View source for Ub Iwerks

{{Short description|American animator and special effects pioneer (1901–1971)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image         = Ub-iwerks.jpg
| caption       = Iwerks animating his most famous co-creation, [[Mickey Mouse]] {{circa|1929}}
| birth_name    = Ubbe Ert Iwerks
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1901|3|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Kansas City, Missouri]], U.S. 
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1971|7|7|1901|3|24|mf=y}}
| death_place   = [[Burbank, California]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery]]
| occupation    = {{flatlist|
*Animator
*cartoonist
*film producer
*inventor
*special effects technician}}
| years_active  = 1919–1971<ref name="korkis">{{Cite web |last=Korkis |first=Jim |date=July 1, 2020 |title=Who Was Ub Iwerks? |url=https://www.mouseplanet.com/12692/Who_Was_Ub_Iwerks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506011800/https://www.mouseplanet.com/12692/Who_Was_Ub_Iwerks |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |access-date=May 2, 2022}}</ref>
| spouse        = {{marriage|Mildred Sarah Henderson|1927}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mildred Sarah Henderson 1899–7 July 1971 (Age 72) |url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KCRW-KTK/mildred-sarah-henderson-1899-1971 |access-date=February 22, 2023 |website=[[FamilySearch]]}}</ref>
| notable_works = {{Plainlist|
* [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]
* [[Mickey Mouse]]
* [[Flip the Frog]]
}}
| children      = 2, including [[Don Iwerks|Don]]
| employer      = {{Plainlist|
* [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Productions]] (1923–1930, 1940–1964)
* [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|Leon Schlesinger Productions]] (1937)
* [[Columbia Pictures]] (1937–1940)
* Cartoon Films Limited (1936–1940)<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 7, 2016 |title='Minitoons' from Cartoon Films LTD/ Animated Cartoons Inc. |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/minitoons-from-cartoon-films-ltd-animated-cartoons-inc/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502180015/https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/minitoons-from-cartoon-films-ltd-animated-cartoons-inc/ |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |access-date=May 2, 2022}}</ref>
}}
| relatives     = [[Leslie Iwerks]] (granddaughter)
| signature     = Ub Iwerks Signature.png
}}
'''Ubbe Ert''' "'''Ub'''" '''Iwerks''' ({{IPAc-en|ʌ|b|_|ˈ|aɪ|w|ɜr|k|s}} {{respell|ub|_|EYE|wurks}}; March 24, 1901&nbsp;– July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. He was known for his early work with [[Walt Disney]], especially for having worked on the creation of [[Mickey Mouse]] and [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]], among other characters.

Iwerks and Disney met in 1919 while working at an art studio in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. After briefly working as illustrators for a local newspaper company, they ventured into animation together. Iwerks joined Disney as chief animator on the [[Laugh-O-Gram]] shorts series beginning in 1922, but a studio bankruptcy would cause Disney to relocate to [[Los Angeles]] in 1923. In the new studio, Iwerks continued to work with Disney on the ''[[Alice Comedies]]'' as well as the creation of [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]. Following the first ''Oswald'' short, both Universal Pictures and the Winkler Pictures production company insisted that the Oswald character be redesigned. At the insistence of Disney, Iwerks designed a number of new characters for the studio, including designs that would be used for [[Clarabelle Cow]] and [[Horace Horsecollar]].

One of Iwerks's most long-lasting contributions to animation was a refined version of a sketch drawn by Disney that would later go on to become [[Mickey Mouse]]. Iwerks was responsible for much of the animation for the early Mickey Mouse and ''[[Silly Symphony]]'' cartoons, including ''[[Steamboat Willie]]'', ''[[The Skeleton Dance]]'' and ''[[The Haunted House (1929 film)|The Haunted House]]'', before a falling out with Disney led to Iwerks's resignation from the studio in January 1930. Iwerks's final ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoon was 1930's ''[[The Cactus Kid (1930 film)|The Cactus Kid]]''. Following his separation with Disney, Iwerks, operating under [[Iwerks Studio]], created the characters [[Flip the Frog]] and [[Willie Whopper]] along with the ''[[ComiColor Cartoons]]'' series as part of a contract with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], but the new studio failed to rival its competitors. Iwerks later directed two ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon shorts for [[Leon Schlesinger Productions]] and several ''[[Color Rhapsody]]'' cartoons for [[Screen Gems]] from his studio as contract work before joining Disney again in 1940, after which he worked with special visual effects on productions such as 1946's ''[[Song of the South]]''.

Iwerks had two children, [[Don Iwerks|Donald Warren Iwerks]] and David Lee Iwerks, with his wife Mildred Sarah Henderson. Iwerks died of a heart attack in [[Burbank, California]], in 1971 at age 70. Iwerks was posthumously named a [[Disney Legend]] in 1989. His likeness has been featured in his granddaughter [[Leslie Iwerks]]'s 1999 documentary ''The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story'' as well as the 2014 feature film ''[[Walt Before Mickey]]'', in which he is portrayed by [[Armando Gutierrez]]. Iwerks received three nominations at the [[Academy Awards]], for which he won two. He also posthumously received the [[Winsor McCay Award]] at the 1978 [[Annie Awards]] and the Hall of Fame award at the 2017 [[Visual Effects Society Awards]]. Iwerks is considered one of the greatest animators of all time.

