Wolfgang Reitherman - Disney's Nine Old Men

Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (June 26, 1909- May 22, 1985) came to the Disney studio on May 21, 1933. His drawing skills increased rapidly, and he soon found himself working on many of the classic Silly Symphonies of the era. And yet, he would be tested.

On the Snow White project, Woolie drew some of the animation for the bed-building scene (which was of course deleted from the final film), but his main contribution would be the slave in the Magic Mirror.

The "slave" is basically a floating mask in the reflection of the mirror. At first glance, the animation doesn't seem as if it would be so difficult a task. Plus, the Magic Mirror only appears in two short sequences. These scenes, however, are critical. They help set the stage and mood of the film and also move the story along with a real sense of the supernatural. Wolfgang had no body parts to animate, not even pupils to show expression. The slave would prove a challenging character to bring to life.

"It was tough because it didn't move," Reitherman said. "It was just there all the time."

From John Canemaker's Nine Old Men, p. 35...

Studying the original animation drawings, one notices how closely spaced the in-between drawings are. For each extreme pose, the paper was folded in half down the middle of the Mirror's face. This allowed Reitherman to animate one side of the face, fold the paper, and (over a light table) trace the other side, so the two halves were perfectly matched in size and movement.

Wolfgang would end up animating the Mirror nine different times before Walt Disney gave it his final OK. In the finished film, special effects of animated flame, smoke and distorted glass veil the face and add an eerie atmosphere to the scene. The result is quiet effective, but Reitherman, after having spent so much time at perfecting the mask, was to say, "All my work was sort of for nothing."

Not nothing. His subtle, emotionless slave in the Magic Mirror was dead on!

Flame and smoke effects...

Wolfgang Reitherman photos via John Canemaker's book, Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, 2001.

Images and scans copyright Disney

Further reading:

• Brian Sibly remembers Wolfgang Reitherman at Animator Mag.
• Disney Legends: Bio
• 50 Most Influential Disney Animators: Wolfgang Reitherman

The Nine Old Men

1958 Photo: left to right, Kimball, Larson, Thomas, Davis, Johnston, Clark, Kahl, Lounsbery, Reitherman

Much has been written about the Nine Old Men and their larger-than-life animation achievements. These were not the first talented artists to work for the Disney Studio, yet they certainly became it's creative core for more than 40 years.

Probably the most definitive work on these 'conquistadors' of the Golden Age is John Canemaker's book, Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (Disney Editions, 2001, ISBN-10: 0786864966).

Front Cover

Canemaker recounts how Walt jokingly nicknamed this dream team after President Roosevelt's description of his contentious 1937 Supreme Court, "nine old men, all too aged to recognize a new idea."

Newspaper Cartoon, February 9, 1937, Brooklyn Citizen via New Deal Network.

Of course, the animators were neither old nor afraid of new ideas. Quite the opposite, they would be the leaders, taking the art of animation to new heights.

The Nine Old Men were:

• Les Clark (joined Disney February 23, 1927)
• Wolfgang Reitherman (May 21, 1933)
• Eric Larson (June 1, 1933)
• Ward Kimball (April 2, 1934)
• Milt Kahl (June 25, 1934)
• Frank Thomas (September 24, 1934)
• Ollie Johnston (January 21, 1935)
• John Lounsbery (July 2, 1935)
• Marc Davis (December 2, 1935)

1972 Photo: left to right, Kahl, Reitherman, Davis, Clark, Thomas, Kimball, Larson, Lounsbery, Johnston

Animator Les Clark was the first to be hired in early 1927. The rest of the group came in between 1933-35, just as things were heating up for the making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. From 1935-37, all nine of the very young "old men" would be involved.

Throughout this month, we'll take a closer look at what each contributed to the film and in what capacity they served the animation factory that was the Disney Studio of the late 1930s.

Further reading:

• "2002 Interview with John Canemaker" at The Laughing Place
• "Walt's Nine Old Men" from A Day in Disney History

Auspicious Anniversary - Premiere Night Memories

All of Hollywood's brass turned out for a cartoon--Walt Disney.

The return of the light--the Filmic Light. On this night of the winter solstice seventy-three years ago, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made its world premiere at the 1500 seat Carthay Circle Theatre. It was cold outside, but an electricity was in the air. Grand stands set up across the street were packed with fans while dozens of Hollywood's brightest stars joined the sold out audience inside--which included a select number of the film's storymen, artists and animators.

Charlie Chaplin--who assisted the Disney brothers in setting the distribution price tag for this their first feature film--sent a wire to Walt earlier in the day. It read as follows: I am convinced all our fondest hopes will be realized tonight.

When Walt arrived at the theater, he was asked on national radio by interviewer Buddy Twist if he was going to watch the movie himself. He responded, Yes, and have my wife hold my hand.

Yet, once the film had begun, it was clear that this would be no ordinary screening, and Walt Disney need not fear the audience's reaction...

I believe everyone in that first Snow White audience could have predicted the enormous success of the film. They were carried away by the picture from the very beginning, and as it went along everyone was bubbling over with enthusiasm and frequently bursting into spontaneous applause. [1] Animator Bill Peet

The audience was so taken by the magic of what they had seen that they applauded after individual sequences, just as though they were watching a stage play. I've never seen anything quite like it since. [2]  Animator Wolfgang (Woolie) Reitherman

They even applauded the backgrounds and layouts when no animation was on the screen.[3a]  I was sitting near John Barrymore when the shot of the queen's castle above the mist came on, with the queen poling across the marsh in a little boat. He was bouncing up and down in his seat, he was so excited.[3b] Art Director Ken O'Connor

It was the most receptive, enthusiastic audience I have ever seen. Every song, every gag, every good piece of acting worked on those people like a bow on a fiddle. There was almost continuous laughter and applause until Frank Thomas' sequence, where the sorrowing dwarfs gather around Snow White's bier. The house fell silent, gripped by the emotional impact of the acting.[4] Animator Shamus Culhane 

As I look back on it, we knew where they were going to laugh from experience, but we weren't prepared for the crying and sniffing in the audience. That was the thing I started hearing. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were sitting close, and when Snow White was poisoned, stretched out on that slab, they started blowing their noses. I could hear it--crying--that was the big surprise.[5] Animator Ward Kimball

What I wouldn't have done to be in that audience seventy-three years ago! It's stuff like this that makes life worth living. Tonight also marks one year of blogging here at the Snow White Sanctum...and if the muses be willing, more are in store.

1. Bill Peet quote via Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler, p.272. Photo via Michael Sporn Animation.
2. Woolie Reitherman photo via Michael Barrier December 18, 2008 post.
3a/b. Ken O'Connor quote via Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler, p.272. Also Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Studio Book), Viking Press, 1979, p.225. Photo via Re-Imagineering.
4. Shamus Culhane quote via Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Making of the Classic Film by Brian Sibley and Richard Holliss, p.65. Photo via Animation World Magazine. 
5. Ward Kimball quote via Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: An Art in Its Making, p.47. Photo via The Inkling Chronicles.