August 7 - Wilfred Jackson

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On this day, in 1988, Wilfred Emmons Jackson passed away in Newport Beach, California. Born in Chicago, Illinois on January 24, 1906, Jaxon, as he came to be commonly referred to, had made his way to Los Angeles, California and the Otis Art Institute by 1925. As his artistic talents blossomed from a few years of instruction, he began hanging around a little studio on Hyperion Avenue. It wasn’t a good time to be trying to get a job with the Disney brothers. They’d just lost the rights to their popular rabbit character, half their staff and were struggling to keep their heads above all the red ink. Jaxon was willing to do the most menial of tasks for free, however, and stuck around. He would later quip that at some point someone just stuck a paycheck in his hand, making him the only Disney employee that was never actually hired. One of the first things he ever did with the company, however, would cement his place in Disney history forever.

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Hollywood was a quickly changing place in 1928. The Jazz Singer had hit people’s eyes and ears just a few months before and rung the requiem bell for silent pictures. Walt knew that animation wasn’t going to be any different. The problem was how to get the soundtrack to synch up with action happening on screen, something that is crucial to expressing emotions and invoking laughter in an animated film. The new kid on the block, Jaxon, came up with the solution. He devised a system where the ticks of a metronome could be notated on a musical score and the cel count sheet for a film, causing the drawings and the sound effects and score to be nearly perfectly synchronized. Think of it like a precursor to the modern click track. Disney began utilizing Jaxon’s system immediately, starting with Steamboat Willie. The studio was also able to keep their new secret weapon pretty much under wraps. Competing animation studios spent over a year trying to figure out how Disney was so much better at getting all the elements of their movies to line up that well. Once they did, Jaxon’s notation system swept through the entire industry, revolutionizing entertainment as it went.

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Jaxon’s innovation, along with his meticulous attention to detail, quickly propelled him into the role of Director at the studio. Over the next several years, he would direct more than 35 shorts. Some of them would star Mickey Mouse, like the first time Mickey appeared in color, 1935’s The Band Concert. A lot of them were entries in the Silly Symphony series, three of which won Academy Awards. Jaxon put a little gold statue on the studio’s mantle for The Tortoise and the Hare in 1934, The Country Cousin in 1936 and The Old Mill in 1937. That’s right. He won three times in a four year stretch. Something no other Disney director could match.

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With his successes in the Shorts Department piling up, it was natural that Jaxon would become a sequence director when the studio expanded into feature length films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and ending with Lady and the Tramp in 1955, Jaxon directed parts of eleven classic Disney animated features. Some consider his direction of the Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria segment of 1940’s Fantasia to be his crowning achievement, but he was also responsible for all the animated (albeit seldom seen) parts of Song of the South. His amiable but stubborn adherence to doing things right also elevated Cinderella, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.

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In the mid Fifties, as the studio was getting heavily into television, Walt asked Jaxon to be one of his main go-to directors, especially of animated episodes, for Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents. He spent the remainder of the decade directing and producing (and once even appearing in) several episodes of the anthology show, as well as a one-off special in 1955 called Dateline: Disneyland.

Unfortunately, during this later period in his career, Jaxon’s health went began to decline and by 1961, after 33 years of inspiring everyone around to produce some of the best films in the industry, he was forced to retire. Retirement seemed to suit him, though, as he would live another 27 years, passing away in 1988. Eleven years later, in 1999, for all his lasting contributions to not only the company but the industry as a whole, Jaxon was officially declared a Disney Legend.

March 3 - Bobby Driscoll

On this day, in 1937, Robert Cletus Driscoll was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When Bobby was five his father, an insulation salesman, began suffering health problems from handling asbestos all the time at work. On a doctor’s recommendation, the family moved to Los Angeles in 1943 to try to alleviate his symptoms. It wasn’t long before people began recommending that Bobby get into movies. The family’s dentist had a son who was a regular on the MGM lot and arranged for Bobby to have an audition. He nailed it and made his first screen appearance in that year’s Lost Angel with Margaret O’Brien. Over the next three years, Bobby appeared in nine more films spread around most of the major studios in town. All that changed in when Bobby came to attention of a struggling animation studio out in Burbank.