== Early life ==
Iwerks was born in [[Kansas City, Missouri]].{{sfn |Lenburg |1993 |p=[https://archive.org/details/greatcartoondire00lenb/page/24/mode/2up 25]}} His father was born in the village of [[Uttum]] in [[East Frisia]] (northwest Germany, today part of the municipality of [[Krummhörn]]) and emigrated to the United States in 1869 around the age of 14.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ub Iwerks {{!}} American Animator and Special-Effects Technician |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ub-Iwerks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910084220/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ub-Iwerks |archive-date=September 10, 2017 |access-date=December 26, 2021 |website=[[Britannica.com]] |language=en}}</ref> The elder Iwerks, who worked as a barber, had abandoned several previous wives and children. When Ub was a teenager, his father abandoned him as well, forcing the boy to drop out of school and work to support his mother. Iwerks despised his father and never spoke of or saw him again; upon learning that he had died, he reportedly said, "Throw him in a ditch."{{sfn |Iwerks |Kenworthy |2001 |p=134}} Years later, when Iwerks's son Don asked about his grandfather, Ub stopped Don, telling him "We don't talk about that."<ref name="Iwerks 1999">{{cite AV media |last=Iwerks |first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Iwerks |title=Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story (Part 1) |via=Dailymotion |format=video |date=1999 |url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnpkgt |access-date=2025-06-25}}</ref> He attended Ashland Grammar School, graduating in 1914.{{sfn |Lenburg |1993 |p=[https://archive.org/details/greatcartoondire00lenb/page/24/mode/2up 25]}}  Ub's full name, Ubbe Ert Iwerks, can be seen on early ''[[Alice Comedies]]'' that he signed. Several years later, he simplified his name to "Ub Iwerks", sometimes written as "U.B. Iwerks".{{efn|For example in the opening credits of ''[[Little Black Sambo (film)|Little Black Sambo]]'' (1935)}}

==Career==
===Disney work (1919–1929)===
Iwerks spent most of his career with Disney. The two met in 1919 while working for the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio in Kansas City,{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=46}} and eventually started their own commercial art business together.{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |pp=47–50}} Disney and Iwerks then found work as illustrators for the Kansas City Slide Newspaper Company{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=50}} (which was later named The Kansas City Film Ad Company).{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=56}} While working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Disney decided to take up work in animation,{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=58}} and Iwerks soon joined him. There he{{who|Disney or Iwerks?|date=April 2025}} attached a motor drive to the camera with a switch that resembled a telegraph key, reducing the number of people needed to animate from two to just one.{{how|reason=Both how and what here are opaque: what camera?  Who's animating?  What?  How?|date=April 2025}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Burnes |first1=Av Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEjSDvkp7OUC&dq=%22Ub+streamlined+the+process%22&pg=PA79 |title=Walt Disney's Missouri: The Roots of a Creative Genius |last2=Viets |first2=Dan |last3=Butler |first3=Robert W. |year=2002 |publisher=Kansas City Star Books |isbn=9780971708068 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

[[File:Trolley Troubles (1927) Title Card.jpg|thumb|The title card for ''[[Trolley Troubles]]'' (1927), animated by Iwerks]]

Iwerks was responsible for the distinctive style of the earliest Disney [[animated cartoon]]s, and was also responsible for designing Mickey Mouse.{{sfn |Maltin |1987 |p=189}} In 1922, when Disney began his [[Laugh-O-Gram Studio|Laugh-O-Gram]] cartoon series, Iwerks joined him as chief animator. The studio went bankrupt, however, and in 1923 Iwerks followed Disney's move to Los Angeles to work on a new series of cartoons known as "the [[Alice Comedies]]" which had live-action mixed with animation. After the end of this series, Disney asked Iwerks to design a character that became [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]].{{sfn |Apgar |2015 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/mickeymouseemble0000apga/page/34/mode/2up 34]–[https://archive.org/details/mickeymouseemble0000apga/page/36/mode/2up 37], [https://archive.org/details/mickeymouseemble0000apga/page/60/mode/2up 61]}} The first cartoon Oswald starred in was animated entirely by Iwerks. Following the first cartoon, Oswald was redesigned on the insistence of Oswald's owner and the distributor of the cartoons, Universal Pictures. The production company at the time, Winkler Pictures, gave additional input on the character's design.

In spring 1928, Disney was removed from the Oswald series, and much of his staff was hired away to Winkler Pictures. He promised to never again work with a character he did not own.{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=109}} Disney asked Iwerks, who stayed on, to start drawing up new character ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of frogs, dogs, and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were created at this time by Iwerks, but were also rejected. They later turned up as [[Clarabelle Cow]] and [[Horace Horsecollar]].{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=53}} Ub Iwerks eventually got inspiration from an old drawing. In 1925, [[Hugh Harman]] drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. Then, on a train ride back from a failed business meeting, Walt Disney came up with the original sketch for the character that was eventually called [[Mickey Mouse]].{{sfn |Iwerks |Kenworthy |2001 |p=54}}{{sfn |Apgar |2015 |p=[https://archive.org/details/mickeymouseemble0000apga/page/76/mode/2up 76]}} Afterward, Disney took the sketch to Iwerks. In turn, he drew a more clean-cut and refined version of Mickey, but one that still followed the original sketch.{{sfn |Apgar |2015 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/mickeymouseemble0000apga/page/80/mode/2up 80–81]}}

[[File:Excerpt from Steamboat Willie (1928), used as part of Walt Disney Animation Studios Logo.gif|thumb|right|Excerpt of ''[[Steamboat Willie]]'' (1928), one of the first few Mickey Mouse shorts, which was animated almost entirely by Iwerks]]

The first few Mickey Mouse and ''[[Silly Symphony]]'' cartoons were animated almost entirely by Iwerks, including ''[[Steamboat Willie]]'', ''[[The Skeleton Dance]]'' and ''[[The Haunted House (1929 film)|The Haunted House]]''.{{sfn |Maltin |1987 |p=189}} However, as Iwerks began to animate more and more cartoons on a daily basis, he grew increasingly resentful of Disney's leadership{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=143}} and felt his contributions were underappreciated.{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=144}} Iwerks and Disney's partnership ultimately splintered in January 1930. At a party, a child requested that Disney draw Mickey Mouse on a napkin, and Disney handed the pen to Iwerks, saying, "Why don't you draw Mickey and I'll sign it." Iwerks was enraged and stormed off.{{sfn |Iwerks |Kenworthy |2001 |pp=83-84}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Not! |first=Ripley's Believe It or |title=Wonderfully Weird Facts You Want To Know About Walt Disney |url=https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/08/18/wonderfully-weird-facts-you-want-to-know-about-walt-disney/ |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=Lethbridge News Now |language=en}}</ref>

