Walt Disney called him "the greatest animator in the world" and with good reason. Ub Iwerks could knock out more drawings faster than anybody in the world. He drew the first Mickey Mouse cartoon all by himself in just two weeks. It was he who first designed that rodent, soon to be the mascot of an empire. And he would go on to do many things more: he animated The Skeleton Dance, Disney's first foray into marrying music to animation. He would run his own studio creating the ever randy Flip The Frog and perpetual prevaricator Willy Whopper. But some of Ub Iwerk's most important work was done behind the scenes: developing the sodium vapor traveling matt and improving the optical printer both of which earned him Oscars. His is the history of the animated cartoon; he was there almost from the beginning an worked in film until the day he died.
2001 was the centennial year for both Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. His granddaughter Leslie Iwerks created a documentary on his career and a more in depth book to go with it called The Hand Behind the Mouse" published fittingly by Disney Editions. This April she will be presenting the film and hosting a special evening of Ub Iwerk's work at the Philadelphia Film Festival in conjunction with their salute to animation division of the Disney Studios.
Earlier last year Geo. Stewart, host of public radio's Crazy College, talked separately with Leslie Iwerks and her co-author John Kenworthy about Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney and the early daze of animation. Here is their combined conversation:[…]
