A few Walt Disney news items via Cartoon Brew.
Released tomorrow, July 3, 2018, is ‘A Mouse Divided’ by Jeff Ryan – A New Book Exploring How Success Tore Apart Mickey Mouse Creators Walt Disney And Ub Iwerks
Cartoon Brew’s Amid Amidi explains
The book…explores how Walt Disney’s colleague Ub Iwerks was never given the credit he deserved for his role in the creation of Disney’s earliest major success, Mickey Mouse.
Amid furthers comments:
It will be interesting to read how Ryan interprets the events between Disney and Iwerks, and what new insights he adds to the already well established story, most extensively told in The Hand Behind the Mouse, which itself has been criticized as a somewhat flawed book.
That earlier biography was a sanctioned product of the Walt Disney Company.
Go to Amidi’s article for more about the current book, the previous book, and a future book about the Walt Disney/Ub Iwerks relationship.
Amazon has a preview of tomorrow’s release at their page.
Also from Cartoon Brew and Amid Amidi is word that
…animation workers will soon receive the first payment from the $170 million settlement they won from various animation studios. The class action lawsuit against the studios alleged long-term wage theft and antritrust violations.
The money is coming from The Walt Disney Company/Pixar/Lucasfilm/Imagemovers Digital, which settled for $100 million; Dreamworks Animation, which settled for $50 million; Sony Pictures, which settled for $13 million; and 21st Century Fox-owned Blue Sky Studios, which settled for $5.95 million. Most animation workers who were employed at those companies between 2004 and 2010 qualify to receive a portion of the settlement.
Furthermore Amidi tells us:
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit presented substantial evidence that implicated Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios president Ed Catmull as a ringleader of the illegal wage-fixing scheme. The Walt Disney Company has done nothing to reprimand or punish Catmull for his questionable actions, and he continues to serve as the leader for both Disney and Pixar animation studios.
Full details about the lawsuit’s history and outcome can be had at Cartoon Brew.
In other Disney News:
The Walt Disney Co. is shutting down Glendale-based Disneytoon Studios, effective immediately. The animation division produced the studio’s B-properties like the Planes theatrical features and the Tinker Bell cg direct-to-video films.
Details, with knowledgeable comments following, can, once again, be read at Cartoon Brew.