Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt’s Animated Films

This untold history collection chronicles the progression of the animation director role during the 1920s through the 1970s. For students of filmmaking and management, this book serves as go-to resource for a complex and sometimes technical role that demanded precision. For all Disney fans, these personal portraits of Walt’s closest creative leaders offer a fuller picture behind the stories, characters, and magical realms in Disney’s beloved and respected animated films.

When the very first animated films appeared, there were no directors. With no actors, sets, costumes, or sound, what appeared onscreen was simply decided and drawn by an animator. Since early films were usually made by only one or two artists, there was little need for planning. Organization was loose. When Walt Disney started animating on shorts and advertising projects in Kansas City, Missouri, he followed that process, along with fellow artist and friend Ub Iwerks.
Walt found that his strength was in story and character. He began writing outlines, describing what would appear scene by scene. Soon the text was accompanied by a sketch previsualizing the layout, giving all animators working on a film a clear vision of how their parts fit into the whole. Ultimately, Walt shepherded stories from their inception through every revision and gag. He approved every camera angle. He dictated what happened in every shot, sometimes every frame, obsessing over every detail. While not credited as such onscreen, Walt was the first Disney director.
As the Disney studio grew, Walt organically evolved the role of director, reflecting the amount of trust he had in those he worked with, his interest in a specific project, and what other projects he had on his plate. Walt expected his directors to follow his instructions--and to improve the work at every turn.

Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt’s Animated Films offers the little-known history behind Walt’s foundational directors, such as Wilfred Jackson, Clyde Geronimi, and Dave Hand. These talents directed some of the most beloved films in existence--Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians--yet virtually no one has heard of them . . . until now.

Pete Docter is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter from Bloomington, Minnesota. He is best known for directing Inside Out, Monsters, Inc., and Up and as a key figure and collaborator in Pixar Animation Studios. The A.V. Club has called him ＂almost universally successful.＂ He has been nominated for six Oscars (two wins thus far for Up and Inside Out--Best Animated Feature), three Annie Awards (two wins), a BAFTA Children’s Film Award (which he won), and a Hochi Film Award (which he won). He has described himself as a ＂geeky kid from Minnesota who likes to draw cartoons.＂
Don Peri is the author of Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists and Working with Disney: Interviews with Animators, Producers, and Artists. In addition to nearly a hundred interviews with creative leaders of the Disney films, he assisted director Ben Sharpsteen in writing his memoirs, giving Don an inside look at what it took to direct films under Walt’s supervision.