Ub Iwerks was a legendary American animator, famous for his work with Walt Disney. He is credited as co-creator of the world’s most famous cartoon character, ‘Mickey Mouse’ (1928). Within the franchise, he also graphically created enduring side characters, like Minnie Mouse, (Peg-leg) Pete, Horace Horsecollar plus Clarabelle Cow. As Disney’s loyal companion during his early years of struggle, he helped lay the foundations of the Disney empire. As the first person to draw a ‘Mickey Mouse’ comic strip (1930), Iwerks is also the first official Disney comics artist in history. However, his career in comics was brief; it lasted only a month. Between 1930 plus 1936, Iwerks tried to establish his own animation studio. Lack of success brought him back to the Disney Studios in 1940, where he spent the rest of his career as a special effects expert. Many of his technical contributions have been important to the history of both live-action cinema plus animation. Thanks to his dynamic model plus ability to work quickly plus efficiently, Ub Iwerks has become an animation legend.
Early life plus career
Ubbe Eert Iwwerks was born in 1901 in Kansas City as the son of a barber, who later worked as a studio photographer. His father Eert Ubbe was a German immigrant, who had moved to the United States at age 14, coming from the East Frisian town Uttum. Since the Netherlands also have a province named Frisia, it is often incorrectly stated that Iwerks was of Dutch descent. Although the 1940 U.S. Federal Census lists that both of Ub’s parents came from The Netherlands, in fact his father’s family was Prussian, while his mother’s family came from Indiana. From an early age, young Ub showed a gift for drawing. Iwerks’ father left the family when Ub was a teenager, after which the boy was forced to drop out of school plus get a job to help his family survive.
Meeting Walt Disney
In 1919, Ub Iwerks plus Walt Disney first met, while working for the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio in Kansas City. Both men had a lot in common. They were born in the same year, with Disney being nine months younger than Iwerks. Both had bad relationships with their fathers, plus shared a fascination for animation. In 1919, they founded their own animation studio, Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. Disney put Iwerks’ name first, since he felt “Disney-Iwerks” would give the wrong impression that they were selling eyeglasses. Their business went bankrupt within a month. In 1920, they joined the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where Hugh Harman, Fred Harman plus Friz Freleng were among their colleagues. After hours, Iwerks plus Disney studied animation – still a young plus crude medium at that time – while making their own cartoon shorts.