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The Boy From Marceline

The boy made his way through the tall grass, stepping carefully so as not to disturb any of the wildlife.  He moved quietly to the old, familiar cottonwood tree and nestled at its base.  There he pulled out his pencil and pad and watched the birds and bugs and other creatures that went on about their everyday lives.

Elias sat happily in the shade of his “dreaming tree” and began to draw.

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Elias was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901, on the second floor of a house his father, also names Elias, had built for his wife, Flora, and their three older sons, Herbert, Raymond, and Roy.  They were joined in 1903 by fifth child, a girl, Ruth.  When young Elias was five-years-old the family moved to a farm outside the little north-Missouri town of Marceline.

Of his childhood in the little town, the younger Elias would later say, “To tell the truth, more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than ever happened since or are likely to in the future”

The boy stayed busy on the farm, tending the horse and other livestock while attending school.  He once said that his best friend at the time was a pig named Porker.  She was so gentle that he could sometimes ride her like a pony.  He said, “I guess I really loved that pig. . . . She had an acute sense of fun and mischief.”

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Elias gave in to one of his wild childhood flights of inspiration and assembled a little circus that included a goat, a pig (I’m betting it was Porker), and the family’s dog and cat dressed up in clothing.  He charged other children around Marceline a dime each to view his menagerie.

I assume one or more of his friends’ mothers heard about the circus and complained to Elias’s mother.

When Flora found out about her son’s escapade she made him return all the dimes he had gotten from his friends but stopped short of being totally disappointed in his creativity.  She told him that, if he gave people more than they expected, they would never be disappointed in his profit-making efforts.

It was a lesson the boy would remember the rest of his life.

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Like most boys, young Elias tried many different things, soon discovering that he had a talent for drawing.  A retired local doctor saw some of his work and hired him to draw the man’s horse. 

Getting paid encouraged him to continue drawing.  He practiced by copying cartoons he found in the newspaper his dad subscribed to. 

The elder Elias did not approve of his son’s love of art, telling him that hard, physical labor was the only acceptable work.  Flora didn’t see the harm and convinced her husband to buy the boy a set of colored pencils and some drawing paper.  From then on, every chance he got, young Elias made his way to his “dreaming tree” and practiced drawing wildlife, livestock, and anything else that caught his interest.

He would often entertain his sister, Ruth, by telling her stories he made up about the animals he drew.

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Elias the father grew ill with typhoid and found himself unable to work the fields.  He was forced to sell the farm and move his family to Kansas City.  Among other things, he delivered newspapers to feed his family.  His younger sons, Roy and Elias, were given routes of their own and contributed their pay to the family.  They would rise at 3:30 a.m. to deliver papers before going to school, then run another route afterwards.

Yes, their grades suffered.

Despite the tough work and school schedule, young Elias was able to attend a Kansas City art school on weekends.  When the family moved back to Chicago he attended the Art Institute of Chicago while again working various jobs.  He later attended McKinley High School where he was the newspaper cartoonist.

During World War I Roy joined the army but Elias was too young.  Wanting to serve he lied about his age to get into the Red Cross and arrived in Europe after the Armistice was already signed.  He was assigned to transport wounded soldiers in an ambulance but continued to find time to draw. 

Upon completing his enlistment, Elias returned to Kansas City.  Brother Roy was already there and helped him to get a job with an ad agency, creating ads for magazines, cinemas, and newspapers.  There he made a new friend, Ubbe Iwerks, and the two started their own advertising company in 1920.

The company suffered from a lack of clients and the founders abandoned it.  Both were then hired at Kansas City Films Ad, where they were able to learn basic animation techniques. 

They loved it.

Elias studied anatomy and physics to help him improve his art and the pair started a business producing animated shorts of well-known stories.

They were forced into bankruptcy in 1923.

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Not willing to give up on his dream, Elias moved to Hollywood, thinking it would provide more profitable markets for his work.  He took the last short film he had produced in his previous studio and began sending it out for consideration.  On the merits of that film, distributor Margaret Winkler hired him to make more movies.  He then set up a studio in his uncle’s garage.  Brother Roy got involved with his younger brother by agreeing to handle financial issues.

The company experienced early success, selling nine films. 

Elias had an idea that he just knew would be the one to skyrocket the business to greatness.  He created Oswald the Rabbit in the short, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which was a hit and was distributed by Universal Pictures.

That’s when the other shoe fell.

Distributer Margaret Winkler’s husband contacted Elias and asked him to continue working on the series but for less pay.  He pointed out that he and Universal owned the rights to the character so Elias really didn’t have much choice in the matter.

Elias refused.

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Instead of continuing to work on Oswald the Rabbit for less pay, Elias wracked his brain for another viable idea and eventually came up with one.  On the trip home he drew several different images of his new character and narrowed his choices down to two of them.  He circled the drawings he liked and, when he got home, showed them to his wife, Lillian.  She liked them and asked what the character’s name was.

It was Mortimer Mouse.

Lillian didn’t like the name and, luckily for all of us, suggested a name she thought would be more catchy- Mickey.

Walter Elias Disney agreed.  Mickey Mouse, in the short, Steamboat Willie, was the first all-sound cartoon, and was a hit.  Walt went on to hire the best people in their fields and produced some of the most popular movies in history. 

As rich and successful as he got, Walt never forgot his friends, like his childhood pal, Porker the pig.  Walt said, “Do you remember the Foolish Pig in Three Little Pigs?  Porker was the model for him.” 

He also never forgot the little town that was such a big part in his childhood.  He drew upon his youthful experiences in Marceline as fodder for many of his movies and cartoons, even replicating businesses in the town when he created Main Street USA in Disneyland.

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From his first success with Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney, along with brother, Roy, and friend, Ubbe Iwerks, built an empire, expanding into full-length movies, books, amusement parks, and other things too numerous to list.  The company is now one of the most profitable businesses in the world but, as Walt said on many occasions…

“It all started with a mouse.”

I would add, it started on a little farm in Marceline, Missouri.

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