Iwerks accepted a contract with Disney's former distributor, [[Pat Powers (businessman)|Pat Powers]], to leave Disney and start an animation studio under his own name.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=J.B. |title=Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History |last2=Gerstein |first2=David |date=2018 |publisher=Taschen |isbn=978-3-8365-5284-4 |location=Cologne |page=53}}</ref> His last Mickey Mouse cartoon was ''[[Wild Waves]]'' (1929) and final Disney film was the Silly Symphony ''[[Autumn (1930 film)|Autumn]]'' (1930).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryan, Jeff |title=A Mouse Divided: How Ub Iwerks Became Forgotten, and Walt Disney Became Uncle Walt |publisher=Post Hill Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-68261-628-4 |pages=181, 184}}</ref> (Powers and Disney had an earlier falling-out over Disney's use of the Powers Cinephone [[sound-on-film]] system—actually copied by Powers from [[Lee de Forest|DeForest]] [[Phonofilm]] without credit—in early Disney cartoons.){{citation needed|date=December 2022}} He also penciled the first strips of the [[Mickey Mouse (comic strip)|Mickey Mouse comic strip]].<ref>[https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2020/01/13/90-years-ago-mickey-mouse-comic-strip-debuts/ 90 Years Ago – Mickey Mouse Comic Strip Debuts]</ref>

=== After Disney (1930–1940) ===
====Iwerks Studio====
{{main article|Iwerks Studio}}
The [[Iwerks Studio]] opened in 1930. Financial backers led by Pat Powers suspected that Iwerks was responsible for much of Disney's early success. However, while animation for a time suffered at Disney from Iwerks's departure, it soon rebounded as Disney brought in talented new young animators.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Despite a contract with MGM to distribute his cartoons, and the introduction of a new character named [[Flip the Frog]] and later [[Willie Whopper]], the Iwerks Studio was never a major commercial success and failed to rival either Disney or [[Fleischer Studios]].  Newly hired animator Fred Kopietz recommended that Iwerks employ a friend from Chouinard Art School, [[Chuck Jones]], who was hired and put  to work as a cel washer.{{sfn |Maltin |1987 |p=191}} The Flip and Willie cartoons were later distributed on the home-movie market{{clarification needed| date= March 2019}} by [[Official Films]] in the 1940s.

[[File:Sinbadthesailor01.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Sinbad the Sailor (1935 film)|Sinbad the Sailor]]'', a 1935 ComiColor cartoon]]
From 1933 to 1936, he produced a series of shorts (independently distributed, not part of the MGM deal) in [[Cinecolor]], named ''[[ComiColor Cartoons]]''. The ComiColor series mostly focused on fairy tales with no continuing character or star. Later in the 1940s, this series received home-movie distribution by [[Castle Films]]. Cinecolor produced the 16&nbsp;mm prints for Castle Films with red emulsion on one side and blue emulsion on the other. Later in the 1970s [[Blackhawk Films]] released these for home use, but this time using conventional Eastmancolor film stock. They are now in the public domain and are available on VHS and DVD. He also experimented with stop-motion animation in combination with the [[multiplane camera]], and made a short called ''The Toy Parade'', which was never released in public.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Telotte |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LEy50gAEhpgC&dq=unreleased+film+Toy+Parade&pg=PA62 |title=The Mouse Machine: Disney and Technology |year=2008 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252033278 |author-link=Jay Telotte |via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1936, backers withdrew financial support from the Iwerks Studio, and it folded soon after.

====Contract work====
In 1937, [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|Leon Schlesinger Productions]] contracted Iwerks to produce four ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' shorts starring [[Porky Pig]] and [[Gabby Goat]]. Iwerks directed the first two shorts, while former Schlesinger animator [[Robert Clampett]] was promoted to director and helmed the other two shorts before he and his unit returned to the main Schlesinger lot. Iwerks also did contract work for [[Screen Gems]] (then [[Columbia Pictures]]' cartoon division)  where he was the director of several of the ''[[Color Rhapsody]]'' shorts from 1936-1940 returning to work for Disney in 1940.

=== Return to Disney (1940–1964) ===
After his return to the Disney studio, Iwerks mainly worked on developing [[special effects|special visual effects]]. He is credited as developing the processes for combining live-action and animation used in ''[[Song of the South]]'' (1946), as well as the [[Xerography|xerographic]] process adapted for cel animation, which was used in ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians|101 Dalmatians]]'' (1961).<ref name=korkis/> He also worked at WED Enterprises, now [[Walt Disney Imagineering]], helping to develop many Disney theme park attractions during the 1960s. Iwerks did special effects work outside the studio as well, including the birds for his [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominated achievement for [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The Birds (film)|The Birds]]'' (1963).<ref name="Cinefantastique-Counts-Birds">{{Cite news |last1=Counts |first1=Kyle B. |last2=Rubin |first2=Steve |date=Fall 1980 |title=The Making of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds |volume=10 |work=[[Cinefantastique]] |issue=2 |url=https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Cinemafantastique_(1980)_-_The_Making_of_Alfred_Hitchcock's_The_Birds |url-status=live |access-date=March 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307154006/https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Cinemafantastique_%281980%29_-_The_Making_of_Alfred_Hitchcock%27s_The_Birds |archive-date=March 7, 2022}}</ref> Iwerks's last credit for Disney was for perfecting the travel matte system for the ''Mary Poppins'' sequence "Feed the Birds"<ref name=korkis/> Iwerks's most famous work,<ref name=korkis/> outside animating Mickey Mouse, was Flip the Frog from his own studio.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marks |first=Scott |date=May 19, 2016 |title=Fiddlesticks Flips Flip in First Color Cartoon |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/may/19/screen-fiddlesticks-flips-flip-first-color-cartoon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502182312/https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/may/19/screen-fiddlesticks-flips-flip-first-color-cartoon/ |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |access-date=May 2, 2022 |website=San Diego Reader}}</ref> While he was at Disney, he developed a variety of patents for applying [[Xerography]] for  [[Xerography#Uses in animation|use in animation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=USPTO Search Results for Iwerks and Xerographic. |url=https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/ppubsbasic.html}}</ref>

