Ub Iwerks

Ub Iwerks was an iconic American animator who is best known for helping his friend and longtime collaborator Walt Disney design the character that would eventually become Mickey Mouse. Iwerks, whose birth name was Ubbe Eert Iwerks, was born in Kansas City in 1901. His father immigrated to America from Germany in the 1860s, and instilled in his son the limitless possibilities of his adopted country. For the Iwerks, that was drawing. He began drawing at an early age and eventually landed a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio in Kansas City. It was there that Iwerks would meet an ambitious young animator by the name of Walt Disney, thus forging what would soon become a lifelong friendship and business collaboration. The two hit it off and before long Disney had appointed Iwerks as the chief animator of his Laugh-O-Gram cartoon series. That company, however, went belly up in the early 20s, leaving both Iwerks and Disney without a job. Determined to succeed, Disney relocated to Hollywood in 1923 and Iwerks soon followed him. After working together on a series of animated cartoons called "the Alice Comedies," Iwerks created the character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, under Disney's direction. Iwerks animated the entire first cartoon featuring the Oswald character, which was released in 1927. Iwerks' next breakthrough creation was Mickey Mouse, which he redesigned based on an original sketch created by Disney. Much as he did with the initial Oswald cartoons, Iwerks would animate nearly the entire "Steamboat Willie" (1928) cartoon, which debuted the Mickey Mouse character to the world. Iwerks left Disney in 1930 to start his own animation studio, which caused a rift in his relationship with his longtime friend. The two eventually had a falling out, and although Iwerks created several new characters while heading his own studio, most famously Flip the Frog, the Iwerks Studio folded in 1936. By the early 1940s Iwerks and Disney mended their friendship, with Iwerks returning to Disney to work in the special effects department. He would stay with the Disney Company for the remainder of his career, and would go on to create the special effects for numerous iconic Disney films, including "Cinderella" (1950), "Peter Pan" (1953), and "Mary Poppins" (1964). Iwerks would also earn an Academy Award nod for his special effects work on Alfred Hitchcock's celebrated horror film "The Birds" (1963). Iwerks died in 1971 at the age of 70. To celebrate his numerous important contributions to the Walt Disney Company, he was named a Disney Legend in 1989 - the equivalent of the Hall of Fame for Disney employees.