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Transcription by Francesco Diella

DAVE SMITH: When did you start at the Disney Studio and why did you decide to work here?

JACK HANNAH: I would rather answer in reverse. I had originally graduated from high school near San Diego. My father was head of immigration on the Tijuana border, so that was our reason for being down there. I was raised in the little town of San Ysidro, but I knew I wanted to be an artist by the time I got into high school. Naturally art and sports were a big part of my high school training. Immediately on graduating from Sweetwater High School in National City I came to Los Angeles to attend art schools and this, of course, was right in the middle of the Depression, so the Depression soon drove me out into the streets looking for a job. My first aim was to be a poster designer, so I was looking in those directions. Somebody—I can’t remember who it was, but I think it was the head of an art agency—suggested I try Walt Disney’s.

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