== Personal life and death ==
Iwerks had two children with his wife, Mildred (née Henderson): [[Don Iwerks|Donald]] and David.  Donald went on to work for the Walt Disney company and to found [[SimEx-Iwerks|Iwerks Entertainment]]. His granddaughter is documentary film producer [[Leslie Iwerks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAv0NL2Ezc|title=Untold with Leslie Iwerks|publisher=[[Disney]]|via=[[YouTube]]|language=en-US|url-status=bot: unknown|date=May 12, 2020|access-date=July 22, 2023|archive-date=July 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722134724/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAv0NL2Ezc}}</ref>  David Iwerks became a portrait photographer.<ref name="hollywood-studio-magazine-1966-11">{{Cite web |date=November 1966 |title=Dave Iwerks Catches Great in the Eye of His Perceptive Camera |url=https://archive.org/details/hollywood-studio-magazine-1966-11 |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Hollywood Studio Magazine |publisher=San Fernando Valley Pub. Co. |quote=via: archive.org |location=Sherman Oaks, CA}}</ref><ref name="loc-93511088">{{Cite web |last=Iwerks |first=David Lee |title=John F. Kennedy, Head-and-Shoulders Portrait, Facing Slightly Left |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/93511088/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307135004/https://www.loc.gov/item/93511088/ |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

Iwerks died in 1971 from a [[heart attack]] in [[Burbank, California]], aged 70, and his ashes are interred in a niche in the Columbarium of Remembrance at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills Cemetery]]. The last project he worked on was the [[Hall of Presidents]].<ref name=korkis/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Spry |first=Jeff |date=February 1, 2020 |title=The Son of Mickey Mouse's Co-Creator Opens Up the Book on Disney Classics |work=[[Syfy Wire]] |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-son-of-mickey-mouses-co-creator-opens-up-the-book-on-disney-classics |url-status=live |access-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502180710/https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-son-of-mickey-mouses-co-creator-opens-up-the-book-on-disney-classics |archive-date=May 2, 2022}}</ref>

== Influence and tributes ==
The ''Ub Iwerks Award for Technical Achievement'', as part of the [[Annie Award]]s, is named in his honour.

A rare self-portrait of Iwerks was found in a garbage bin at an animation studio in Burbank. The portrait was saved and is now part of the [[ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project|Animation Archives]] in Burbank, California.

After [[World War II]], much of Iwerks's early animation style was imitated by legendary [[manga]] artists [[Osamu Tezuka]] and [[Shotaro Ishinomori]].{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In 1989, Iwerks was named a [[Disney legend]].

In the 1996 ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[The Day the Violence Died]]", a relationship similar to Iwerks's early relationship with [[Walt Disney]] is used as the main plot.

A documentary film, ''The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story'', was released in 1999, followed by a book written by Iwerks's granddaughter [[Leslie Iwerks]] and John Kenworthy in 2001. The documentary, created by Leslie Iwerks, was released as part of [[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Seven|The Walt Disney Treasures, Wave VII series]] (disc two of The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit collection).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story (1999) |url=https://www.waltdisney.org/education/films/hand-behind-mouse-ub-iwerks-story-1999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308083001/https://www.waltdisney.org/education/films/hand-behind-mouse-ub-iwerks-story-1999 |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |access-date=March 8, 2022 |website=[[The Walt Disney Family Museum]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Hand Behind the Mouse: Stories of Ub with Don and Leslie Iwerks |url=https://www.waltdisney.org/education/talks/sold-out-hand-behind-mouse-stories-ub-don-and-leslie-iwerks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308082959/https://www.waltdisney.org/education/talks/sold-out-hand-behind-mouse-stories-ub-don-and-leslie-iwerks |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |access-date=March 8, 2022 |website=[[The Walt Disney Family Museum]]}}</ref>

A feature film released in 2014, ''[[Walt Before Mickey]]'', showed how Ub Iwerks, portrayed by [[Armando Gutierrez]], and Walt Disney, portrayed by [[Thomas Ian Nicholas]], co-created Mickey Mouse.

The sixth episode from the second season of ''[[Drunk History]]'' ("Hollywood") tells about Ub's work relationship with Disney, with stress on the creation of [[Mickey Mouse]]. Iwerks was portrayed in the episode by [[Tony Hale]].

== Filmography ==
=== 1922 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''[[Little Red Riding Hood (1922 film)|Little Red Riding Hood]]''
|July 29
| rowspan="7" |[[Laugh-O-Gram Studio|Laugh-O-Grams]]
|
|-
|''The Four Musicians of Bremen''
|August 1
|
|-
|''Jack and the Beanstalk''
|September 4
|
|-
|''Jack the Giant Killer''
|September 12
|
|-
|''Goldie Locks and the Three Bears''
|October 4
|
|-
|''[[Puss in Boots (1922 film)|Puss in Boots]]''
|November 3
|
|-
|''Cinderella''
|December 6
|
|}

=== 1923 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''[[Alice's Wonderland]]''
|October 16
|Laugh-O-Grams
|
|}

=== 1924 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''[[Alice's Day at Sea]]''
|March 1
| rowspan="10" |Walt Disney Productions
|
|-
|''[[Alice's Spooky Adventure]]''
|April 1
|
|-
|''Alice's Wild West Show'' 
|May 1
|
|-
|''Alice's Fishy Story''
|June 1
|
|-
|''Alice and the Dog Catcher''
|July 1
|
|-
|''Alice the Peacemaker''
|August 1
|
|-
|''Alice Gets in Dutch''
|November 1
|
|-
|''Alice Hunting in Africa''
|November 15
|
|-
|''Alice and the Three Bears''
|December 1
|
|-
|''Alice the Piper'' 
|December 15
|
|}

=== 1925 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''Alice Cans the Cannibals''
|January 1
| rowspan="15" |Walt Disney Productions
|
|-
|''[[Alice the Toreador]]''
|January 15
|
|-
|''[[Alice Gets Stung]]''
|February 1 
|
|-
|''[[Alice Solves the Puzzle]]''
|February 15
|
|-
|''Alice's Egg Plant''
|May 17
|
|-
|''Alice Loses Out''
|June 15
|
|-
|''Alice Is Stage Struck''
|June 23 
|
|-
|''Alice Wins the Derby'' 
|July 12
|
|-
|''Alice Picks the Champ''
|July 30
|
|-
|''Alice's Tin Pony'' 
|August 15
|
|-
|''Alice Chops the Suey'' 
|August 30
|
|-
|''Alice the Jail Bird''
|September 15
|
|-
|''Alice Plays Cupid''
|October 15
|
|-
|''Alice Rattled by Rats''
|November 15
|
|-
|''Alice in the Jungle'' 
|December 15
|
|}

