By the late 20s, when Disney opened his studio, the entertainment industry was shifting its focus to corporate production. There were eight major film companies at the time Disney began his studio—Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, Universal, Warner Bros., Columbia, United Artists, and RKU (Watts 31).
By the time Snow White, Walt Disney’s first smash hit, was released in 1937, the Great Depression was in full swing (“Walt Disney - Biography”). While other companies struggled during the Depression, Disney continued to offer employment, art training, and meal tickets (Watts 63). He was once even heard going as far as to say, “If it hadn’t been for the Depression, I wouldn’t have any of these guys” in reference to his hiring successes (Watts 63). Some of his success in this time can be attributed to his exclusive contract for the use of tricolor technology in 1932 (Watts 63).
As the Depression ended, and World War II began, worker strife became an issue for the first time in the history of Walt Disney Studios. The World War II draft did not discriminate, and many Disney employees were sent overseas (Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez 21). Around the same time as the draft, Disney employees began forming unions to fight what they viewed as unfair wages and an authoritarian work environment (Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez 23). During this tumultuous period in both the studio and the world, Disney had turned to creating educational and training films in order to continue to turn a profit (Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez 25). It was not until after the war that Walt Disney Studios reached its golden age of fairy tales leading up to Disney’s creating of Disneyland in 1955 (“Disney, Walt - Credo Reference - Credo Reference”).
By the time Snow White, Walt Disney’s first smash hit, was released in 1937, the Great Depression was in full swing (“Walt Disney - Biography”). While other companies struggled during the Depression, Disney continued to offer employment, art training, and meal tickets (Watts 63). He was once even heard going as far as to say, “If it hadn’t been for the Depression, I wouldn’t have any of these guys” in reference to his hiring successes (Watts 63). Some of his success in this time can be attributed to his exclusive contract for the use of tricolor technology in 1932 (Watts 63).
As the Depression ended, and World War II began, worker strife became an issue for the first time in the history of Walt Disney Studios. The World War II draft did not discriminate, and many Disney employees were sent overseas (Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez 21). Around the same time as the draft, Disney employees began forming unions to fight what they viewed as unfair wages and an authoritarian work environment (Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez 23). During this tumultuous period in both the studio and the world, Disney had turned to creating educational and training films in order to continue to turn a profit (Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez 25). It was not until after the war that Walt Disney Studios reached its golden age of fairy tales leading up to Disney’s creating of Disneyland in 1955 (“Disney, Walt - Credo Reference - Credo Reference”).