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his beloved characters. But if the Disney studio had a special formula, Walt Disney had no idea what it was.
    Disney had again redefined film. The richer, more-lifelike animation of Snow White was a sign of greater things to come from the Disney studio. But Disney was largely dismissive of the praise and plaudits his latest creation attracted. “We just try to make a good picture,” he said. “And then the professors come along and tell us what we do.”

 
    Disney’s employees were aware of the company’s financial problems. In 1940, the Disneys had sold stock in the company and set aside 20 percent of the shares for employee compensation. The Disney Brother Studio was one of the first American companies to share ownership with its workers this way. But as share prices fell, the studio bought back much its stock. Shares that started at $25 eventually plummeted to $3.
    By February 1941, the studio’s main creditor, the Bank of America, insisted on cost-cutting measures. To circumvent this, Disney devised a way of giving his best animators incremental raises in hopes the bank would not notice. Although the company had posted a small profit in 1941 and had retired earlier debts and property mortgages with the stock sale, losses from Pinocchio and Fantasia were mounting. Disney decided to quickly produce a lower-budget animated feature: Dumbo .
    Back in October 1940, the Screen Cartoonists Guild (SCG) launched an effort to unionize the Disney studio. By early December, the SCG had collected cards from a majority of the studio’s employees approving the union.
    Disney understood that his employees were concerned about the prospect of layoffs, given the company’s financial position, but the union decision wasn’t strictly about money. Disney’s more talented and senior animators were frustrated by slaving away anonymously for an authoritarian taskmaster who took all the credit. Other than Mickey Mouse, the Disney name was the only one that ever figured prominently in the credits of a Disney release .
    Disney was livid when he learned of the potential unionization. He called in senior animator Art Babbitt , one of his most valued and trusted employees and insisted Babbitt help stop the union action. Disney threatened to close down the studio before giving in to a union. Babbitt said he could not help.
    Disney thought if his whole staff took a vote, they would reject the union. But the SCG declined a vote and reiterated that if the company did not sign with the union, studio employees would strike. In February 1941, Disney called a meeting with his employees. He reminded them that when other studios had cut salaries during the Depression he had continued to pay handsome bonuses even when the company was strapped for cash, but the speech backfired. In attempting to address the staff’s concerns, Disney only reminded his employees of their list of grievances. Disney’s plea as their heroic leader came across as a sob story.
    When Babbitt became a vocal leader of the SCG, Disney was enraged. He told Babbitt that if he kept organizing the studio’s employees he would be “thrown out the front gate.”
    But Babbitt was stubborn and fearless and popular with the other employees. That spring, just as Disney was ready to fire him, Babbitt married young Marjorie Belcher, the model for Snow White. Disney held his fire.But by March, Disney had started referring to him as a punk.
    In late May 1941, Disney fired twenty animators who had signed with SCG. A week later, he fired Babbitt. The strike began the next day.
    Just how many employees went out on strike or honored their picket line was unclear. The SCG maintained that the figure exceeded 400. A rival union, the American Society of Screen Cartoonists, claimed it was only 300. The studio told The New York Times the actual number was 293.
    The strike was intensely personal for Disney. He felt betrayed by employees he believed he had paid well and treated like family. These men