Words From Walt
Page 10 of 20
December 17
I'm not the perfectionist any more. It's my staff. They're the ones always insisting on doing something better and better. I'm the fellow trying to hurry them to finish before they spoil the job. You can overwork drawing or writing and lose the spontaneity. |
There is little doubt that Walt Disney's staff gained its penchant for perfection from the boss himself. Walt demanded the best from his staff and believed in giving his patrons the highest quality entertainment possible. He believed that anything that had the Disney name on it was something that he felt responsible for.
During the recording of the soundtrack for Steamboat Willie in New York, the conductor did not follow Walt's system of synchronization and the orchestra's recording was no where near Walt's satisfaction. Having little money for another session, Walt had Roy sell his beloved Moon roadster for additional funding. This time he convinced the conductor to follow his system of musical beats, resulting in perfect synchronization and ensuring Disney's spot in animation and film history for his success.
Another film technique would cause Walt to re-do one of his pictures to improve it. He signed a contract to use Technicolor's three-strip color process, which Walt felt would be perfect for the Silly Symphony on which the studio was presently working. Roy tried to dissuade Walt from taking on the additional expense of color since they had just signed a distribution contract that would not cover the added costs. Walt not only added color but he scrapped the black-and-white portion of Flowers and Trees that had already been photographed. The final result was so perfect that it earned the studio its first Academy Award.
When putting the final touches on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney was looking at a nearly completed version of the film. He noticed that as the prince bent over to kiss Snow White, he moved. Walt wanted to fix this mistake, correct the animation. When Roy asked how much it would cost to correct it, Walt answered that it would probably cost thousands of dollars. Having borrowed all he could to produce the picture and with its release date nearing, Roy told Walt he couldn't do it. So the slight movement remained.
As Walt grew older, he still strove for perfection but realized that it was not always within his reach. When building Disneyland, time and money once again constrained what Walt would be able to accomplish. As the park neared opening, he had to throw up signs and balloons in Tomorrowland announcing future attractions. A plumber's strike forced Walt to decide between finishing restrooms or adding drinking fountains. Add in hot asphalt that women's heels would sink into, a gas leak that threatened to explode in Fantasyland and a live television broadcast that didn't always go as planned made Walt declare Disneyland's first day of operation as Black Sunday. Walt wouldn't dwell on the imperfect first day and quickly set about to correct the problems that presented themselves opening day.
Though a perfectionist, Walt Disney was not always perfect. He understood that time and money could be enemies to the process but he worked within his means. His desire to improve always remained. It is incredible how far he brought the animated picture from 1928's Steamboat Willie to 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Truly a Golden Age of Animation, Walt brought animation from crude black-and-white short cartoons to stylistic feature-length stories with heart and personality in full color.
Walt would master nearly ever endeavor that he tried his hand at. His pursuit of perfection drove himself and his staff to become as good as they possibly could be. Walt made those around him want to be better and he took them to heights they may never have realized without his inspiration. He understood that this pursuit of perfection could sometimes stifle the sought-after results. Instead of dwelling on imperfection caused by external factors such as time and money, Walt worked within his limitations. Incredibly, the results he achieved rivaled the best that anyone else was able to produce, which makes Disney the standard that all others in the industry strive to measure up against even today.
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-- Matthew Walker
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