Drawing the Line Drawing Line the The฀Untold฀Story฀ of฀the฀Animation฀Unions฀ from฀Bosko฀to฀Bart฀Simpson Tom Sito T ฀U ฀P ฀ ฀K HE NIVERSITY RESS OF ENTUCKY Publication฀of฀this฀volume฀was฀made฀possible฀in฀part฀by฀a฀grant฀ from฀the฀National฀Endowment฀for฀the฀Humanities. Copyright฀©฀2006฀by฀The฀University฀Press฀of฀Kentucky Scholarly฀publisher฀for฀the฀Commonwealth, serving฀Bellarmine฀University,฀Berea฀College,฀Centre฀College฀of฀Kentucky,฀Eastern฀ Kentucky฀University,฀The฀Filson฀Historical฀Society,฀Georgetown฀College,฀Kentucky฀ Historical฀Society,฀Kentucky฀State฀University,฀Morehead฀State฀University,฀Murray฀ State฀University,฀Northern฀Kentucky฀University,฀Transylvania฀University,฀University฀ of฀Kentucky,฀University฀of฀Louisville,฀and฀Western฀Kentucky฀University. All฀rights฀reserved. Editorial฀and฀Sales฀Offices:฀The฀University฀Press฀of฀Kentucky 663฀South฀Limestone฀Street,฀Lexington,฀Kentucky฀40508–4008 www.kentuckypress.com 10฀09฀08฀07฀06฀ 5฀4฀3฀2฀1 Frontispiece:฀Don฀Figlozzi฀walking฀picket฀at฀Terrytoons,฀1947.฀Courtesy฀of฀MPSC฀ Local฀839,฀AFL-CIO฀Collection,฀Urban฀Archives฀Center,฀Oviatt฀Library,฀California฀ State฀University,฀Northridge. Library฀of฀Congress฀Cataloging-in-Publication฀Data Sito,฀Tom,฀1956- ฀฀Drawing฀the฀line฀:฀the฀untold฀story฀of฀the฀animation฀unions฀from฀Bosko฀to฀Bart฀ Simpson฀/฀Tom฀Sito. ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀p.฀cm. ฀฀Includes฀bibliographical฀references฀and฀index. ฀฀ISBN-13:฀978-0-8131-2407-0฀(hardcover฀:฀alk.฀paper) ฀฀ISBN-10:฀0-8131-2407-7฀(hardcover฀:฀alk.฀paper)฀฀1.฀฀Animators—Labor฀unions— United฀States—History.฀฀I.฀Title.฀ ฀฀NC1766.U5S58฀2006 ฀฀331.88’1179143340973--dc22฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀2006016090 This฀book฀is฀printed฀on฀acid-free฀recycled฀paper฀meeting฀the฀requirements฀of฀the฀ American฀National฀Standard฀for฀Permanence฀in฀Paper฀for฀Printed฀Library฀Materials. Manufactured฀in฀the฀United฀States฀of฀America. Member฀of฀the฀Association฀of American฀University฀Presses To฀my฀fellow฀animation฀workers— graphite-stained฀fingers,฀strained฀eyes,฀ Cel-Vinyl฀paint฀spots฀in฀their฀hair฀ from฀holding฀the฀brush฀in฀their฀teeth,฀ carpal-tunnel฀wrist฀braces,฀shiny฀pants฀bottoms,฀ stooped฀posture,฀hair฀prematurely฀gray.