Ub Iwerks Studio

Ub Iwerks started his own animation studio in 1930.  This was obviously a huge risk as he had been in Disney's shadow since they were 18 and especially at this time in America starting a business was a huge risk.  As he started his business a year after the Wall Street Crash which led to the Great Depression which in tern led to a great uprising in the unemployment figures so for Ub to start his business now he needed to ensure the few people that he was going to employ that it was worth it and that he could make a real go of this.  

His first creation was Flip the Frog.  Ub produced and helped draw 38 shorts for this character in 3 years.  Again shocking me that when he commits to a project and he starts to draw he really just doesn't stop until it's done and I'd love to have that sort of motivation.  As his split from Disney was still fresh in his mind the character Flip is completely anti-Disney which you can see when you watch the video's this is really Ub's sense of humour coming through the character.  

Drawing influence from the times and Ub's life in the short animations Flip can most likely be seen starting up a new business or trying and failing to find work due to the depression and the troubles it brought to America.  He constantly clashes and has trouble with his sidekick Orace the Mule he also has trouble with finding love which is actually pretty funny to watch and again its very un-disney like, which I'm surprised at how much I liked it.  

These cartoons made him fairly successfully and they were soon followed by another series called Willie Whopper. 


There were less Willie Whopper shorts, just 13 made in just a year.  These were meant as a replacement to Flip who was on the outs as these animations were being made.  

The shorts follow a boy called Willie, a young boy who tells his friends about his outrageous adventures which are in fact lies hence his surname.  Unlike the Flip the Frog all of these animated shorts were kept in black and white whereas only two of the 38 shorts were kept in black and white.  

For me the Flip the Frog cartoons are better as I found them funnier and I guess the fact that most of them are in colour is also a part of why I like them better as it made a change for me to watch something that was made so early that was in colour.  


Sadly The Iwerks Studio wasn't meant to last as even though his shorts had brought him a certain amount of success it wasn't enough to keep his company afloat in the midst of the depression and he was forced to close before the end of the decade was over (1940).


References:
TV Tropes (n.d.) Flip The Frog, [online] Available at: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FlipTheFrog [Accessed: Tuesday 17th January 2012].
TV Tropes (n.d.) Willie Whopper, [online] Available at: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WillieWhopper [Accessed: Tuesday 17th January 2012].
Tv Tropes (n.d.) Flip The Frog. [image online] Available at: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FlipTheFrog [Accessed: Tuesday 17th January 2012].
Tv Tropes (n.d.) Willie Whopper. [image online] Available at: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WillieWhopper [Accessed: Tuesday 17th January 2012].
The Animation of Ub Iwerks (n.d.) The Animation of Ub Iwkers/ Flip the Frog, [online] Available at: http://www.thegreat1930s.com/ubiwerks/ [Accessed: Tuesday 17th January 2012].