Walt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks

by Don Iwerks

Gorgeous never-before-published photographs and fascinating personal memories celebrate the half-a-century career of Disney Legend Ub Iwerks, a self-taught animator who became the first to animate Mickey and Minnie Mouse and an exceptional draftsman, prolific innovator, and all-around technical genius who directly collaborated with Walt Disney to create some of the most loved moments throughout film and theme parks.

Even before the creation of Mickey, Walt established a reputation as a technical leader in Hollywood and frequently relied on the counsel, expertise, ingenuity, and creativity of a kindred spirit, lifelong friend, and fellow virtuoso: Ub Iwerks. Up till now, Ub and his many technical inventions and techniques have been largely unknown by the general public. His illustrious career consisted of dozens of innovative contributions, large and small, to both animated and live-action motion pictures, as well as the fields of optics, film processes, and special effects. He was also the major force behind the design of special cameras, projectors, electronics, and audio for theme park projects, and much more.

The high standard set by Walt and Ub continues to inspire artists and technicians within The Walt Disney Company as they explore new avenues of quality entertainment. Here is a one-of-a-kind appreciation to an extraordinary man and an outstanding career, a record of his many inventions and accomplishments, and a tribute from a grateful son to his remarkable father.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 10, 2019

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Peter Ellenshaw first went to work for Walt Disney Studios, Walt said, “One man who you’re going to work with is Ub Iwerks… you’ll learn a lot from him, if you’re willing to.”

We, too, can learn a lot from Ub thanks to his son, Don Iwerks.

Beginning in 2007, after encouragement from friends, family and Walt’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, Don set out to document his dad’s many achievements. Walt Disney’s Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks plugs the gap in Disney’s record of technical triumphs from 1940 through 1971 and is a testament not only to Ub Iwerks and his genius, but to everything he stood for: hard work, problem solving and persistence.

Don Iwerks followed his father to the Walt Disney Studios in 1950 and later to Disney Legend status in 2009. He worked with Ub and Walt for over a decade developing cameras, projectors, and other technical systems, including Circle-Vision 360, before joining fellow Disney executive Stan Kinsey to co-found their own company, Iwerks Entertainment, in 1986.

The photos are superb. They portray a real intimacy between Walt and Ub that is perfectly supplemented by Don's writing.

Ub had a lot of tricks up his sleeve, even beyond groundbreaking animation. From implementing cost-effective strategies with the Xerox process in the 1950s to creating flameless candles for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, it seems like there was nothing Ub couldn’t tackle.

I loved this book and I loved speaking with Don about it. When I asked him "if there is one thing that you would want readers to learn from your dad, what would it be?" His response:

"Dedication to excellence, persistence and never giving up on an idea if it has value. Finding a vocation that you truly enjoy, rather than a day-to-day job with no excitement or reward. Easier to say than to find, but it is said that we go through life once as we know it, and we should make the best and satisfying use of our time while we are here."

Read. This. Book.

[Hots Hartley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry. I didn't come away from the reading with any better idea of what kind of person Ub Iwerks was, or how he worked. Instead, I learned a bunch of textbook physics and camera-lens problem-solving based on work Ub did in the darkroom and lab.

The stories were interesting, but the author didn't present Ub's scientific methods in an easily understood way. It read like a textbook, with passive voice and lots of numbers, from focal lengths to audio-animatronics disc counts.

I would have preferred to hear more about the person, the high-level thinking, and how he dealt with people and motivation.

[Marion Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that has been a long time coming. Ub Iwerks contributed SO much to the Disney legacy and empire. Most know him as the first to animate Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphony Skeleton Dance, still considered to be some of the best animation ever executed. But Iwerks went on to solve endless problems and challenges presented by cameras, the animating process and then the Disney parks.

Written by his son Don, this is a fascinating and engrossing read. Some of it went completely over my head, but not for lack of illustrations and explanations. Ub's inventions were simply beyond me!

The Disney community is so fortunate to have this document of Ub Iwerks' fabulous contribution to Disney, and, as it turns out, movie history.

[Alex Baron · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great for Disney fans to get a coffee table book featuring all the various inventions Ub Iwerks had created over his life. Ub isn't covered often or in much detail in Disney texts, but he plays an enormous role in Disney history. To learn about the man, with his own son as the author, was quite the treat. The selection of photos throughout the book were also well chosen.

I am not the best at mechanical aspects and I struggled at times to understand what specifically Ub was trying to accomplish on certain projects or why they were so technically challenging. I think in some areas that extra context would have been great. Overall, though I quite enjoyed the book and would recommend for Disney fans or for those curious about inventions in general.