=== 1926 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''Alice on the Farm''
|January 1
| rowspan="15" |Walt Disney Productions
|
|-
|''Alice's Balloon Race''
|January 15
|
|-
|''[[Alice's Orphan]]'' 
|January 15
|
|-
|''Alice's Little Parade''
|February 1
|
|-
|''Alice's Mysterious Mystery''
|February 15
|
|-
|''Alice Charms the Fish''
|September 6
|
|-
|''Alice's Monkey Business''
|September 20
|
|-
|''Alice in Slumberland''
|September 29
|
|-
|''Alice in the Wooly West''
|October 4
|
|-
|''Alice the Fire Fighter''
|October 18
|
|-
|''Alice Cuts the Ice'' 
|November 1
|
|-
|''Alice Helps the Romance''
|November 15
|
|-
|''Alice's Spanish Guitar''
|November 29
|
|-
|''Alice's Brown Derby'' 
|December 13
|
|-
|''Alice the Lumberjack''
|December 27
|
|}

=== 1927 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''Alice the Golf Bug''
|January 10
| rowspan="25" |Walt Disney Productions
|
|-
|''Alice Foils the Pirates''
|January 24
|
|-
|''Alice at the Carnival'' 
|February 7
|
|-
|''Alice at the Rodeo''
|February 21
|
|-
|''Alice the Collegiate''
|March 7
|
|-
|''Alice in the Alps''
|March 21
|
|-
|''Alice's Auto Race''
|April 4
|
|-
|''Alice's Circus Daze''
|April 18
|
|-
|''Alice's Knaughty Knights''
|May 2
|
|-
|''Alice's Three Bad Eggs''
|May 15
|
|-
|''[[Poor Papa]]''
|May 15
|
* The first Oswald The Rabbit short produced by Walt Disney and distributed by Universal Studios.
|-
|''Alice's Picnic''
|May 30
|
|-
|''Alice's Channel Swim''
|June 13
|
|-
|''Alice in the Klondike'' 
|June 27
|
|-
|''Alice's Medicine Show''
|July 11
|
|-
|''Alice the Whaler''
|July 25
|
|-
|''Alice the Beach Nut''
|August 8
|
|-
|''[[Trolley Troubles]]''
|September 5
|
|-
|''[[Oh Teacher (film)|Oh Teacher]]'' 
|September 19
|
|-
|''[[The Mechanical Cow]]''
|October 3
|
|-
|''[[Great Guns!]]''
|October 17
|
|-
|''[[All Wet (1927 film)|All Wet]]''
|October 31
|
|-
|''[[The Ocean Hop]]''
|November 14
|
|-
|''The Banker's Daughter''
|November 28
|
|-
|''Rickety Gin''
|December 26
|
|}

=== 1928 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''The Ol' Swimming Hole''
|February 6
| rowspan="18" |Walt Disney Productions
|
|-
|''[[Africa Before Dark]]''
|February 20
|
|-
|''Rival Romeos''
|March 5
|
|-
|''[[Bright Lights (1928 film)|Bright Lights]]''
|March 19
|
|-
|''Sagebrush Sadie''
|April 2
|
|-
|''Ride 'Em Plowboy''
|April 16
|
|-
|''Ozzy of the Mounted'' 
|April 30
|
|-
|''[[Hungry Hobos]]''
|May 14
|
|-
|''[[Plane Crazy]]''
|May 15
|
* First Mickey Mouse cartoon ever produced.
|-
|''[[Oh What a Knight]]''
|May 28
|
|-
|''[[The Fox Chase]]''
|June 25
|
|-
|''[[Tall Timber (1928 film)|Tall Timber]]''
|July 9
|
|-
|''[[Sleigh Bells (film)|Sleigh Bells]]''
|July 23
|
|-
|''High Up''
|August 6
|
|-
|''[[The Gallopin' Gaucho]]''
|August 7
|
|-
|''Hot Dogs''
|August 20
|
|-
|''Sky Scrapper''
|September 23
|
|-
|''[[Steamboat Willie]]'' 
|November 18
|
|}

=== 1929 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Release date
!Company
!Notes
|-
|''[[The Barn Dance]]''
|March 14
| rowspan="17" |Walt Disney Productions
|
|-
|''[[The Opry House]]''
|March 28
|
|-
|''[[When the Cat's Away (1929 film)|When the Cat's Away]]''
|April 11
|
|-
|''[[The Barnyard Battle]]'' 
|April 25
|
|-
|''[[The Karnival Kid]]''
|May 23
|
|-
|''[[Mickey's Choo-Choo]]''
|June 20
|
|-
|''[[Mickey's Follies]]''
|June 26
|
|-
|''[[The Plowboy]]''
|June 28
|
|-
|''[[The Jazz Fool]]''
|July 5
|
|-
|''[[Wild Waves]]''
|August 15
|
|-
|''[[The Skeleton Dance]]''
|August 29
|
* The first "[[Silly Symphony]]"
|-
|''[[El Terrible Toreador]]''
|September 26
|
|-
|''[[Springtime (1929 film)|Springtime]]''
|October 24
|
|-
|''[[Jungle Rhythm]]''
|November 15
|
|-
|''[[Hell's Bells (film)|Hell's Bells]]''
|November 21
|
|-
|''[[The Haunted House (1929 film)|The Haunted House]]''
|December 2
|
|-
|''[[The Merry Dwarfs]]'' 
|December 19
|
|}

=== 1930 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Series
!Notes
|-
|''[[Fiddlesticks (1930 film)|Fiddlesticks]]''
|August 16
| rowspan="6" |[[Flip the Frog]]
|
* First Flip the Frog cartoon
* Filmed in both two-strip [[Harriscolor]], but widely released in B/W
|-
|''Little Orphan Willie''
|October 18
| rowspan="2" |Filmed in both two-strip Harriscolor, but only intact in B/W
|-
|''Flying Fists''
|September 6
|-
|''The Village Barber''
|September 27
|First non-woodland cartoon
|-
|''The Cuckoo Murder Case''
|October 18
|
* First Halloween-themed cartoon
|-
|''Puddle Pranks''
|December
|
* Final woodland-themed cartoon
* This and ''Little Orphan Willie'' were never copyrighted
* Only appearance of Flip's frog girlfriend
|}

