable characters and cartoons as Walt Disney did. While Walt was definitely dependent upon the creativity of Ub Iwerks, it is interesting that his greatest advancements and achievements happened after Ub left. For the good or bad of it, there still seems to be some amount of leadership ability that Walt must have had in order to fill the void left by the exit of Ub Iwerks. Perhaps part of that was in leading the vision and concepts of the films. While many of the facts here are distorted or incorrect, and clips taken out of context (along with faulty video glitches), this is a side of the story to consider. However, to completely dismiss the role of Walt Disney and accuse him of "stealing" Mickey Mouse when Iwerks was a partner and understood what he we doing while working with Walt is quite a bit extreme, especially since the character became more refined by the hands of others who picked up where Ub left off. But it is good to give greater recognition to Ub Iwerks even though he was not exactly covered over in the Disney history. What is apparent in the Walt Disney story and apparent in this video is Walt's inability to manage a business. This was typical of most people with artistic aspirations. THE one person not talked about in great detail is Roy Disney. It was under Roy's management that Disney succeeded and survived the financial ups and downs. This is really the story of the trio that made The Walt Disney Studios, which is not the company that exists today. And I truly believe that many would like to know the Roy Disney story, which has never been told.

[@toonman361]

I enjoyed the documentary very much. Many wonderful pictures and very thorough research. Some unsolicited thoughts... I would suggest keeping the sound in the center channel throughout. At times, the speaker would come exclusively from the left speaker and was difficult to hear. Also, keep the accompanying music down so it doesn't interfere with the spoken parts. Thanks for making this.

[@tribalismblindsthembutnoty124]

excellent awareness of the sensitivity of people sometimes. It is a divine trait to love others enough to consider them. I encourage you to love our creator too. He loves you very much. He also favors those who love truth. Early christians were told to never curse or offend. It was what they were known for. 'You will know them by their love' John 13:34 keep reading tho.

[@skipskiperton4992]

Thank you for sharing!!!!

[@tomowens7499]

It is ridiculous to suggest Walt stole anything from Ub... Walt had the vision, took all the risks, had the great ideas and above all gave Ub twenty percent of the company! Ub shot himself in the foot by selling his shares back and giving up. He went off and couldn't compete toe to toe. He came back, tail between his legs and remained a salaried employee for the rest of his life... Ub was a fantastic tinkerer and came up with a ton of the process we now take for granted, but so did the other nine old men. Marc Davis for example is largely responsible for pirates of the Caribbean, but you'd never say Walt stole pirates of the Caribbean from Marc Davis! Except for the click bait title this is a pretty good doc though... I've worked in the animation industry since the 80's, as a kid I devoured anything I could about Disney... Read all the books and articles I could find, so I'm aware of who Ub was.

[@graphicsbyteUSA]

This story blew me away. I have always been an Oswald fan and didn't know the full Micky orgin story. I am really sad how much Walt took advantage of Ub. He lost his studio, pride, and shares... That greed makes so much more sense now. Lately I have been seeing a lot of films Disney has been infulanced by and they have a big track history of ripping off other artists/studio ideas. "Kimba" is probably one of the most obvious ones.

[@EverCreateStudio]

Other than the volume mastering, very good job my man

[@josephcottenii8463]

The oft-unsung creators of Kansas City get a hit song! Bravo, PHC!

[@AlphaProto]

I'm happy he got some recognition while he was still alive. That's what I hate about collaborations. There is a chance someone will take all the credit.

[@edward18517]

I certainly wouldn't say Ub Iwerks is someone "history almost forgot". Pretty much most animators I knew of knew who he was and what he did. The general populace may not have known much of him, but to anyone knowledgeable about the actual industry he's been pretty well known, from my understanding, as essentially Disney's Jack Kirby to Stan Lee or Kenichi Iwao to Shinji Mikami. The guy that made the actual stuff while the "Personality Guy" got all the credit. It is nice though to see a video that actually goes into the later war-time stuff and after instead of just settling on when he rejoins Disney.

[@berniekatzroy]

Woah in my city. Awesome. Hell if we get the funding up and running to make a local animation studio, that'd be amazing.

[@cracklemackle]

Over all this is a good doc on the history of Ub and Walt while Mickey was being made but I have some critics, overall the editing and pace is very good so keep up the good work, audiences do react stronger to audio quality than video quality. Maybe make an investment to new audio equipment to increase watch time, trust me this will help