The Disney Studios Notorious Strike - 2566 Words

Seventeen animation artists were ushered out of Disney Studios in Burbank, California on May 28th, 1941; they were then fired for being part of the Screen Cartoonist Guild.1 Once the news spread to the other eight hundred plus artists and four hundred plus Disney workers, many were outraged and further gathered together to make derisive posters and stir up compelling speeches to support of their fellow colleagues. On May 29th, 1941 three hundred employees went on strike.2 The few loyal to the Disney Corporation gathered with management in hopes to quickly put an end to the strike, however it was just the beginning. The Disney Studio Strike was acrimonious, lasting five weeks and ultimately shattering the benevolent image Disney Studios portrayed to the rest of the world.3 Many people associate the Disney Corporation with a lighthearted atmosphere and Walt Disney with the image of an artistic mastermind; so what happened to cause his workers to deceive him and go on strike? This paper will identify and explore the tensions that led up to the notorious Disney Studio Strike of 1941 as well as specifically provide the causes and effects the strike had on Disney Studios and the animation industry. The ultimate question to be answered throughout this paper is how did this strike demonstrate different issues than what was typical of strikes during the 1930s and early 1940s? Going forward with answering this primary question several other, more specific questions surface. To