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In 1946, the Walt Disney Studio was producing a film based on the stories of Joel Chandler Harris that would be a blend of live action storytellers giving a framework to animated stories. Although many of the ‘package films’ the studio had been cobbling together during the lean war years included both live and drawn scenes, Song of the South was the first Disney picture to deliberately meld them together for the story’s sake since the Alice comedies. Impressed with Bobby’s previous work, Walt decided to put him under personal contract with the studio, the first time Disney had done that. His south co-star, Luana Patten, was also put under contract and the two quickly became known as Disney’s Sweetheart Team.

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Bobby and Luana were paired again in 1948 for So Dear to My Heart, which also starred Burl Ives. That same year, the Sweethearts teamed up with Roy Rogers for the live action part of the Pecos Bill segment in Melody Time. Bobby was loaned out to Disney’s distributor, RKO Pictures, for two movies, If You Knew Susie with Eddie Cantor and The Window. Howard Hughes, RKO’s new owner, didn’t think much of Bobby’s acting skills, but not only was The Window a surprise hit, that film, combined with his performance in Heart, earned him a special Juvenile Academy Award in 1950.

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Walt then cast Bobby as Jim Hawkins in the studio’s first fully live action picture, Treasure Island. In order to utilize money made in England during the war, the film’s production had to occur in that country. Unfortunately, someone dropped the ball when it came to everyone’s paperwork. Partway into filming, it was discovered that Bobby didn’t have a valid work visa and was ordered out of the British Empire. During the six weeks the studio was given to prepare an appeal, all of Bobby’s close-up scenes were quickly filmed before he had to return to the States. The long shots were then completed with a British stand in and the film was completed satisfactorily.

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Bobby’s final role with Disney was as the title character in 1953’s Peter Pan. Not only did he voice the boy who never grew up, he was the live action model for the animators as well. Following the release of Pan, Bobby’s contract could have been extended another two years. But Bobby had hit that age that all child star’s get to eventually. He was no longer the cute younger brother type. Even though he’d been a perennial favorite of Walt’s, even the studio head felt the only parts in Bobby’s foreseeable future were bullies and the decision was made to let him go. Bobby, like so many kids before and since, never recovered from the blow.

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The other studios in town didn’t show much interest in one of Disney’s prodigies. The chance for even cameo roles virtually disappeared as Bobby struggled to finish high school. Before graduating he turned to drugs, mostly heroin, to fill the gap his defunct career left in his life. For the rest of the Fifties, Bobby (now using the name Robert in a bid to reinvent himself) only managed to scrape up occasional appearances on one the ubiquitous anthology television series. He married his longtime girlfriend and had three kids, but the relationship fell apart by 1960. With his drug habit escalating, he was arrested as an addict in 1961 and sentenced to the Narcotic Rehabilitation Center in Chino, California. After his release a year later, he discovered his career was really over; no studio would touch him.

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Once he’d finished serving his parole, Bobby moved to New York City in 1965 to try a career on Broadway. It never materialized but he did become part of Andy Warhol’s Factory. He displayed some talent as an artist, working mostly in collage, and even had some work exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum of Art once. His art did not bring in much money, however. By early 1968, Bobby left the Factory, with hardly a dime to his name, and disappeared into the wilds of New York. On March 30, 1968, kids found his body in an abandoned tenement in the East Village, dead from heart failure brought on by extended drug use. With no identification, he was buried in the Potter’s Field on Hart Island. It wasn’t until a year and a half later, when his mother contacted the Disney studio in an attempt to locate him (his father’s health was rapidly declining) that a search was made and his fingerprints help identify his final resting place. His name was added to his father’s headstone, but the former star’s remains are still on Hart Island. At the end, he was only 31.

