Laugh-O-Gram Studio - History

History

In May 1922, Disney founded Laugh-O-Gram Films with $15,000. The company got an $11,000 contract to produce six fairy tale cartoons for Pictorial Clubs, Inc., which went bankrupt; a seventh fairy tale was sold to them separately. Among Disney's employees on the series were several pioneers of animation: Ub Iwerks, Hugh Harman, Rudolph Ising, Carmen Maxwell, and Friz Freleng.

The company had problems making ends meet: by the end of 1922, Disney was living in the office, taking baths once a week at Union Station.

Thomas McCrum, a Kansas City dentist saved him from total failure when he commissioned Disney for $500 for Tommy Tucker's Tooth, a short subject showing the merits of brushing your teeth.

After creating one last short, the live-action/animation Alice's Wonderland, the studio filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 1923. Disney then moved to Hollywood, California. Disney sold his movie camera, earning enough money for a one-way train ticket; he brought along an unfinished reel of Alice's Wonderland.

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