- February 14
- The Mickey Mouse film The Little Whirlwind is released to theaters. Minnie Mouse also appears. [16] [15] [23] [228.293]
- February 19
- The film Fantasia opens in Chicago, Illinois. [56.228]
- February 27
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Music, Best Song) for the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" from the film Pinocchio. [23] [17] [11] [38.108] [39.391]
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Music, Best Score) for the film Pinocchio. [23] [17] [11] [38.108] [39.391]
- March 7
- The Donald Duck film Golden Eggs is released to theaters. [23] [228.207] (The Golden Eggs [16])
- March
- Walt enlists the assistance of an engineer from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, to work on the film Four Methods of Flush Riveting. [48.176]
- Frank Tashlin resigns from the Disney studio. None of his proposed animated short films had been put into production. [176.56]
- March 28
- The Goofy film Baggage Buster is released to theaters. [16] [15] [23] [1378.55]
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- The Pluto film A Gentleman's Gentleman is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [23] [228.203]
- April 4
- Disney publishes the last issue of The Bulletin, the studio's employee newsletter. [113.328]
- April
- The National Film Board of Canada commissions Disney to produce four commercial films promoting the purchase of Canadian War Bonds. [23]
- Walt Disney Productions turns the film Fantasia over to RKO Radio Pictures for continued distribution. [42.611]
- May
- The National Labor Relations Board declares the Disney Studio's Federation of Screen Cartoonists union illegal, and orders it disbanded. [34.140] [1102.362]
- May 9
- The Donald Duck film A Good Time for a Dime is released to theaters. [16] [23] [228.211]
- May
- Disney offers US$5000 for the animated film rights to Edmond Rostand's play Chanticleer. [176.82]
- May 17
- An anonymous memo at the Disney studios informs the 1200 employees that only qualified "artists" would be eligible for representation and continued job security. [34.140]
- May 20
- Walt Disney fires twenty animators, all members of the Screen Cartoonists Guild. [1102.364]
- May 22
- A consent decree officially dissolves the Federation of Screen Cartoonists. [34.140]
- May 23
- Leaflets appear all over Hollywood denouncing Arthur Babbit, Herb Sorrell, and David Hilberman as communists. The authors are identified only as "Committee of 21". [34.141]
- May 27
- Richard Storey, of the Boston banking firm underwriting the studio's public stock offering, and Joseph Rosenberg from the Bank of America meet with Disney. They try unsuccessfully to convince Disney to recognize the Screen Cartoonists Guild. [34.141]
- Walt Disney meets with all staff, saying he would only bargain with a union chosen by majority vote in a secret ballot. [1102.364]
- May 28
- Walt Disney fires Art Babbitt for his union activities. [1102.364]
- May 29
- 300-700 Disney animators, members of the Screen Cartoonists Guild, stage a strike of the Disney Studios. More than 1000 picketers appear in the first hour. [23] [229.94] [40.194] [48.168] [92.85] [176.7] [267.144] [1102.365] (May 28 [34.141]) (May 20 [88.49])
- May 30
- The Pluto film Canine Caddy is released. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [15] [23] [1378.115]
- June 20
- RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's animated and live-action feature film The Reluctant Dragon to theaters. The premiere is held at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. For the most part, this is Disney's first live-action film. It cost US$600,000 to make. The animated Goofy short film How to Ride a Horse, and the animated short film The Reluctant Dragon are included. [7] [8] [11] [13] [16] [22] [23] [25] [34.144] [49.259] [48.163] [97.167] [113.211] [322.26] [370.46] (July 20 [228.411])
- The Mickey Mouse film The Nifty Nineties is released to theaters. Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy also appear. [16] [23] [228.357]
- June 30
- Disney asks IATSE head Willie Bioff to call a meeting with the strikers that night, to settle the strike. Bioff tells strikers if they sign with IATSE the strike would be settled. Later that day, Bioff is indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of complicity to extort US$500,000 from several studios. [34.145] [1102.369]
- (month unknown)
- Dell Publishing Company publishes a black and white Donald Duck comic paint book. [113.151]
- The National Board of Review awards a Best American Film award to Disney for the film Fantasia. [369.29]
- The New York Film Critics Circle awards a Special Award to Disney for the film Fantasia. [45.609] [369.31]
- Dell Publishing Company produces Dell Color Comics comic book #13, "The Reluctant Dragon". [113.152]
- Dell Publishing Company produces Dell Color Comics comic book #17, "Dumbo". [113.152] (#19 [113.333])
- RKO Radio Pictures cuts Fantasia from 120 minutes to 81 minutes for general release. [267.137]