February 16 - James Baskett

On this day, in 1904, James Baskett was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. James planned to become a pharmacist after high school, but two intertwined circumstances got in the way of that dream: pharmacology school was more expensive than James could afford , so he began acting to support himself. The world of prescription drugs never stood a chance. He began on the stage in Chicago, Illinois, starting small but taking increasingly roles. He eventually moved to New York City, joining Bill Robinson's (better known as Mr. Bojangles) acting company. It didn't take long for James to establish himself as one of New York's leading black actors. In 1929, he appeared on Broadway with Louis Armstrong in a musical revue called Hot Chocolates that ran for over 200 performances. Starting in 1932, he began appearing in films being produced in New York, utilizing mostly (if not all) black casts, like Harlem is Heaven, Gone Harlem and Policy Man.

In 1939, James moved again, this time to Los Angeles, California, where he continued to nab small film roles. A highlight of this phase of his career was a turn as Lazarus in the 1943 anti-Nazi horror movie Revenge of the Zombies. In 1944, James met Freeman Gosden and was asked to join the cast of Freeman's radio show, Amos 'n' Andy. For the next four years, James gave voice to Gabby Gibson, a slick talking lawyer, for a nationwide audience.

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In 1945, James answered a newspaper ad seeking voice actors for a new project being produced by the Walt Disney Studio, Song of the South. He auditioned for the role of a singing butterfly, but when Walt heard his voice, James was called back for a more extensive session. In the end, Walt offered him the lead role of Uncle Remus, making James the first live action actor the studio ever hired (the studio's first live action actress was Virginia Davis, original star of the Alice Comedies). He did, in fact, also get to be that singing butterfly, as well as the voice of Br'er Fox and partially the voice of Br'er Rabbit, when Johnny Lee was unable to finish the film.

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Song of the South is a picture mired in controversy, some of it simply because of its content and some of it earned because of its handling of said content. The controversy spilled over into the film's premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. James wasn't allowed to attend because of the city's segregation laws. What's never been up for debate, however, is James' flawless performance. Walt reportedly told his sister Ruth that James was the best actor to be discovered in years. The gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, among others, agreed and began campaigning heavily on James' behalf to get him an Academy Award for his role. The pressure on the Academy worked, sort of. While he didn't get a nomination for Best Actor, James was presented with an Honorary Award for "his able and heartwarming characterization of Uncle Remus," making him the first black actor to receive an Oscar (once again slightly upstaged by a woman; Hattie McDaniel had been the first African-American to win period, several years earlier).

James didn't get to enjoy his achievement for long. His health had become an issue during filming for Song of the South and had only gotten worse since. He suffered a diabetes induced heart attack in late 1946. Less than two years later, during a summer hiatus for Amos 'n' Andy, James passed away on July 9, 1948 from heart failure. He was only 44 years old.

November 12 - Song of the South

On this day, in 1946, Song of the South had it's world debut in Atlanta, Georgia. Controversial from its very opening, Song hasn't been officially seen in the United States for over thirty years now.

Walt had wanted to make a movie based on the stories of Joel Chandler Harris long before he started trying to get the rights to them. Even after he did secure the rights, he faced an uphill battle within the studio itself. Some people didn't think there was enough story to warrant the budget it would take, but most employees who raised objections did so along racial lines. Walt was well aware of the minefield he was steering into and but was a bit too overly committed to making the movie to not go full speed ahead anyways.

It was decided that Song would be a mixture of live action and animation, which certainly helped with the budget issues. When an ad was placed in the local newspapers for voice actors, James Baskett applied and was initially cast as a butterfly. Walt was intrigued with James' voice, asked to meet him and immediately wanted to test him for the film's lead. James passed the test and was cast as Uncle Remus and the voice of Br'er Fox (he got to remain in the role of the butterfly as well). Walt was so enamored with James' performance, he campaigned for an Oscar. His wish would be granted. James was awarded a special Academy Award for his virtuoso turn as Uncle Remus. Part of the film's controversy is of course the fact that it had to be a special award instead of a Best Actor award, but that's such a small part it's hardly worth mentioning. Ditto the fact that James didn't attend the premier because Atlanta was a severely segregated city at the time.