=== 1931 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Series
!Notes
|-
|''The Village Smitty''
|January 31
| rowspan="10" |Flip the Frog
|First appearances of Flip's cat girlfriend and [[Orace]]
|-
|''The Soup Song''
|January 31
|Bandmaster [[Paul Whiteman]] is caricatured
|-
|''Laughing Gas''
|March 14
|Only appearance of the walrus
|-
|''Ragtime Romeo''
|May 2
|
* First time Flip wears a hat
|-
|''The New Car''
|July 25
|
* Starting with this cartoon, Flip's design slowly changes
* Some plot elements in this cartoon are reused from a Disney Oswald cartoon, [[Trolley Troubles]]
|-
|''Movie Mad''
|August 29
|Caricatures include [[Laurel and Hardy]] and [[Charlie Chaplin]]
|-
|''The Village Specialist''
|September 12
|Only appearance of Mrs Pig
|-
|''Jail Birds''
|September 26
|First time Orace is Flip's horse
|-
|''Africa Squeaks''
|October 17
|No longer shown on American television due to offensive black stereotypes
|-
|''Spooks''
|September 21
|Second Halloween-themed cartoon
|}

=== 1932 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Series
!Notes
|-
|''The Milkman''
|February 20
| rowspan="15" |Flip the Frog
|
* First appearance of the orphan boy
|-
|''Fire! Fire!''
|March 5
|
|-
|''What a Life''
|March 26
|First time Flip interacts with humans
|-
|''Puppy Love''
|April 30
|First appearance of Flip's dog
|-
|''School Days''
|May 14
|First appearance of the spinster
|-
|''The Bully''
|June 18
|Final appearance of the orphan boy
|-
|''The Office Boy''
|July 16
|
* The secretary is a caricature of [[Joan Crawford]]
* Contains inappropriate content
|-
|''Room Runners''
|August 13
|
* Contains inappropriate content
|-
|''Stormy Seas''
|August 22
|
* Possibly a withheld 1931 release
* Final appearance of Flip's cat girlfriend
|-
|''Circus''
|August 27
|Copyrighted on September 7, 1932
|-
|''The Goal Rush''
|October 3
|
* In the beginning, there is a scene considered inappropriate where the bandmaster shoots the clarinet player just for playing wrong
* First appearance of Flip's human girlfriend
|-
|''The Phoney Express''
|October 27
|First "official" appearance of Flip's human girlfriend. She bears a strong resemblance to [[Fleischer Studios]]'s [[Betty Boop]]. The original title for the cartoon was "The Pony Express", but later changed to "The Phoney Express" by Pat Powers
|-
|''The Music Lesson''
|October 29
|Only appearance of Flip's friends
|-
|''The Nurse Maid''
|November 26
|This cartoon has two racist scenes that do not appear on TV. There is an angry "Chinaman–Fu Man Chu" type with long fingernails trying to scratch the eyes out of Flip. Later, a cigar store Indian has gags with runaway animals.
|-
|''Funny Face''
|December 24
|In the public domain
|}

=== 1933 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Series
!Notes
|-
|''Coo Coo, the Magician''
|January 21
| rowspan="6" |Flip the Frog
|Cameo of the spinster at the beginning
|-
|''Flip's Lunchroom''
|March 4
|Only ''Flip the Frog'' cartoon to have Flip's name in the title
|-
|''[[Techno-Cracked|Technocracked]]''
|May 8
| Possibly filmed in two-strip Technicolor or cinecolor
|-
|''Bulloney''
|May 30
|
|-
|''A Chinaman's Chance''
|June 24
|
* No longer shown on American television due to offensive Chinese stereotypes
* Final appearance of Flip's dog
|-
|''Paleface''
|August 12
|Final appearances of Orace, Flip's girlfriend, and the spinster
|-
|''The Air Race''
|n/a
| rowspan="2" |[[Willie Whopper]]
|The first Willie Whopper cartoon, though it was never released due to a plot hole. A remake, ''Spite Flight'', was released.
|-
|''Play Ball''
|September 16
|The first official Willie Whopper cartoon
|-
|''Soda Squirt''
|October 12
|Flip the Frog
|
* Final Flip the Frog cartoon
* Caricatures include [[Laurel and Hardy]], [[Jimmy Durante]], [[Buster Keaton]], [[Rasputin]], the [[Marx Brothers]], [[Mae West]], and [[Joe E. Brown]].
|-
|''Spite Flight''
|October 14
| rowspan="2" |Willie Whopper
|A remake of the unreleased Willie Whopper cartoon, ''The Air Race''
|-
|''Stratos Fear''
|November 11
|
|-
|''[[Jack and the Beanstalk (1933 film)|Jack and the Beanstalk]]''
|December 23
|[[Comicolor Cartoons|Comicolor]]
|First Comicolor cartoon
|}

