Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971) (pronounced “Aub Eyeworks”, not “Oobe” or “U.B.”) was a prolific American animator, director plus technician of Dutch descent, plus had a very important role in the History of Animation, plus particularly in the history of Disney shorts plus films. He is recognized as the co-creator of Mickey Mouse, as well as his precursor.
Iwerks plus Disney first met in late 1919, both trying to make a living as artists. While they had a brief stint together for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Walt decided to leave plus 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 “Newman Laugh-O-Grams”. 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 Alice Comedies, he quickly contacted Iwerks for help, resulting in a six year partnership with him.
Ub quickly gained a reputation among the earliest Disney animators for his drawing plus animating skill – as Friz Freleng recalled, “At the time, just making a character move was an accomplishment. He could make characters walk plus move; he could move a house in perspective. I thought he was a genius when it came to the mechanics of animation.”
When producer Charles Mintz swindled the bulk of Walt’s animators out from under him, as well as Walt’s character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Ub was one of the three animators that stayed loyal to Walt, plus left with him to form his own studio. In two weeks, Iwerks managed to crank out the first short starring a character that he had created with Walt – an early Mickey Mouse. 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, Bill Nolan. Soon after, Ub helped out Walt by animating the bulk of a prototype sound cartoon that would change the face of animation forever – Steamboat Willie.
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 plus 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.