The Hand Behind the Mouse: An Intimate Biography of Ub Iwerks

by Leslie Iwerks, John Kenworthy

Profiles the artist and inventor who created the animation behind Mickey Mouse before focusing on Disney Studio's special effects lab, where he developed technology that revolutionized animated and motion pictures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Art

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ub Iwerks was the largely unacknowledged talent behind much of what Walt Disney accomplished. He first met Walt and started to work with him in Kansas City; when Walt went to Hollywood, Ub soon followed him. He created Mickey Mouse (and animated his first short, "Plane Crazy", all by himself -- 700 frames -- in just two weeks) and worked on Walt's Alice shorts and the Silly Symphonies as well before deciding to leave Walt's studio and go into business for himself. However, his cartoons, though technically excellent, never became as popular as those from Disney or Warner Brothers, and eventually Ub returned to Disney.

Here, his career changed, as he left animation behind in favor of invention and technical wizardry. I knew that he had played that role after his return to Disney, but I had no idea of the extent of it: the Xerographic process for creating cels, the Circarama and Circlevision cameras, matte photography, optical printing -- the list just goes on and on. Ub worked on films from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" to "The Parent Trap" to "Mary Poppins" (for which he won an Academy Award), and even Hitchcock's "The Birds".

The Hand Behind the Mouse would likely be interesting to any fan of film, but it's an indispensable addition to any Disneyphile's library.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sympathetic biography of Ub Iwerks by his own granddaughter. Iwerks (1901-1971) was one of the most important animators of the 1920s and early 1930s and the first one to draw Mickey Mouse. His career is very much tied to that of Walt Disney - they already team up as youngsters in their Kansas City days. Iwerks also run a studio of his own and later became known as a maverick of technique. Yet, I doubt he would have had a biography if it were not for his important role in the Walt Disney studio history. This biography is written with love, but I would have liked more information on Iwerks' own studio years. It's clear from the text Leslie Iwerks has some information on the animators working there and who animated what, but we lack this information in detail. I also find that Leslie Iwerks exaggerates these years too much. In the mid-1930s the Ub Iwerks studio remained a minor player, and showed nothing of the forward thinking of a Walt Disney or even Warner Bros. studio (after Tex Avery and Frank Tashlin joined in). For Disney afficionados this biography doesn't offer too much new information, but it's nice to see the events from Iwerks's point of view, for once - not Disney's. A nice addition to any animation history library.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographies of relatively unknown names are things publishers tend to shy away from. I know this from my editorial work. Still, some people are so interesting that they deserve published life stories. Ub Iwerks is one of those people. The Hand behind the Mouse is the biography of one of the early American cartoonists. Even this is understating it—it seems likely Walt Disney would never have gotten the start he did without Iwerks.

The two met as young men working in a Kansas City ad agency. They began working on cartooning on the side and eventually formed their own company. Iwerks decided to stay in Missouri to care for his mother when Walt Disney moved to California where, with his brother Roy, they founded what would become Disney. They persuaded Ub to join them and it was actually Ub who came up with Mickey Mouse.

This isn’t a very probing or deep biography, but Iwerks was always reluctant to promote himself. He did split off from Disney for a while to run his own studio, but then rejoined Disney when times got hard. Disney has proven itself recession-proof, and has branched out to become the purveyor of childhood in America. As I say elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), this is the story of a fascinating person generally overlooked. That doesn’t mean he didn’t make an impact on the world of cinema, and probably on many of us.

[Clay Doran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great behind the scene look at one of my favorite animators. Being published by "Disney" I was a little worried that it would breeze over all the non-Disney years of Ub's life but, in fact, there was quite a bit on the Flip the Frog/Willie Whopper/Comicolor years. I knew Ub Iwerks also did work beyond animation but i had no idea how much of a camera maestro he was. The second half of the book is primarily focused on his work in special effects on movies like Mary Poppins and Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." He spent most of his latter years solving problems, perfecting the sodium vapor process and the circle-vison camera. No problem was too complicated for Ub Iwerks. Though he will go down in history as the "hand behind" Mickey Mouse, this book proves that he is much more than that. This book was obviously well researched and provides the best available portrait of this genius' prolific life.

[ALoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, I looked up each episode mentioned as I was reading.

[Rhodes Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was Iwerks who, as Walt's lead animator, created Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Disney's empire was growing due to the great success of Iwerk's animated classics like the Silly Symphonies and the popular Mickey Mouse cartoons.

As with many business and creative ventures, success strained the close friendship and Iwerks left Walt Disney to open his own studio. Although Iwerks was a great talent, the promotion abilities of Walt Disney were equally responsible for the success of their animated creations. Iwerks was not able to create characters or films to compete effectively with Disney. Eventually he closed his studio and, after doing some freelancing work for a few years, returned to Disney. To enhance your reading experience, watch the cartoons mentioned in the book on YouTube as the book gives some insights into the cartoons that you might not notice otherwise.

After returning to Disney, Iwerks incredible imagination and inventive brilliance shone. He developed the xerographic technologies used to create Disney animated classics and the live action techniques used in classic films such as Mary Poppins. Disney also brought Iwerks into his greatest venture, creating attractions for Disneyland park.

This was one of those books that I almost gave up eating and hygiene habits in order to finish. The brilliance of this behind the scenes legend is one of the little known stories of the successful Disney empire. His quirky sense of humor comes out in his animated features, especially those produced in his own studio. The drama of the working relationship and friendship between Disney and Iwerks reveals the humanity of these icons of animation. It provides insight into directing genius and creativity towards a successful career.

Disney fans will love the book but I think creatives of all types: computer programmers, artists, inventors, and writers will benefit from the lesson of uniting hard work, teamwork, alliances, and financial support with creativity and talent to unleash your imagination to the world.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ub Iwerks was a genius who has never gotten as much recognition as he deserved. Who knows where Walt would have been without him

[Gurinder Virdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very similar to the Walt Disney book, actually a LOT of overlap. I was hoping for a read from Ub's perspective but it reads as a narrative of Disney and Ub's life peppered in at times.