Roy O. Disney once said, “Ub managed to solve a lot of problems for us.”
Ub Iwerks was a man of many talents. He was a prolific animator and a brilliant technical mind. He was Walt’s Swiss Army knife, a man who was to Walt whatever he needed him to be. He was as necessary to the beginning of Walt’s career as he was to the end. He left The Walt Disney Studios at a critical juncture to pursue his own career, but eventually found his way back to the company he had once animated into success to engineer it to new heights.
Ubbe Iwwerks was born on March 24, 1901 in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1919, while working at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio, he met a young, ambitious artist who had just returned from World War I layanan in France with a knack for showmanship and a bold, entrepreneurial spirit. This artist’s name was Walt Disney. The two became fast friends and complemented each other’s skills well, as Walt would later recall, “He was very good at lettering and I did layouts…in pencil. Then I would turn it over and he would do the final inking and cleanup.”
When both Ubbe and Walt were laid off after the holiday rush and decided to go into a short-term venture of their own called Iwwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. They disbanded their fledgling company after a few weeks to take jobs with the Kansas City Slide Company—later renamed Kansas City Film Ad Company—where Walt discovered celluloid animation and started making experimental films of his own. Following another failed berdiri sendiri studio effort called Laugh-O-gram Films, Walt was encouraged by his older brother Roy and his Uncle Robert to leave Kansas City and get started elsewhere. The animation business was flourishing in both New York and Hollywood. Walt chose Hollywood. He persuaded Ubbe to follow suit, who eventually shortened his name to “Ub Iwerks.” The long-form version “Ubbe” clearly wasn’t Hollywood enough.
Walt secured a contract with Margaret Winkler of M.J. Winkler Productions, a New York distributor, with a Laugh-O-grams reel—the innovative live-action/animation combo Alice’s Wonderland—but the future of his new company was no more assured than the one that went bankrupt in Kansas City. Ub followed his friend regardless. Both Walt and Ub knew how important he would be to the process.