Walt Disney has been praised for a variety of contributions to creative cinema, but one of the most interesting aspects of Disney and his creations has been almost completely ignored and neglected. And that is the uniquely communalistic method Disney has developed for the creation and production of his cartoons since the birth of Mickey Mouse five years ago. A hundred or more creative workers are responsible in some degree for each cartoon, and yet the result always typifies the genius of one artist, Walt Disney. It is doubtful whether (even in Soviet Russia, where group effort is paramount) there is any form of artistic activity comparable to that in the Disney studio, in which such heterogeneity of effort achieves so successfully homogeneity in its accomplishment.
In describing the manner in which the cartoons are developed, there is a danger of over-formalising a casual method of work. Compared to the routine and departmental order in the major studios, the atmosphere of the Disney studio is Arcadian in its informality. Ideally planned for the fantastic creative activity essential to cartoon production, the Disney studio allows its artists complete freedom to be as creative in as many different ways as they are capable. As specific credit is absent in Disney cartoons, there is no jealousy to mar diverse and combined effort, as is often the case in the major studios. It is communalistic work, under the controlling and inspirational figure of Walt Disney himself, whose sensitive and imaginative spirit permeates all the productive work in the studio. Deservedly, he receives all the responsibility for the success of the cartoons, while the other artists work in co-operative anonymity. In spite of the unconstrained atmosphere, however, the work is by no means chaotic. Inasmuch as twenty-six cartoons must be produced each year (the present booking obligation), a certain definite systematic procedure is compulsory.
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