=== 1934 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Series
!Notes
|-
|''Davy Jones Locker''
|January 13
|Willie Whopper
|The first of two Willie Whopper cartoons to be filmed in [[Cinecolor]]
|-
|''The Little Red Hen''
|February 16
|Comicolor
|
|-
|''Hell's Fire''
|February 17
| rowspan="2" |Willie Whopper
|The only cartoon made by Ub Iwerks to have a curse word in the title. This is the last of the two Willie Whopper cartoons filmed in Cinecolor.
|-
|''Robin Hood, Jr.''
|March 10
|
|-
|''The Brave Tin Soldier''
|April 7
|Comicolor
|
|-
|''Insultin' the Sultan''
|April 14
|Willie Whopper
|
|-
|''Puss in Boots''
|May 17
|Comicolor
|Two other prints exist.
|-
|''Reducing Creme''
|May 19
| rowspan="2" |Willie Whopper
|
|-
|''Rasslin' Round''
|June 1
|Working title: ''Rasslin' Around''
|-
|''The Queen of Hearts''
|June 25
|Comicolor
|
|-
|''Cave Man''
|July 6
| rowspan="2" |Willie Whopper
|Music composed by Bennie Moten and his orchestra
|-
|''Jungle Jitters''
|July 24
|No longer shown on American television due to offensive black stereotypes
|-
|''[[Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1934 film)|Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp]]''
|August 10
|ComiColor
|
|-
|''Good Scout''
|September 1
| rowspan="2" |Willie Whopper
|
* Music composed by McKinney's Cotton Pickers
* Stereotypes of ethnic (Chinese, Jewish, Black) boy scouts
|-
|''Viva Willie''
|September 20
|Final Willie Whopper cartoon. After this cartoon, the rest are Comicolor cartoons.
|-
|''[[The Headless Horseman (1934 film)|The Headless Horseman]]''
|October 1
| rowspan="4" |Comicolor
|
|-
|''The Valiant Tailor''
|October 29
|
|-
|''Don Quixote''
|November 26
|Preserved by the [[Academy Film Archive]] in 1998<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preserved Projects |url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=don+quixote&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506011802/https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=don+quixote&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |access-date=May 20, 2020 |website=Academy Film Archive |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref>
|-
|''[[Jack Frost (1934 film)|Jack Frost]]''
|December 24
|
|}

=== 1935 ===
All Comicolor shorts
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Notes
|-
|''[[Little Black Sambo (film)|Little Black Sambo]]''
|February 6
|No longer shown on American television due to offensive black stereotypes
|-
|''[[Bremen Town Musicians|Brementown Musicians]]''
|March 6
|
|-
|''Old Mother Hubbard''
|April 3
|
|-
|''Mary's Little Lamb''
|May 1
|
|-
|''Summertime''
|June 15
|
|-
|''[[Sinbad the Sailor (1935 film)|Sinbad the Sailor]]''
|July 30
|
|-
|''The Three Bears''
|August 30
|
|-
|''[[Balloon Land|Balloonland]]'' (aka ''The Pincushion Man'')
|September 30
|This is known as both ''Balloonland'' and ''The Pincushion Man''
|-
|''[[Simple Simon (1935 film)|Simple Simon]]''
|November 15
|
|-
|''Humpty Dumpty''
|December 30
|
|}

=== 1936 ===
All Comicolor shorts
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Notes
|-
|''Ali Baba''
|January 30
|
|-
|''Tom Thumb''
|March 30
|
|-
|''Dick Whittington's Cat''
|May 30
|
|-
|''Little Boy Blue'' (aka ''The Big Bad Wolf'')
|July 30
|This cartoon is variously known both as ''Little Boy Blue'' and ''The Big Bad Wolf''.
|-
|''[[Happy Days (1936 film)|Happy Days]]''
|September 30
|Last of the Comicolor cartoons, based on the comic strip ''[[Reg'lar Fellers]]''. The last cartoon made prior to reorganizing the studio.
|}

=== 1936-1940 ===
*Contract work to Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures – 16 cartoons (Iwerks was only personally involved with 15 of the [[Color Rhapsody]] series, the last cartoon in the deal was completed by Paul Fennell after Iwerks had left his own studio)
*Contract work to  Leon Schlesinger Productions – two cartoons
* In 1938, Iwerks produced his last series, ''Gran'pop Monkey'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=The Film Daily | title=The Film Daily (Oct-Dec 1938) | date=December 1938 | publisher=Wid's Films and Film Folk |url=https://archive.org/details/filmdail74wids/page/n556/mode/1up?q=Iwerks#:~:text=Three%20%20of%20%20the%20%20series%20%20have%20%20been%20completed%20%20under%20%20the%20%20direction%20%20of%20UB%20%20Iwerks%20%20and%20%20the%20%20first%20%20subject%20%20will%20be%20%20ready%20%20for%20%20distribution%20%20shortly%20%20after%20Jan.%20%201.}}</ref> featuring the art of British illustrator [[Lawson Wood]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stanchfield |first=Steve |date=March 20, 2014 |title='Beauty Shoppe' (1940) with Gran' Pop Monkey |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/beauty-shoppe-gran-pop-monkey-and-cartoon-films-ltd/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116061705/http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/beauty-shoppe-gran-pop-monkey-and-cartoon-films-ltd/ |archive-date=January 16, 2019 |access-date=June 10, 2020 |website=Cartoon Research}}</ref> There were three cartoons produced: "A Busy Day", "Beauty Shoppe" and "Baby Checkers".{{sfn |Lenburg |1993 |p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/88/mode/2up 88]}} All three were released theatrically by [[Monogram Pictures]] at some point in 1940.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Beauty Shoppe" (1940) with Gran' Pop Monkey {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/beauty-shoppe-gran-pop-monkey-and-cartoon-films-ltd/#:~:text=All%20three%20films%20were%20shown%20theatrically%20in%201940%20(released%20by%20Monogram%20Pictures),%20and%20later%20sold%20to%20Official%20Films%20and%20released%20in%20both%20black%20and%20white%20and%20color%20versions. |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Release date
!Notes
|-
|''Two Lazy Crows''
|November 26, 1936
|A Color Rhapsody cartoon; First Color Rhapsody directed by Iwerks
|-
|''Skeleton Frolic''
|January 29, 1937
|A Color Rhapsody cartoon; remake of Iwerk's earlier ''The Skeleton Dance''
|-
|''Merry Mannequins''
|March 19, 1937
|A Color Rhapsody cartoon
|-
|''[[Porky and Gabby]]''
|May 15, 1937
|A Looney Tunes cartoon; First Looney Tune by Iwerks and debut of Gabby Goat
|-
|''The Foxy Pup''
|May 21, 1937
|A Color Rhapsody cartoon
|-
|''[[Porky's Super Service]]''
|July 3, 1937
|A Looney Tunes cartoon; Last Looney Tune by Iwerks
|-
|''The Horse on the Merry-Go-Round''
|February 17, 1938
|rowspan="10"| A Color Rhapsody cartoon
|-
|''Snow Time''
|April 14, 1938
|-
|''The Frog Pond''
|August 12, 1938
|-
|''Midnight Frolics''
|November 24, 1938
|-
|''The Gorilla Hunt''
|February 24, 1939
|-
|''Nell’s Yells''
|June 30, 1939
|-
|''Crop Chasers''
|September 22, 1939
|-
|''Blackboard Revue''
|March 15, 1940
|-
|''The Egg Hunt''
|May 31, 1940
|-
|''Ye Olde Swap Shoppe''
|June 28, 1940
|-
|''Wise Owl''
|December 5, 1940
|A Color Rhpsody; Last Color Rhapsody directed by Iwerks, Last cartoon Iwerks directed before returning to Disney
|-
|''Beauty Shoppe''
|rowspan="3"| 1940 (exact date unknown)
|rowspan="3"| A Gran'pop Monkey cartoon; possibly directed by Paul Fennell<ref>{{Cite web |title="Beauty Shoppe" (1940) with Gran' Pop Monkey {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/beauty-shoppe-gran-pop-monkey-and-cartoon-films-ltd/#:~:text=Animator%20Paul%20Fennell%20took%20over%20role%20as%20the%20main%20director%20of%20the%20studio%20by%201939,%20and%20despite%20what%20it%20says%20in%20the%20trade%20ad%20above%20likely%20directed%20all%20three%20of%20the%20Gran%E2%80%99%20Pops. |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref>
|-
|''A Busy Day''
|-
|''Baby Checkers''
|-
|''The Carpenters''
|March 14, 1941
|A Color Rhapsody; Directed by Paul Fennell, Iwerks was not involved in the creation of this cartoon (as he had returned to Disney) but it was made as part of his contract with Screen Gems
|-
|}

