Jake S. Friedman - The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animations Golden Age

Friedman provides enlightening context, offers a balanced account of the traumatic events, and brings all the actors of this colorful drama to life. It feels like taking a time machine and actually being there in person.

Didier Ghez, author of They Drew as They Pleased

The fact that one can come away from this book with a newfound awe and respect for Disney and Babbitt, as well as a knowledge of their all-too-human foibles, is a testament to the love and passion the author has for his two illustrious subjects.

Eric Goldberg, director and animator

A heartfelt in-depth portrait of two animation geniuses, Walt Disney and Art Babbitt. Friedman makes us feel for both men, and the tension mounts and mounts as these two brothers get caught in a bloody civil war. I couldnt put this book down, not even after I finished reading it.

Eric Daniel Weiner, cocreator of Dora the Explorer,
executive producer of Disneys Little Einsteins

In The Disney Revolt, Jake S. Friedman has written a detailed, no-holds-barred account of one of the most traumatic episodes in American animation.... Exhaustively researched, with lots of anecdotes heretofore never revealed.

Tom Sito, Disney animator, Animation Guild
president emeritus, author of Drawing the Line

Friedman brings to life not only Babbitt but a colorful cast of characters ranging from serious artists to government lawyers to tough union organizers to Hollywood gangsters. The story Friedman tells about these people will be familiar in its general outlines to serious Disney aficionados, of which I am one, but there is much here that will be new to them, as it was to me.

Michael Barrier, author of Hollywood Cartoons and
The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney

In his new book, Jake S. Friedman shares a very important yet often neglected part of animation history. And it, too, is a story worth telling. Of course, Im not taking sides. These events took place long before I arrived at 500 Buena Vista Street. If you love Disney animation and animation history as much as I do, this is a book youll want to read.

Floyd Norman, classic Disney animator

Friedman confronts the subject head-on with a detailed, carefully researched history that considers all the threads of this complex story. Beginning in the relatively benign 1930s, when the small, unified Disney team was transforming the art of animation, Friedman tracks the inexorable changes wrought by success and expansion, leading to friction, distrust, and finally outright conflict between artists and management.

J. B. Kaufman, historian and author

Before culminating in an engrossing play-by-play, The Disney Revolt thoroughly contextualizes the strike of 1941 with detailed accounts of the shifting politics, artistic advancements, and mythic personalities of a burgeoning animation industry. For anyone who labors at the crossroads of art and commerce, or any animation fan, this is essential reading.

Stephen P. Neary, supervising producer of Clarence,
creator/executive producer of The Fungies

This well-researched, engaging study is a page-turner, relating new information about a studio that has been the subject of many publications. Highly recommended for anyone interested in animation history, American culture, or just a good read.

Maureen Furniss, author of A New History of Animation

This book is SO GOOD. A first-class piece of research and writing. Jake S. Friedman presents the complete story of the strike that established the Hollywood cartoon industry.... His writing brings clarity to a most misunderstood chapter in animation history, and is an essential read for those interested in the personalities and politics of its main players.

Jerry Beck, historian and author of The 50 Greatest
Cartoons and The Animated Movie Guide

For the first time the events that occurred in 1941 surrounding Disney and strike leaders like animator Art Babbitt are presented in a thoroughly researched and balanced manner. The fact that Friedman is an animation artist with an interest in history makes him a unique candidate to pen this important book. Artistic passion, business acumen, and social justice challenge each other in this riveting time capsule.

Andreas Deja, veteran Disney animator

Copyright 2022 by Jake S. Friedman

All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-64160-722-3

This is an unofficial publication. This book is in no way affiliated with, licensed by, or endorsed by The Walt Disney Company or any associated entities.

Portions of this book have previously appeared in articles published by the author
at BabbittBlog (https://babbittblog.com/), in the Animation World Network
(https://awn.com), and in American History magazine.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022935347

Typesetting: Nord Compo

Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1

This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.

For Anya

If a person leads a very quiet sedate life with no accents,

his animation will be as flat as a pancake

and as dull and uninteresting as can be.

If a person is vicious, cruel, or mean,

no matter what he does, it will look that way.

Animation is a reflection of the animators lifephysical and mental.

Art Babbitt, animator, ca. 1936

Authors Note

WE TEND TO COLOR facts through the lens of memory. Therefore, this book is based as closely as possible on original source material. For the most part, I stuck to resources from the years during or close to the events described: press publications, legal records, studio documents, strike materials, journals, and letters. I largely stayed away from recollections conveyed after 1948, although occasionally I included retrospective anecdotes to add color and character, always being careful to place them in their proper context.

This book aims not to vilify or lionize either Art Babbitt or Walt Disney. Rather, I wanted to explore who the two figures werewhat made them larger than life, and what made them relatable. I hope that the reader may identify, however slightly, with both of them and conclude that their stories are all the more remarkable for their humanity.

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A final note about wages: At the time of the Disney strike, salary was commonly calculated on a per-week basis. A helpful tip to account for inflation is to keep in mind that a $50-per-week salary in 1937 is roughly equivalent to a $50,000 annual salary today.

Walt Disney in 1935.