฀ The฀least-respected,฀worst-paid,฀ yet฀finest฀artists฀in฀the฀world. And฀especially฀for฀Pat. This page intentionally left blank Contents List฀of฀Illustrations฀ ix Acknowledgments฀ xiii Introduction฀ 1 Why฀a฀History฀of฀Animation฀Unions? ฀1.฀The฀World฀of฀the฀Animation฀Studio฀ 7 The฀Cartoon฀Assembly฀Line ฀2.฀Suits฀ 31 Producers฀as฀Artists฀See฀Them ฀3.฀Hollywood฀Labor,฀1933–1941฀ 57 The฀Birth฀of฀Cartoonists฀Unions ฀4.฀The฀Fleischer฀Strike฀ 77 A฀Union฀Busted,฀a฀Studio฀Destroyed ฀5.฀The฀Great฀Disney฀Studio฀Strike฀ 101 The฀Civil฀War฀of฀Animation ฀6.฀The฀War฀of฀Hollywood฀and฀the฀Blacklist฀ 153 1945–1953 ฀7.฀A฀Bag฀of฀Oranges฀ 197 The฀Terrytoons฀Strike฀and฀the฀Great฀White฀Father ฀8.฀Lost฀Generations฀ 213 1952–1988 ฀9.฀Animation฀and฀the฀Global฀Market฀ 247 The฀Runaway฀Wars,฀1979–1982 10.฀Fox฀and฀Hounds฀ 285 The฀Torch฀Seen฀Passing 11.฀Camelot฀ 293 1988–2001 12.฀Animation฀.฀.฀.฀Isn’t฀That฀All฀Done฀on฀Computers฀Now?฀ 319 The฀Digital฀Revolution Conclusion฀ 345 Where฀to฀Now? Appendix฀1.฀Animation฀Union฀Leaders฀ 353 Appendix฀2.฀Dramatis฀Personae฀ 359 Appendix฀3.฀Glossary฀ 373 Notes฀ 387 Bibliography฀ 409 Index฀ 415 Illustrations Don฀Figlozzi฀walking฀picket฀at฀Terrytoons,฀1947฀ ii Animator฀Al฀Eugster฀at฀his฀desk฀at฀Walt฀Disney฀Hyperion฀Studio฀annex,฀ circa฀1937฀ 10 Animator฀Kevin฀Koch฀at฀his฀digital฀workstation฀at฀DreamWorks฀ Animation,฀circa฀2005฀ 10 Animators฀clowning฀around฀on฀the฀roof฀of฀the฀Sullivan฀studio฀in฀ Manhattan,฀1928฀ 14 Two฀of฀the฀lead฀animators฀on฀Disney’s฀Lion฀King฀clowning฀around,฀ Glendale,฀California,฀1994฀ 14 Inkers฀and฀painters฀at฀Walt฀Disney฀Studios,฀1957฀ 24 Disney฀internal฀memo฀sent฀to฀artist฀job฀applicant฀Frances฀Brewer,฀ May฀9,฀1939฀ 25 Gag฀cartoon฀of฀Bill฀Scott฀and฀Grim฀Natwick฀assassinating฀a฀production฀ manager฀at฀Walter฀Lantz฀studio,฀1947฀ 32 Early฀animation฀producer-agent฀Margaret฀Winkler฀at฀the฀age฀of฀ ninety-three฀ 37 Pat฀Sullivan฀at฀a฀desk฀with฀Otto฀Messmer,฀1928฀ 39 Typical฀animation฀story฀meeting,฀Walt฀Disney฀studio,฀circa฀1936฀ 48 Floyd฀Norman฀having฀some฀fun฀with฀Pixar฀director฀John฀Lasseter’s฀love฀ of฀Hawaiian฀shirts฀ 53 Ub฀Iwerks฀self-caricature,฀1931฀ 70 Animation฀camera฀stand฀at฀Walt฀Disney฀studio,฀circa฀1936฀ 71 Van฀Beuren฀inker฀Sadie฀Bodin,฀the฀first฀person฀to฀picket฀an฀animation฀ studio฀ 73 Fleischer฀studio฀crew฀photo,฀1931฀ 78 Fleischer฀studio฀internal฀newsletter,฀the฀Fleischer฀Animated฀News,฀ 1935฀ 80 CADU฀strike฀flyer,฀1937฀ 86 ix