Ub Iwerks
Animator and special effects technician Ub Iwerks was the lesser known, but perhaps the more artistically talented side of what would become the Disney empire. Both Walt Disney and Iwerks worked together in animation in Kansas City, Missouri during the early 1920s. When Disney moved to California to try his fortune there, Iwerks followed, premiering their first successful creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, around 1927. When they lost the rights to the Oswald character to Charles Mintz, they began to develop the character that would come to be known as Mickey Mouse, as first seen in Steamboat Willie (1928). Although Iwerks and Disney were close collaborators, the stress and workload led Iwerks to part ways with Disney in 1930 and start his own studio. While his studio produced many animated works, none of them became popular, and it closed in the late 1930s. To the surprise of many in the industry, Iwerks came back to work with Disney in 1940, this time focusing on special effects. Iwerks pioneered the techniques for combining live action and animation seen in films like Mary Poppins (1964). In 1963, Iwerks won an Oscar for the special effects he developed for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Ub Iwerks died in 1970.
