arts & culture
Philadelphia Native Details
Disney Labor Disputes
T SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
he man who helped create
Disney Studios’ golden age was
the same man who helped end it.

Art Babbitt, a Jewish animator for
Disney Studios, worked on projects such
as “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia” and “Dumbo”;
he helped develop the character of Goofy.

But away from his drawing board,
Babbitt was a union proponent, leading
animation artists in a strike against their
company and Walt Disney in the early
1940s. The story in all its complexities is
detailed in “The Disney Revolt: The
Great Labor War of Animation’s Golden
Age” published July 5 by Chicago
Review Press. The book was written by
Philadelphia native and Jewish animator
Jake S. Friedman.

Babbitt’s call for unionization mirrors
those of his Jewish predecessors on the
East Coast.

“You’ll see time and time again, people
who lead like the garment workers union
in New York and so on, always appear
to be Jews, usually Jewish immigrants,”
Friedman said.

Friedman, 41, suggested that Jewish
union efforts were the result of the failed
promise of a land of greater opportunity
and the desire for escaping the oppressive
structures of their home countries.

In a time of pervasive unionization
efforts across Hollywood, Disney trailed
behind the rest. Even in its golden age, the
company shrunk its animator employee
base from 1,400 to 600 at its small-
est. Some animators, the “inbetweeners”
who drew the in-between drawings, were
given a salary of what would be $18,000
today. After Babbitt led his co-workers in a
nine-week strike, what followed was a
battle of public relations, Friedman said.

Strikers were called communists, and strik-
ers claimed that Disney was antisemitic.

“This made Babbitt’s martyrdom more
personal and gave them justification
to antagonize Walt Disney,” Friedman
wrote. “It became a battle cry of the strik-
ers, who wanted to punish Walt the way
they felt they had been punished.”
The antisemitic claims were lofty;
Disney had many Jews in his inner circle,
and the accusations emerged during a
bitter period after the strike.

Friedman has personal ties to the sub-
ject of the novel beyond his shared Jewish
identity with Babbitt. An instructor of
animation history at New York University
Tisch School of the Arts, his alma mater,
and the Fashion Institute of Technology,
Friedman has a passion for the medium.

He also has deep roots in labor organizing.

Growing up in Elkins Park, Friedman
was shaped by the Jewish educa-
tors by which he was surrounded. He
attended Solomon Schechter Day School
and Akiba/Jack M. Barrack Hebrew
Academy, but continued to be influenced
by educators outside of school.

Friedman’s mother, father and grand-
mother participated in the Philadelphia
teacher’s strike in 1973. They all volun-
teered to get arrested, as striking was
illegal, and a photo of Friedman’s father
getting arrested appeared in the Feb. 19,
1973, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. The
family treasured the newspaper clipping.

“That was as much of my makeup as
my Jewish identity,” Friedman said. “Part
of my heritage was knowing that I came
from strikers who fought for what they
believed.” “The Disney Revolt” was written for
a broader audience with the hope that
anyone, even those without a back-
ground or interest in animation and
history, could draw inspiration from it.

The book is a call to action for others
to learn more about labor organizing
beyond what was happening in 20th
century Hollywood.

“It’s not an East Coast thing. It’s not a
West Coast. It’s not a Midwest thing. It’s
an American thing,” he said. “And I want
people who read this book, who wouldn’t
otherwise be accustomed to that idea, to
“The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor
War of Animation’s Golden Age” was
published July 5 by Chicago Review
Press. Courtesy of Jake S. Friedman
get a kernel of some information that will
encourage them to learn more.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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