6. He Had A Strained Relationship With His Animators
The fallout from the bloated production costs of the under-performing Pinocchio and Fantasia proved to be severe for Walt's animators. In the wake of a string of layoffs, some of Disney's animators decided to join the recently formed Screen Cartoonists Guild, including Art Babbitt, a key animator on Snow White, Pinocchio, and Dumbo. Babbitt's dissension enraged Walt, who fired Babbitt during the production of Dumbo for sowing discord among Disney's animators. Not willing to take his firing lying down, Babbitt led his fellow animators in a strike against the studio. Walt then took a potshot at his rebellious employees by adding caricatures of them as clowns in Dumbo's circus scenes. Walts bitterness toward his animators threatened to stymie any negotiation. Eventually, a member of the State Department, future Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, asked Walt to tour South America as a goodwill ambassador. With Walt out of the picture, the negotiations began to make headway. A federal mediator eventually ruled in the Screen Cartoonists Guild's favor. Even though the crisis had past, Walts relationship with his animators remained contentious. The Disney animators strike might have been a bump on the road to building his empire, but Walts issues with organized labor didnt stop there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Y-4QxzDYw
