Comic’s Round Up: Remembering Ub Iwwerks

Today is March 24th, and for the Comic’s Round-Up we are looking back to history on this day. Today was the birthday of Ubbe Eert Iwwerks, known as “Ub”. He was born in 1901 and unfortunately passed away on July 7, 1971. Does the name of Ub Iwwerks not sound familiar? Well, that’s a travesty! If you are a fan of modern-day animation, then you probably already know the works of this prolific pioneer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and it was there in 1919 that he met Walt Disney while they were working at Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio. Eventually, the two struck out together making commercial art. It wasn’t long though until Walt decided they should turn to animation, and Ub followed with him. The original style of Disney animation was actually all based on Ub’s work. He designed Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and finalized the design of Mickey Mouse, based on Walt Disney’s rough concept sketch.

However, due to Walt not sharing credit, Ub and Disney had a falling out in January 1930. Both Walt and Ub suffered from their severing, but Walt was able to recover quickly by hiring younger animators, while Ub was not able to ever reach the same level of success as Mickey Mouse. In 1940 though the relationship recovered and Ub returning to work for Disney. He even helping develop many Disneyland theme park attractions in the 1960s.

So when we start heading back to Disneyland, and you ride the Pirates of the Caribbean, or the Haunted Mansion, remember Ub Iwwerks!

Watch Steamboat Willie

Watch Flip The Frog In Fiddlesticks

See you guys next week for the next Comic’s Round-Up!

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