Jim Hill
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Ubbe Iwerks.

If you’re an animation buff, that name should ring a really large bell. If you’re a Disney history fan (or just a trivia buff), you should probably be able to offer up some pretty amazing factoids. For example:

• It was Ubbe - not Walt - who actually did the bulk of the animating on those early Mickey Mouse cartoons.
• After getting tired of Disney hogging all the credit for his hard work, Iwerks struck out on his own, starting up his own animation studio in the 1930s.
• And - when that effort failed - a chagrined Ubbe returned to the Mouse’s employee in the early 1940s as chief technical designer for the studio, a position that Iwerks would remain in for the next 30 years.
• Which, as it turns out, was a pretty lucky break for Walt. For many of the innovative camera process and techniques that Disney staffers used in production of the company’s hit films of the 1940s, 1950s & 1960s (which helped the studio earn the reputation of having Hollywood’s top special effects operation of that era) were Ubbe Iwerks’ own inventions.

But after that, the well of Ubbe Iwerks’ stories usually runs dry. Why for? Well, in spite of all he accomplished in his lifetime and the huge part he played in the success of the Walt Disney Company, Ubbe was a modest, fairly soft spoken man. He was never one to beat his own drum. So - if that meant he had to remain a footnote in Disney corporate history, forever hidden in Walt’s enormous shadow - that was okay with him.

Thankfully, someone has finally come along to pull Iwerks out of the shadows and give him his day in the sun. Two someones, actually: Leslie Iwerks, Ubbe’s grand-daughter, who - over the years - has carved out her own impressive career as a film-maker and an artist; and John Kenworthy, noted author and film historian.

Leslie was the first to spearhead this effort to make the public more aware of her grandfather’s contribution to Disney Company history with her 1999 film, “The Hand Behind the Mouse.” This feature length documentary (which - appropriately and/or ironically enough - was released by Walt Disney Pictures) was narrated by “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer and featured interviews with Disney Feature Animation head Roy E. Disney, film historian Leonard Maltin, legendary animation director Chuck Jones as well as appearances by modern day masters of animation such as Pixar’s John Lasseter.

Leslie’s documentary was noteworthy in that it made a point of debunking many of the myths that have risen up about the early days of Walt Disney Studios. Take - for example - the legends that have leaped up concerning the origin of Mickey Mouse. You can just forget about that oft-told tale about how Walt befriended this cute little mouse as he rode the train back out to Hollywood in 1928. That unlikely scenario was probably cooked up by some Disney PR flack back in the 1940s.

Truth be told, Ubbe was actually the guy who gave birth to Mickey Mouse. So to speak. The Walt Disney Company all but acknowledged this back in 1989, when Iwerks received the first posthumous Disney Legends award. At that time, Ubbe was publicly acknowledged for the first time by senior Mouse House officials as the true designer of Mickey Mouse.

Leslie’s documentary is really a wonderful thing to watch. Trouble is, “The Hand Behind the Mouse” is a really hard thing for most Disneyana fans to get to see. Following its initial engagement at the El Capitan back in 1999, the film has rarely been screened in public. It mostly pops up at film festivals and or on the cinema competition circuit. To my knowledge, “The Hand Behind the Mouse” has yet to be released in the home video and/or DVD format.

Thankfully, the companion book for the film has finally made its debut. A Disney Editions publication, “The Hand Behind the Mouse” has all the charm (and great behind-the-scenes stories) that Leslie’s documentary had. But then this volume has a ton of additional material that didn’t manage to make it into the final cut of the documentary, which is why this Leslie Iwerks & John Kenworthy’s book is something that all Disneyana fans have to read and/or add to their libaries.

What sort of stories will you find in “The Hand Behind the Mouse”? Well, you’ll learn how noted director Alfred Hitchcock turned to Ubbe for his special effects expertise when he needed extra scares added to his 1963 horror classic, “The Birds.” There’s also some great stories in here about how Iwerks helped turn two of Walt’s biggest theme park dreams - a movie that could be shown on a 360 degree screen as well as the Hall of Presidents - into reality.

Best of all, “The Hand Behind the Mouse” is able to give readers some real insights into the dynamics of Walt & Ubbe’s decades-long relationship. In spite of their incredibly bitter break-up back in the 1930s, these two old friends were eventually able to get past all that bad blood and settle their differences.

That’s why Walt really came to rely on Ubbe’s technical talents to help drive the studio to significant cinematic success in live action in the 1950s & 1960s (Much the same as he counted on his friend’s talent with a pen to help get his fledgling animation studio off the ground back in the late 1920s). Indeed, without Iwerk’s ground-breaking work in the art of color traveling-matte cinematography, it’s doubtful that Walt Disney Productions’ “Mary Poppins’ would have ever captured the 1964 Academy Award for best visual effects.

Want to learn more about Ubbe’s endless contributions to Disney Company history? Then pick up a copy of Leslie Iwerks & John Kenworthy’s “The Hand Behind the Mouse” today. Don’t let Ubbe remain a footnote in Disney film history. Learn for yourself why Walt Disney called Ubbe Iwerks “the greatest animator in the world.”

And - while you’re at it - why not drop Buena Vista Home Video a note and ask those nice folks when Leslie’s documentary version of “The Hand Behind the Mouse” will be debuting on VHS and/or DVD. Given that the Disney corporation is kicking off a company-wide celebration of the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth this fall, now might be a really good time to ready a release of this entertaining as well as highly educational film for the home video/DVD market.

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Related Links

• Purchase The Hand Behind the Mouse (from Amazon.com)
• Iwerks Entertainment

-- Jim Hill

-- Posted June 26, 2001