On May 29, 1941 about 300 employees of the Walt Disney studio went on strike over wages, working conditions, job security and union representation. By the end of the summer, the acrimonious strike was settled, but the future of the Disney studio, as well as cartoon animation in general, was profoundly altered.
Walt Disney's point of view on the infamous strike is well documented in two biographies (Walt Disney — An American Original by Bob Thomas (Simon & Schuster 1976); The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller (Holt 1957) and in the transcript of his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Hollywood on October 24, 1947.
Less accessible to the public are the opinions of another witness to the extraordinary Disney - strike/UPA-formation period: David Hilberman, formerly a top Disney "layout" artist who (along with animator Art Babbitt) is considered one of the leaders and organizers of the strike. Hilberman was also one of the three founders of UPA, the studio that heralded a significant change in the look and content of studio animation and superseded Disney's leadership in the field.
In 1979 I visited Hilberman at his home in northern California where he freelances for Hanna-Barbera. ("Eight shows a week! More than Disney turned out in a year," he commented ina recent letter.) At age 68 Hilberman proved to be an articulate and thoughtful source of information on animation history, and it is hoped the following brief excerpts from our lengthy interview will prove informative to the reader.
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