Mickey's Mechanical Man

Walt Disney first came to rely upon Wilfred Jackson’s genius and sense of perfection, the year Mickey Mouse was born, 1928. At that time, Walt had conceived the notion of marrying music and animation during what was the age of silent movies. Then a new kid in the Studio’s animation department, Wilfred devised a method of synchronizing animation with music, by using a metronome to mark time that could then be converted to a music track. The innovation, which was featured in Mickey Mouse’s debut film “Steamboat Willie,” revolutionized the entertainment medium and competing studios spent more than a year trying to figure out Disney’s production “secret.”

Walt quickly promoted “Jaxon,” as he was called, from animator to director. And as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston wrote in their book, “Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life,” — "Jaxon was easily the most creative of the directors, but he was also the most “picky” and took a lot of kidding about his thoroughness."

Born in Chicago, January 24, 1906, Jaxon attended Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, beginning in 1925. Three years later, just before Charlie Mintz had stolen Disney’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit character, he began hanging around The Walt Disney Studios. It was a poor time to ask for a job, but he volunteered to wash cels and assist animators until one day, he found himself holding a paycheck. He later said, “I’m the only guy [at Disney] who was never hired.”

He quickly moved up the ranks to animator, contributing to the “Silly Symphony” shorts. After “Steamboat Willie,” Jaxon went on to direct 35 shorts, three of which won Academy Awards®: “The Tortoise and The Hare,” “The Country Cousin,” and “The Old Mill.” Probably the greatest example of his skill in developing action to music, however, was “The Band Concert” starring Mickey Mouse.

Jaxon also applied his talent to 11 animated features including, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Pinocchio,” “Dumbo,” “Saludos Amigos,” “Melody Time,” “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” and “Lady and the Tramp.” He directed such memorable sequences as “The Night on Bald Mountain” in “Fantasia,” and all cartoon and combination live-action footage in “Song of the South.” During the war years, he also produced and directed government films for the U.S. Navy.

In 1954, as Walt entered the new television medium, he asked Jaxon to produce and direct animated shows on the “Disneyland” series. During the next four years, he directed 13 shows, including “The Story of the Animated Drawing.” After nearly 35 years with The Walt Disney Studios, Jaxon retired in 1961.

Wilfred Jackson died August 7, 1988 in Newport Beach, California. —Disney Legends