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19
Even then Walt had men working for him, such as Bill Walsh (who had been a orphan as a child) who
worshipped Walt. But here is how he was in the 1920’s:
Walt was a self-motivated
individual with lots of energy which was constantly seeking some outlet.
(People have written much about this trait of his.) He was more the giver than the taker in
relationships.
(In the first few years, when he was responsible for making business contracts he often
gave away his work without setting prices for profits. He even wrote letters to his boss to the effect
that his first priority was good cartoons not profits, and that he’d work without profits, but he did
want some appreciation
for his work. That was his sensitive nature showing.) Walt wouldn’t wait for
others to come up with an idea or someone else to make a move--he was there first. He could
communicate
his ideas with clarity and ease and move easily from idea to another. (He would storm
into Disney Productions and spew one idea after another into his workers’ ears.) He enjoyed
competition.
He had a quick mind and keen perception.
He frequently acted on intuition and impulse,
taking chances and endangering
his own security. (He frequently gambled all his life savings and
everything he could scrape together on a project.) Long projects bored him. (Fortunately
the real
tedious work of cartooning was done by a large staff of artists.) House chores and repetitive chores
bored him and he avoided them. (He was absolutely a total slob around the house as a bachelor.) He
was impatient with vague philosophies,
he liked concrete realities. He was difficult to get along with
because he had both a playful side (even to the point of cruel practical jokes) to his personality and an
aggressive intolerant impatient side that wanted to achieve. Naturally, people around him were
disconcerted
because on a subconscious
level they never knew which side of him they would deal
with. (The reference series Current Biography "Disney" article p. 248 gives the following Walt
Disney quote, "We don’t even let the word ‘art’ be used around the studio. If anyone begins to get
arty, we knock them down.") He was geared for action. He was always inventing ways to get what he
needed. He could be explosive when provoked. (The old time associates of Walt remember his
explosive temper.) He was a person of dynamic energy, sensuality and keen thinking, and a disciple
of the pleasure principle.
Because his father was so abusive and misused his position of authority, Walt came to be deeply
ingrained with defiance toward authority. (The themes of his films repeatedly sympathize with those
who rebel against authority, and the police and other authority figures are consistently shown as
absurd. One way he expressed irresponsibility
was with lively dance scenes, which has been a hall-
mark of teenage rebellion during the 20th century. "Comic anarchy reaches its fullest
expression in Alice Rattled by Rats, which shows what the rats do when the cats goes away!) He felt
that rules were for others to follow. (That is one reason he would step outside of the law and commit
illegal acts. This is one trait that may be responsible for some of the criminal activities Walt ended up
participating
in.) Walt also didn’t like to be closely supervised.
(He wanted to manage his Disney
Magic Kingdom as if it were his own kingdom. He wanted to be an authority figure, and indeed
became the dictator of his Magic Kingdom. When his workers differed with his own views he felt that
they were infringing upon his own inalienable rights as an individual.) He was somewhat of a
melancholic
temperament,
that type of perfectionist
who still enjoys life. He felt a need to protect
himself against intimacy with others. He was most home in a setting which he made for himself. Walt
had the traits of an executive. He was slow to reveal his innermost feelings, and definitely set his own
goals. Walt was one of those persons that when the going got tough, he hung in there. Likewise he
would cling to his ideas, plans, and possessions.
(His stubborn refusal to allow his brother Roy to stop
the creation of Disneyland led to events that split the brothers. His determination
to succeed was
taken advantage of by the crime syndicates to blackmail him with some debt. In order to get his
dreams, he was willing to give them what they wanted.) A clue to Walt’s macabre sense of humor, at
times almost a graveyard sense of humor, and his high tolerance
of seeing pain
in others, is that Walt
was seriously thinking of volunteering
again as a medic after the W.W. I fighting
in France was over,
when volunteers were needed for the Balkan fighting. Walt loved animals more than people. The only
human being that he had rapport with while growing up on the farm was his Uncle Ed (who he called
Uncle Elf), who looked like a cross between a leprechaun and a prune. Uncle Elf could make animals
sounds and bird whistles to Walts delight. Walt loved the charm of the farm and nature and he loved
