Jake S. Friedman

An essential piece of Disney history has been unreported for eighty years. Soon after the birth of Mickey Mouse, one animator raised the Disney Studio far beyond Walt's expectations. That animator also led a union war that almost destroyed it. Art Babbitt animated for the Disney studio throughout the 1930s and through 1941, years in which he and Walt were jointly driven to elevate animation as an art form, up through Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. But as America prepared for World War II, labor unions spread across Hollywood. Disney fought the unions while Babbitt embraced them. Soon, angry Disney cartoon characters graced picket signs as hundreds of animation artists went out on strike. Adding fuel to the fire was Willie Bioff, one of Al Capone's wiseguys who was seizing control of Hollywood workers and vied for the animators' union. Using never-before-seen research from previously lost records, including conversation transcriptions from within the studio walls, author and historian Jake S. Friedman reveals the details behind the labor dispute that changed animation and Hollywood forever. The Disney Revolt is an American story of industry and of the underdog, the golden age of animated cartoons at the world's most famous studio.

The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age

The Disney Revolt

Disney Revolt

Enjoy the remarkable tale of Blue Sky's success, from its origins as a live-action vfx company to its reinvention as a driving force in computer-generated animation. With exclusive access to Blue Sky's archives and the exceptional artists who have made characters like Scrat, Manny, and Sid the Sloth household names, this is an in-depth look at one of animation's greatest success stories.

Jake S. Friedman

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