I confess I still hadn’t fully adjusted to my move to the story team after working many years in Disney animation. No doubt, story had a different vibe, and in many ways I missed my animation drawing board. However, I was soon to discover that story came with a whole new set of challenges. Perhaps my old pal Rolly Crump said it best when I asked him about working with Walt Disney. “The closer you get to the sun –” said Rolly, “your chances of getting burned increases.” Of course, there are good things as well. Who wouldn’t want to work with Walt Disney?
Floyd’s sketch of best buddies Mowgli and Baloo the Bear
However, working with the Old Maestro was not always easy. Songwriter Terry Gilkyson found this out the hard way when Walt wanted him and his songs removed from “The Jungle Book.” I don’t know the details concerning the split with Walt and the tunesmith. But it was enough to trash all of the material Terry had written. All that is — except one. The Disney master animators loved one particular number and pleaded with Walt to let the tune remain. Eventually, Walt relented. And that’s why “The Bare Necessities” is the only Gilkyson song left in the movie.
Next, the Old Maestro turned his attention to Walt Peregoy’s background styling. There was no doubt Peregoy was an incredible artist, and his knowledge of color was amazing. Walt — Peregoy, not Disney, had painted a series of color thumbnails that were on display in the hallway on the second floor of the Animation Building. Peregoy intended to use color to push the film in a bold new direction, and those lucky enough to see his incredible color thumbnails were privy to an animation breakthrough.
Unfortunately, this was not the style Disney was looking for. Without hesitation, Disney veteran Al Dempster replaced Peregoy. Never a man to mince words, Walt Peregoy let his boss know how he felt about the decision. Peregoy was one of the few Disney artists who had no fear of getting into the “Old Man’s” face. Though they often disagreed, I’ve always felt Walt Disney truly respected Walt Peregoy for his outspokenness and total commitment to his art.
Walt Disney took great pride in his “story men.” An outdated term to be sure, but at this time in Disney history it was an accurate one. No woman had ever been given entrée to this famous of all, “Boy’s Club.” Of all the story men, no one was more respected than the Disney legend Bill Peet. Bill was always Walt’s go to guy whenever story problems arose. Peet was so trusted by Disney, he was one of the few story guys that could handle a film alone. With this in mind you can understand why this last disagreement was the most painful of all.
Photo courtesy of Google Images
As I said earlier, Bill had been working on “The Jungle Book” for nearly a year before I joined the crew, and he had set the tone of the film. However, it was a tone unacceptable to the Old Maestro, and he made his feelings known to his ace story guy. This spat between Peet and the boss drew little attention. After all, Bill had been with Disney since the thirties, and arguing with Walt had become commonplace. We knew once the smoke had cleared, Bill and Walt would have found common ground, and work would continue as always.
Only this time it was different. Peet dug in his heels and refused to back down. Well, you don’t challenged Walt Disney without him reminding you that his name, not yours — was on the building. At this point, Peet had had enough. Already a successful author of several children’s books, he didn’t have to be reminded he wasn’t needed. To the shock of every one of us, Walt included; Bill Peet packed up his stuff and headed out the door. Disney’s master storyteller would never work on another Disney feature.
During these dark times there were moments of lighthearted fun. If you were lucky enough to have been present on recording stage A back in the sixties, you would have seen and heard singer, musician, Louis Prima and his band tear up the place. Prima had been selected to be the voice of King Louie, the orangutan Mowgli encounters in the jungle. However, Prima didn’t show up alone for his recording session. He brought his band as well. And who could blame them. Las Vegas can be fun. But it can’t hold a candle to Disney’s cartoon factory.
As Prima went through his number, the Vegas showman couldn’t stand still. He was really into being King Louie. With all that energy being expended, the band couldn’t help but join in. Of course, you’ll never hear this music. Prima’s voice was isolated on a separate track so that composer George Bruns could record final music later. The original tracks recorded by Louis and his band is indeed over the top. I don’t exaggerate when I say Prima and his band went ape. The final tracks you hear on the movie’s soundtrack have been toned down. And I mean way, way down. Louis Prima at full tilt was more than Disney moviegoers of the sixties would have been able to handle.
Prima’s band, Sam Butera and the Witnesses go ape.
Their tracks were too wild for the movie.
By the way, that wonderful scat duet with Louis Prima and Phil Harris was recorded at different times. Because of their busy schedules we were not able to get both Prima and Harris in the studio at the same time. So Phil recorded his part of the song later while listening to the playback of Prima on headphones. Composer George Bruns also recorded a more modified musical backup since Sam Butera and the Witnesses seem to have too much, well — energy.
Director Woolie Reitherman, Larry Clemmons
and Dick Sherman confer with Louis Prima
The story crew of “The Jungle Book” seemed even smaller. Not surprising after the loss of a storytelling giant. However, the Old Maestro was undaunted and insisted we push on. With the loss of Bill Peet, we couldn’t help but ask the boss a very important question during an afternoon story meeting. “Ahem, Walt,” someone sputtered. “What about the story?” Without hesitation, the Old Maestro puffed his cigarette and shot back at all of us — and it’s an answer I’ll never forget. “Don’t worry about the story!” Disney shouted in his gruff voice. “Let me worry about the story! Just give me some good stuff!”
The answer couldn’t have been clearer. Walt wanted to be entertained. He knew that if he didn’t find the movie entertaining — neither would the audience. Where were the fun, the laughs, and the gags? The charming bits of business that made a Disney film so distinctively Disney? True, I didn’t know a lot about storytelling back then, but the Old Man certainly got through to me. From now on I would approach my story telling from a whole new perspective. Walt wanted to be entertained, and we darn well better come up with a way to do it.
The unsung heros of “The Jungle Book” were the character animators,
since most are unknown. Here’s my friend John Ewing when he was
working on the film back in the sixties.
Photo by Floyd Norman
Next time: George Sanders becomes Shere Kahn. Kaa the snake gets a song. And the Beatles are deemed to have no future in popular music.
Did you enjoy the latest installment of Floyd’s new series about the production of “The Jungle Book”? … Speaking of multi-part stories, Mr. Norman has three (count ’em — three!) great collections of his cartoons currently on the market. All of which take an affectionate look at his career in animation.
These include Floyd’s original collection of cartoons and stories — “Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation” (which is available for sale over at John Cawley’s excellent www.cataroo.com web site) as well as two follow-ups to that book, “Son of Faster, Cheaper” & “How the Grinch Stole Disney.” Which you can purchase by heading over to the Afrokids.com website.