WI: As we approached the camp, we could see rows of black tar paper buildings. The dust was whipping up like fine talcum powder…and I remember looking at my grandfather, who had on his dark overcoat and fedora. And it was all white with dust. That gave me an image that I could never erase out of my mind.
Vince Ito (VI): In camp, how did you develop your artistic skill?
WI: We would order our basic needs through Sears and Roebuck catalogs. On each page, I would make a little image. You would flip it, like a flip book. And my imagination would just run amok.
VI: Can you tell me what it was like the day you went in for your first interview at Disney Studios?
WI: I’m nineteen years old. That particular day, I stepped into the elevator, and as the door was closing, it suddenly swung open, and standing before me was Walt Disney himself. As Walt stepped in, he nodded…and I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh, my God.’ Literally. ‘Oh, my God.’ [Laughs.]
I always perceived Walt Disney as sort of a lily-white studio. But a Japanese American, Iwao Takamoto, walked in and says, ‘We love your work. You’re hired.’ And I’m thinking, ‘This can’t be true!’
They said, ‘We’re going to start you in the Lady Unit.’ Back then, the studios had inking and painting department with nothing but ladies working in it. So I thought, ‘Well, that must be the entry level. Then when you cut the mustard, they’ll move you up into animation.’ But…it was Lady of Lady and the Tramp, and the very first scene that they assigned me to work on was the iconic spaghetti kissing scene.
VI: As a child, I would watch you as you worked. You would draw a little scene, and then you would just move, say, an arm, just a micro-inch. And I realized, ‘This is something I’d like to do.’
WI: Mm. When I saw your abilities, I thought, ‘Hey. My son is following my footsteps.’
If I’m in front of a blank sheet of paper with a pencil, I find such solace. When I came to Los Angeles to seek my fame and fortune, it was quite intimidating. But I knew, by hook or crook, this is what I want to do, and today I am very proud of what I did.