== Accolades ==
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-right: 0;"
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Recognition
! Shared with
! Result
|-
| {{dts|1960}}
| rowspan="3"| [[Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Technical Achievement|Technical Achievement Award]]
| For the design of an improved optical printer for special effects and matte shots.
| {{n/a}}
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{dts|1964}}
| [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Effects, Special Visual Effects]]
| ''[[The Birds (film)|The Birds]]''
| {{n/a}}
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Scientific and Technical Award#Award of Merit|Academy Award of Merit]]
| For the conception and perfection of techniques for Color Traveling Matte Composite Cinematography.
| [[Petro Vlahos]] and [[Wadsworth E. Pohl]]
| {{won}}
|-
| {{dts|1978}}
| [[Annie Awards]]
| [[Winsor McCay Award]]
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| {{won}}
|-
| {{dts|2017}}
| [[Visual Effects Society Awards]]
| Hall of Fame
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| {{won}}
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[Walt Disney (film)|''Walt Disney'' (2015 PBS film)]]

==Notes==

{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
<!--{{sfn |Apgar |2015 |p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Apgar |first=Garry |title=Mickey Mouse: Emblem of the American Spirit |publisher=Weldon Owen |publication-place=San Francisco, CA |date=December 22, 2015 |isbn=978-1-61628-672-9 |oclc=1349253324 |url=https://archive.org/details/mickeymouseemble0000apga |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
<!--{{sfn |Gabler |2006 |p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Gabler |first=Neal |title=[[Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination]] |publisher=Knopf |publication-place=New York |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-307-26596-8 |oclc=232315401}}
<!--{{sfn |Iwerks |Kenworthy |2001 |p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last1=Iwerks |first1=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Iwerks |last2=Kenworthy |first2=John D. |title=The hand behind the mouse : an intimate biography of the man Walt Disney called "the greatest animator in the world" |publisher=Disney Editions |publication-place=New York |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7868-5320-5 |oclc=44669781}}
<!--{{sfn |Lenburg |1993 |p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Lenburg |first=Jeff |chapter=Ub Iwerks |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/greatcartoondire00lenb/page/24/mode/2up |chapter-url-access=registration |title=The Great Cartoon Directors |url=https://archive.org/details/greatcartoondire00lenb |url-access=registration|publisher=Da Capo Press |publication-place=New York |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-306-80521-9 |oclc=1035310767 |page=25 |via=Internet Archive}}
<!--{{sfn |Maltin |1987 |p=}}-->
* {{cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Maltin |title=Of Mice and Magic |publisher=Plume |publication-place=New York, NY |date=1987 |orig-year=1980 |isbn=978-0-452-25993-5 |oclc=1319416533 |url=https://archive.org/details/ofmicemagichisto0000malt |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Boje |first=David M. |date=August 1995 |title=Stories of the Storytelling Organization: A Postmodern Analysis of Disney As "Tamara -Land" |url=https://davidboje.com/vita/paper_pdfs/AMJ_Disney.pdf |journal=Academy of Management Journal |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=997–1035 |doi=10.5465/256618 |doi-broken-date=July 12, 2025 |access-date=March 8, 2022 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Iwerks |first1=Don |author-link=Don Iwerks |last2=Maltin |first2=Leonard |author2-link=Leonard Maltin |title=Walt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: the Genius of Ub Iwerks |publisher=Disney Editions |publication-place=Los Angeles |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4847-4337-9 |oclc=1133108493 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite web |last=Iwerks |first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Iwerks |date=December 17, 2008 |title=The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/529899/the-hand-behind-the-mouse-the-ub-iwerks-story |website=via: TCM |publisher=Leslie Iwerks Productions, Walt Disney Pictures}}

== External links ==
*{{commonscat-inline}}
*{{Wikisource author-inline}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Inducks author|Ub+Iwerks}}
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{Ub Iwerks}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Ub Iwerks
|list =
{{Disney Legends Awards 1980s}}
{{Winsor McCay Award 1970s}}
}}
{{Walt Disney Animation Studios}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwerks, Ub}}

[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit]]
[[Category:American comic strip cartoonists]]
[[Category:American people of Frisian descent]]
[[Category:American animated film directors]]
[[Category:American animated film producers]]
[[Category:American comedy film directors]]
[[Category:Animators from Missouri]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)]]
[[Category:Disney imagineers]]
[[Category:Film directors from Missouri]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people]]
[[Category:Artists from Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:American special effects people]]
[[Category:Disney comics artists]]
[[Category:Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners]]
[[Category:Laugh-O-Gram Studio people]]
[[Category:American character designers]]