This is the first installment of the series Behind the Scenes. In each installment, the author will explore the production history of a single animated short or feature film produced by The Walt Disney Company or an earlier version of Walt’s company.
“Cleaning Up!!?” (1921) was one of the first short films ever produced by Walt Disney. Under a minute in length, the short consists of a single frame and unlike the animated shorts that would arise later on in his career, this short is not a work of fiction. At the time, Walt was living in Kansas City, Missouri and based on this short, it can be presumed that crime was at a higher than average point. The short depicts a personified Kansas City cleaning up crime by kicking out any associated aspect of it. The city is shown expelling a burglar who has a price tag with the word “crime” placed around his neck.
Walt was only 19 years old when this short was released. It's quite amazing to see how talented he was from such a young age.
Source: YouTube.com
“Cleaning Up!!?” was the first of twelve short films commissioned by Milton Feld, which Walt dubbed as Newman's Laugh-O-grams. Unlike his later shorts, this short actually consists of no animation and instead is just Walt being filmed drawing a single frame. The film was released on March 20th, 1921 and is a silent black and white short.
A young Walt at his animator's workspace.
Source: hollywoodreporter.com
Although on first glance, there appears to be nothing special about this short, it was in fact very crucial for the history of The Walt Disney Company. Almost three months later on June 28th, Walt started his Laugh-O-Gram Studio. Through this studio, the bulk of Walt’s more well-known shorts were produced. Although his company was short-lived, Walt’s love for animation and the newly pioneered film medium only grew and eventually gave way to Mickey Mouse, who was created about four years after the studio went out of business.
Author Bio
Felicity Girty is an English major with a double minor in Cognitive Science and Film, Television, and Digital Media and the club's Head Blog Writer. She is addicted to all things Disney and has an enormous passion for literature and entertainment. If not reading or immersed in pop culture, you can find her listening to literally any kind of music. Felicity hopes to work her way into the entertainment industry as a producer/showrunner, starting out in development. She is also involved in UCLA Project SPELL.