The Seven Faces of Walt

In my last post, I mentioned Jack Kinney as author of "Walt Disney and Assorted Other Characters". Well, today, I again bring up both Kinney and his book. Contained therein, on page 157, is a series of sketches on Walt Disney himself:

According to Kinney:

"It was bandied about by the boys in the back room that Walt stopped by the studio basement on his way in to change into his mood costume for the day. These moods became known as 'the Seven Faces of Walt.'"

These sketches appear to reflect the times and attitude one employee felt about the boss. For some of the employees, including Kinney, it resembles an uncomfortable relationship with Walt. In addition to the fact that in almost every sketch Walt is depicted as having a smoke, of the seven "faces", four appear to be bad guys (Legree, Fuehrer, Scrooge and Satan), all dark in tone.

Only three are not evil, sinister or otherwise dark in tone, but even Walt as Mickey Mouse looks a bit smug, as he gestures toward an open chest chock full of cash (even the "s" in "Mouse" is designed as a dollar sign). According to the opinions of some that I got when I posted the picture elsewhere on other forums, they suggested that Kinney may have been envious of Walt's acquired wealth (hence how he looks as Scrooge or as Mickey). At least from my perspective, Legree and the Fuehrer seem to represent total obedience to Walt at all cost (and in the case of the latter, the unfounded notion that Walt was anti-Semite; I honestly doubt he was anti-Semite, but that's another blog post for another time). As for the Bountiful Angel and Mr. Nice Guy, perhaps these might have occurred with people who did the very best for Walt (like, say, the Nine Old Men), and they might also have represented his reputation to the world as a great iconic showman, that the public at large might have known more about these two faces than those actually working for Walt to bring his creations unto the world.

Maybe either one or both of them were not in the best of moods when the sketches were drawn up. It probably shows a way for one employee to vent his frustration about his boss. However, Kinney managed to stay on at Disney until he was terminated in 1957. Ironically, at the time of his being hired in 1931, he had been warned that his job might only be temporary and Kinney had always believed that. And when Walt finally fired him in 1957, Kinney still believed that his job was only temporary! Go figure.