The Walt Disney Animators’ Strike of 1941 During the early 1930s, unions began to organize in almost every industry across the United States, including the Hollywood entertainment industry. Unions for actors, directors, stagehands, and writers sprung up to unify laborers and collectively bargain for better working conditions. The Screen Cartoonist’s Guild was formed in 1938 to organize the previously unrepresented cartoonists and animators in Hollywood. The Guild enjoyed success during its first year, representing the animators of the Metro-Goldwy-Mayer Studios, or MGM, as well as those of the Walter Lantz Studios. Through collective bargaining, the Screen Cartoonist’s Guild was able to effectively raise the wages for its 115 members at the studios it represented. However, 115 members constituted a small portion
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Despite the incredible recent success of the studio, there was much discontent among employees. The roots of this frustration can be seen during the production of Disney’s first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The project was enormous in scale- no studio had previously produced an animated feature of this length. Prior to completion of Snow White, more than 750 artists drew over two million sketches, 250,000 of which were included in the final movie. To finish the project by the release date, employees worked long hours of overtime for free, with the promises of bonuses and higher pay after the completion of the film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an overwhelming success, earning four times more than any other motion picture released in 1938. However, instead of bonuses, Walt Disney doled out “salary adjustments” to selected animators whom he felt had excelled, while laying off a significant number of others. In addition, the studio’s animators weren’t listed in the credits of Snow White- all credit was given to Walt Disney
Despite the incredible recent success of the studio, there was much discontent among employees. The roots of this frustration can be seen during the production of Disney’s first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The project was enormous in scale- no studio had previously produced an animated feature of this length. Prior to completion of Snow White, more than 750 artists drew over two million sketches, 250,000 of which were included in the final movie. To finish the project by the release date, employees worked long hours of overtime for free, with the promises of bonuses and higher pay after the completion of the film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was an overwhelming success, earning four times more than any other motion picture released in 1938. However, instead of bonuses, Walt Disney doled out “salary adjustments” to selected animators whom he felt had excelled, while laying off a significant number of others. In addition, the studio’s animators weren’t listed in the credits of Snow White- all credit was given to Walt Disney