The biggest bone of contention with Song of the South is "confusion" over when the story takes place. While Disney has always maintained that the film takes place in the 1870s, and if you are a fashion expert the costumes apparently bear that out, the time is never mentioned in the film. Most viewers are going to assume that the story takes place pre-Civil War. The Hays Office had asked that the book at the beginning of the film clearly show the year of the action, but that, unfortunately never happened. As a result, the usual Disney sanitizing of locations and eras makes it look like the slaves on the plantation were just pleased as punch to be there. It was a notion that didn't really fly in 1946 (there were protests of the film even back then) and definitely doesn't fly now. Song wasn't helped by the fact that, as one reviewer put it, there wasn't enough charm to overcome the cliches.

Song's saving graces (doe's it have any, you might ask and the answer is yes, a couple) are the animated sequences and the songs. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" has become a classic and also won the Oscar for Best Song. The animated bits and the characters of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox have been seen on television numerous times and quite frequently in the parks. The attraction Splash Mountain is based on the Tar Baby and Laughing Place sequences (although you obviously won't see any mention of a tar baby anywhere in it). Most American kids don't have a clue that the Br'er characters come from a movie, not a log flume ride.

That wasn't always the case. Song of the South was re-released in theaters several times successfully, grossing over 65 million dollars total. The last time was in 1986 for the film's 40th anniversary. It's never been released on home video in the US but has appeared in Japan and most of Europe. Song has also been shown on the BBC as recently as 2006. Every once in a while, Disney will make some sort of announcement about it, but don't hold your breath that it will appear in the US any time soon. I personally have never seen the whole movie (even though it wouldn't be hard to as several bootlegs exist various places online), but from what I understand, I'm really not missing much. The plot hasn't aged well at all and wasn't terribly exciting to begin with.

October 21 - Mary Blair

On this day, in 1911, artist Mary Browne Robinson was born in McAlester, Oklahoma. Her family had moved to Morgan Hill, California by the early Twenties. She had already graduated from San Jose State University when she received a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute. Mary graduated from Chouinard in 1933 and soon married another artist, and future Disney employee, Lee Blair. Her dream was to have a career in the fine arts but the Great Depression had other plans for her. To make ends meet, she ended up taking a job at MGM, in a medium she felt was beneath her: animation.

Mary continued to paint, and try to sell her work, whenever she could. Both Mary and her husband were devoted to watercolors. Even though her work at this time was saturated with color, few if any fans of her later work would recognize them as "Mary Blairs". Her paintings during the Thirties were probably influenced by the economic turmoil around her as they tend to be dark and moody.

By 1940, Lee, who had worked for several studios around Hollywood, had migrated to the Walt Disney Studio and Mary would join him there in April of that year. Her initial time with the studio would prove to be incredibly frustrating for her. She had plenty of work to do, making sketches and concept drawings for a variety of projects, but every film she worked on had already been pretty much conceived and she didn't have any room to let her imagination run wild. She also had to work under various other veteran company artists, so her work never looked like it was actually hers. To top it all off, one of the biggest projects she worked on was a "Baby Ballet" segment for a second version of Fantasia that never ended up being produced. Pretty disgruntled, she would resign her position by June of 1941. Lee, however, stayed on with the company, a decision that turn out to be spectacular for his wife.

In 1941, Walt was to embark on a three month goodwill tour of South America at the behest of the United States Government. He decided to bring a bunch of staff along to see if he couldn't pull some projects out of the trip. Lee Blair was one of the artists Walt chose to bring, mainly because he wanted to know if Lee's wife would also come along. During the time Mary had been with the studio, even though she felt stifled the whole time, Walt had fallen in love with her work. He was excited to see what she could do in South America. So, in August 1941, just two months after resigning, Mary was rehired.

