Description
[DISNEY, WALT]. KINNEY, JACK. Original Ink & Pencil Drawing Signed by Disney Animation Artist Jack Kinney of a Game of Baseball Among the Studio Staffers. 12 1/2” x 10 1/2”, c. 1988. Original ink & pencil drawing signed by Disney animation artist Jack Kinney depicting a game of baseball among the studio staffers. With a printed authentication certificate from Cartoons & Comics of Burbank, CA hand-signed by Howard Lowery, the internationally known Walt Disney and cartoon art expert, authenticating the drawing as “an original work of art by the distinguished Walt Disney animator and director Jack Kinney. It was created as an illustration for his book ‘Walt Disney and Assorted Other Characters. An Unauthorized Account of the Early Years at Disney’ (Harmony Books, 1989).” This drawing did not appear in the final published version of the book. The drawing shows a game of baseball being played by the studio staffers which, among other competitive sports, was a regular feature of daily life and helped to relieve the tension and stress of work. Fine condition. Jack Kinney (1909 - 1992) was hired by Walt Disney in 1931, the early days of the Depression, to work at the Walt Disney Studio on Hyperion Avenue in East Hollywood. His beginning career includes his work on several shorts, including Santa's Workshop (1932), The Band Concert (1935), and Moose Hunters (1937). He went on to become a director of cartoons, working on the features Pinocchio and Dumbo, but he really shined in the shorts department, where his Goofy cartoons are among the best to come out of the Disney Studios. He received five Academy Award nominations and won an Oscar for the 1943 cartoon ‘Der Fuhrer’s Face,’ the only Donald Duck film to win an Academy Award. In 1959, Jack left Disney to start (with his brother Dick) Jack Kinney Productions, an independent animation studio. In his book ‘Walt Disney and Assorted Other Characters. An Unauthorized Account of the Early Years at Disney,’ Kinney recounts the highs and lows of daily life as a member of the creative department at Disney, where the staff referred to themselves as ‘inmates’ and the practical jokes and camaraderie provided rich material for the gags and scenes that they created for the screen. Working for Walt Disney could be as inspiring as it could be frustrating and his book presents an insider’s perspective with great humor and candor. He puts it best in his introduction: “These are my personal recollections of the Disney Studio where I worked for more than a quarter-century. It is the story of the little people, the strivers, the doers. It is about the pranks, the gags, the human foibles we remember so lovingly, and about the growing pains suffered by all involved. The Golden Age of Animation was a glorious experience.”
