MORE THAN TEN YEARS have been spent on the project that became The Disney Revolt, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of many. My apologies for anyone I missed.
I was given this assignment by my mentor and friend John Culhane, and I had complete cooperation over many wonderful visits with Barbara Perry Babbitt over the years. This book would not exist without them, and I wish they were still here to see it.
Huge thanks to the family of Art Babbitt: Michele Kane, Karin Babbitt, Laurel Lee James, Audrey James, Alan Babbitt, Susan B. Fine, Denise Silverman, and Steve Rabin.
Special thanks to Didier Ghez, who has been instrumental in every step of this long process, Lucas Seastrom for making multiple trips to scan the fifteen-hundred-page NLRB court case, Tom Sito for his help and blessing, and John Canemaker for his guidance from day one.
A special thanks to Marge Champion, Don Lusk, and my good friend Willis Pyle, all of whom passed before the completion of this book, and who generously shared their firsthand experiences of Disney’s golden age.
For help with direction, support, and filling in some of the blanks along the way: Adam Abraham, Mindy Aloff, David Arnstein, the late Jacqueline Auguston, Nigel Austin, Michael Barrier, Joshua Bechtel-Lunior, Jerry Beck, Howard Beckerman, the late Carl Bell, David and Alice Bell, Debra Benjamin, Helge Bernhardt, Cameron Bossert, Joe Campana, the late Charles L. Campbell, Kevin Carpenter, A. Scott Cauger, Bill Cotter, the late Sam Cornell, Bob Cowan, Lee Crowe, Andreas Deja, Harvey Deneroff, Ron Diamond, Michael Dolan, Renée Patin Farrington, the late June Foray, Levy Gansberg, Ghena Glijansky Korn, Eric Goldberg, Donald H. Graham, Deborah Grandinetti, Melissa Hecht, Jim Hollifield, Howard Green, Linda Gramatky Smith, Linda B. Hall, Ann Hansen, Richard A. Harris, Josh Jacobs, Mindy Johnson, Charlie Judkins, Amy Bunin Kaiman, J. B. Kaufman, Kevin Kern, Gary Lassin, Jenny Lerew, Professor Jon Lewis, Uli Meyer, Carra Minkoff, Bill Moskin, Jeremy Oziel, Floyd Norman, Hans Perk, Elizabeth Peterson, Todd James Pierce, Janet Reid, Sam and Sharon Rosenfeld, Kim Schneiderman, Kevin Schreck, Paula Sigman-Lowery, Tom Sito, Uwe Spiekermann, Emily Stern, Lawrence Stern, Jane Tear, Ted Thomas, Tim Walker, Maggie Wisdom, Laurie Wolko, and Stephen Worth.
For permissions and institutional research, thank you to Tricia Gesner at the Associated Press; Molly Haigh, Maxwell Zupke, and Estelle Yim from UCLA Special Collections; Jim Lentz at Heritage Auctions; Ashley Swinnerton at the MOMA Special Collections, Allison Chomet at the NYU Special Collections, Howard Prouty and Megan Harinski at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library; Claude Zachary at USC; David Sigler and Ellen E. Jarosz at CSU, Northridge; Valerie Yaros at the Screen Actors Guild; and Raven Ramos and the Mercy College Faculty Development Grant.
Thanks to my teachers Shelly Brown, Shirley Kahn, Janet Wolf, and Susan Campbell Bartoletti. This book is a culmination of their skills in the classroom.
Thank you to my agent Eric Myers; my editors Jerry Pohlen, Joseph Webb, Devon Freeny, and Cathy Jones, and everyone at Chicago Review Press.
Thanks to my brother Aaron, who gave me notes on the draft. And to Joseph and Carol Friedman, who volunteered to be arrested and serve jail time during the 1972–1973 Philadelphia teachers’ strike, then married, begat me, and filled my life with Disney.
Finally, thank you to my wife, Anya Revah-Politi, whose unyielding support has been crucial for the completion of this book.