South America would turn out to be the most important development in Mary's career. She experienced a literal color explosion in her work. She also began using charcoals, tempera and gouache in addition to her usual watercolors. As she layered color upon color, she found her true artistic voice and began producing the kind of work most of her fans enjoy and love. One of those fans was her boss, Walt. He was crazy about the pictures she was producing on the tour and gave Mary what she wanted from the beginning: her own artistic license at the beginning of a project, letting her create true concept art.

Mary was highly influential on the development of the two films that came directly out of the South America trip. Both Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros benefited from her color combinations and vibrancy. Walt was so delighted, he assigned her to work on many of the films throughout the late Forties and early Fifties. Mary's designs for Song of the South, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan made each of those films richer and more beautiful than they ever would have been without her.

By 1953, Mary was ready for a change and once again left the Disney Studio. She would now spend her time raising a family, having two sons, and she became a freelance illustrator and artist. Her best know work from this period would be the Little Golden Books she illustrated, but she also designed ad campaigns for companies like Nabisco and Maxwell House and created sets for Radio City Music Hall.

In the early Sixties, Walt began ramping up several projects for the 1964 World's Fair. One of them was for Pepsi and UNICEF and he knew just who he wanted to design it. Mary was enticed to work for Disney once again, designing It's a Small World. The song that stays stuck in your head for days might be a Sherman Brothers classic, but the look of the attraction is pure Mary. It's a Small World was so successful, that Walt would have it moved to Disneyland when the fair ended. It became such a beloved part of Disneyland, that versions of it would pop up in Florida, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong. The sun never sets on Mary's endearing little children dancing in their fanciful settings.

Mary would continue to do occasional work for the Walt Disney Company, mostly in the form of murals. In 1967, she created two murals in Tomorrowland at Disneyland, both of which have unfortunately been covered over. In 1971, she put a 90 foot high mural in the Grand Canyon Concourse of the Contemporary Resort of Walt Disney World. This one can still be seen today. Mary also created a series of Disney note cards for Hallmark.

Mary had lived in Washington and Long Island before returning to Soquel, California in the later part of the Seventies. On July 26, 1978, she passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage. Her legacy, though, lives on. In 1991, Mary was made an official Disney Legend. In 1996, she was awarded the Winsor McCay Award. And on October 21, 2011, Google created a doodle in honor of her 100th birthday.

Also on this day, in American history: First Transatlantic Voice Transmission

September 29 - Charles Wolcott

On this day, in 1906, composer Charles Wolcott was born in Flint, Michigan. By 1927, Charles was part of the growing Big Band scene, arranging music for and playing piano with folks like Benny Goodman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Whiteman. He also worked with radio stars like Rudy Vallee, George Burns and Gracie Allen.

In 1937, Charles started working at the Walt Disney Studio writing scores for the shorts department. He soon moved up to feature films. His credits include Bambi, Pinocchio, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Song of the South, Make Mine Music and Fun and Fancy Free. By 1944, Charles had become General Music Director for Disney and had a hit single, his orchestra's recording of the Brazilian choro song "Tico Tico no Fuba."

In 1950, Charles left Disney to become an Associate General Music Director for MGM. At his new studio, Charles gets credit for bringing rock and roll to the big screen. While scoring the 1955's The Blackboard Jungle, he convinced the producers to use "Rock Around the Clock" in the film. The sky didn't fall and, as they say, rock was then here to stay. By 1958, Charles had become General Music Director for MGM. In 1960, he would release another hit single, "Ruby Duby Du," and leave the world of music behind.

Charles was a practitioner of the Baha'i Faith. In 1953, he had been elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. In 1960, Charles was made secretary of that body and resigned his position at MGM. Just one year later, he was elected to the International Baha'i Council and moved to Haifa, Israel. When the Council turned into the Universal House of Justice (think of it kind of like the Baha'i Supreme Court) in 1963, Charles became one of the first nine members. He would hold that position until his death in 1987.