When you think of the names that made Disney famous — names like Ub Iwerks, Ward Kimball, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and Walt himself — the name Herman Schultheis doesn’t pop up anywhere on the radar. A minor employee in the late ’30s and early ’40s working in the Effects and Publicity departments, Schultheis was a jack-of-all-trades technician and photographer whose most significant contribution was likely the care he took in documenting his time at the studio. The series of notebooks he kept full of designs, diagrams and invaluable pictures from the period when Disney made Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia and Dumbo are reprinted for the first time in The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis & the Secrets of Walt Disney’s Movie Magic.
A postcard sent by Herman Schultheis annoucing his hire at the Walt Disney Studio.Image courtesy of Howard & Paula LoweryPhotos taken by Schultheis of the old Disney Studios. (bottom, ~1932-34) and the construction of the new Disney Studios (top, 1939)Bottom image courtesey of Robert Swarthe via Max MorganTop image courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photo CollectionPoster for Fantasia. (Left)An organizational diagram for the Disney Studio, dated May 2, 1938, shows the numerous responsibilities for “Intra-Studio Creative and Managerial Operations.”(Center) Schultheis at the Disney Hyperion studio in 1938, proudly holding a long panorama photostat he made of a Pinocchio background drawing (artist unknown). (Right)Images courtesy of the Walt Disney Family FoundationPhotos by Schultheis of Fantasia maquettes for Look Magazine.Image courtesy of Walt Disney ArchivesA page from one of Schultheis’ notebooks shows him preparing a photo shoot for Disney’s Publicity Department using maquettes of characters on miniature sets from Fantasia’s “Dance of the Hours.” Image courtesy of Walt Disney ArchivesHerman’s wife, Ethel Schultheis, his favorite photography subject.Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photo CollectionA photo by Schultheis of the Disney Ink and Paint Department.Image courtesy of Walt Disney ArchivesA Schultheis photo of Robert Benchley (center, in necktie) preparing to shoot a scene in The Reluctant Dragon (1941). Image courtesy of Walt Disney ArchivesPrototype of stereoscopic glasses to be included in a Dumbo 3-D book proposed by Schultheis.Image courtesy of Walt Disney ArchivesA photo of Schultheis outside of the Disney Hyperion Studios. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
