Disney in the Classroom
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Walt Disney's early cartoons and his television program The History of the Animated Drawing provide a powerful example of the slow pace of change in the years preceding 1920 .I show Kansas City's Spring Clean Up (1920) a simple animated cartoon Walt made to attack corruption in Kansas City's Government. We then watch clips of early animation from The History of the Animated Drawing. Students notice how similar the animation at the turn of the century is to the animation in 1920. (and how much it looks like the animation in South Park ;o) This leads to a discussion of how little everyday life had changed for most Americans during the same time period.It also gives them an understanding how much the average American's life was going to change.....
Disney's first celebrity
As the twenties progressed and people had more leisure time they began to spend more time seeking entertainment. Competition increased as every provider of entertainment had to do more to attract a more jaded population. Baseball became very successful by promoting stars like Babe Ruth. Movie studios placed their "stars" in more lavish productions, and carefully managed (and promoted) the details of their lives. Radio had popular Jazz musicians and clever comedians This was the beginning of Americans' obsession with celebrity. Cartoons were also effected by this new obsession.Instead of just gags, cartoons began to feature a strong central character and a storyline.Some of these cartoon characters did achieve celebrity status, the most successful being "Felix the Cat". (He was also the first cartoon character used to sell merchandise.)
We watch clips of Disney's Alice Comedies as an illustration of how the creators of entertainment had to try to fit into the new "cult of the celebrity". We also discuss how the obsession with celebrity is still with us, and whether this is a harmless or harmful aspect of our culture. The "Alice" cartoons attracted an audience by placing a live actor in a cartoon. (One the first of many technical tricks achieved by Disney's partner Ub Iwerks.) Alice was popular for a time, but she never achieved lasting celebrity status. The technology of the day limited her interaction with the cartoon characters. So after the novelty of "Alice" appearing with cartoons wore off, audiences lost interest in her. Disney would have to come up with a true cartoon celebrity to maintain his success.
He wasn't lucky for Disney
Disney did manage to create a cartoon celebrity. As drawn by Ub Iwerks "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" was an endearing character that audiences loved. Critics praised the cartoons "humor and energy". It appeared Disney was going to soar to the top of the animation industry.....well not quite yet. Oswald was taken from Disney by a deceptive distributor. Disney had signed a contract that gave control of Oswald to Universal Pictures. Even though he and Ub Iwerks had created Oswald, Disney had no way to fight a large corporation. Big business had lead the county to an era of unprecedented prosperity. This was due in part to an reduction of government regulations on businesses. While the economy boomed deceptive business practices were tolerated, and it was the job of the individual to protect himself. Disney had to move on, and just be more careful with his next cartoon character. ºoº