- Work begins on turning the book, The Hound of Florence into Disney's first live-action film. (The project is later shelved when the studio's resources are needed for the war effort. The project later becomes the film The Shaggy Dog.) [48.294]
- The National Film Board of Canada purchases the rights to Four Methods of Flush Riveting. [23]
- Disney publishes eight issues of Dumbo Weekly, distributed by Diamond D-X Service Stations. [113.328]
- July 2
- Walt Disney runs a full-page ad in Variety magazine outlining the settlement terms he had planned to present on June 30. Due to the Bioff indictment, the strikers called a halt to all further negotiations. [34.146]
- July 11
- RKO Radio Pictures releases the Donald Duck film Early to Bed to theaters. [16] [23] [228.155] [395.60]
- July 14
- Disney delivers the animated training film Four Methods of Flush Riveting in to the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. [23] (1942 [228.192])
- July 15
- US President Franklin Roosevelt sends federal labor conciliator Stanley White to Hollywood, to try to work out a settlement of the Disney workers' strike. [34.147]
- July
- The Printing Council forces the temporary withdrawl of the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip from its member newspapers, in support of the Disney strikers. [34.147]
- Technicolor Corporation announces its refusal to process Disney film until the studio recognizes the Screen Cartoonists Guild. [34.147]
- July 23
- Walt Disney accepts an offer by the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor to provide binding arbitration. [1102.370]
- August 1
- The Donald Duck film Truant Officer Donald is released to theaters. Huey, Dewey, and Louie also appear. [16] [23] [501.573]
- August 12
- The Disney Studio submits a list of proposed layoffs to the union. [1102.373]
- August
- The U.S. Labor Department Conciliation Service, on President Roosevelt's directive, sends James Dewey to try to work out a settlement in the Disney studio strike. [34.150]
- August 17
- Walt Disney, Lillian, and a team of animators take a trip to South America as a "goodwill tour", and as inspiration for new films. [23] [34.149] [40.197] [48.172] [92.87] [113.211] [501.514] (August 11 [1102.372])
- August 18
- Roy Disney orders film directors to close almost the entire studio while he went to Washington DC to see the head of Concilation Service, and until the federal conciliator arrived in Los Angeles. [1102.374]
- August 22
- The Mickey Mouse film Orphan's Benefit is released to theaters. This is a color re-make of the 1934 film of the same title. Donald Duck, Clara Cluck, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Goofy also appear. [16] [7] [15] [23] [96.21] (August 12 [228.374])
- September 9
- Roy Disney agrees to settle the employees' strike via binding arbitration. [34.150]
- September 10
- The Conciliation Service issues a ruling, setting the ratio of layoffs of strikers to non-strikers. [1102.374]
- September 12
- The Donald Duck film Old Macdonald Duck is released to theaters. [16] [23] [228.366]
- September 14
- The strike at the Disney studio officially ends. [34.159]
- September 16
- Work finally resumes at the Disney studio, with 694 employees on the payroll, down from 1200 at the start of the strike. [1102.374]
- October 3
- The Pluto film Lend a Paw is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse also appears. The film is a re-make of the film Mickey's Pal Pluto. [16] [15] [23] [228.286]
- October 9
- Bank of America's Joe Rosenberg tells Roy Disney of an absolute limit of US$3.5 million that could be loaned to the company. [1102.376]
- October
- Walt Disney returns to California from his South American trip. [23] [1102.375]
- Ches Cobb begins development of the animated short film Ditch Diggers, with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Black Pete. [176.53]
- Walt Disney contacts the chairman of the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, urging him to investigate the strikers of the studio. [34.172]
- October 23
- RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's animated feature film Dumbo to theaters. It cost US$812,000 to make. [5] [6] [7] [8] [11] [13] [15] [16] [23] [25] [48.163] [235.92] [40.203] [81.528] [97.171] [113.210] [191] [225.41] [259.28] [267.137] [228.154] [327.14] [370.49] (premiere in late November [34.162]) (cost US$700,000 [49.259])
- October 24
- The Donald Duck film Donald's Camera is released to theaters. [16] [23] [228.146]
- November 14
- The Goofy film The Art of Skiing is released to theaters. [16] [15] [23] [1378.43]
- November 19
- Disney delivers the animated film The Thrifty Pig to the National Film Board of Canada. It stars the Three Little Pigs. [501.556] (The Thirsty Pig [23] [177.68])
- November 24
- Walt Disney fires Art Babbit from the Disney Studio. [1102.379] (September 15 [34.159])
- December 5
- The Donald Duck film Chef Donald is released to theaters. [16] [23] [1378.130]
- December 7
- Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Army commandeers Disney's soundstage for the repair of military vehicles and anti-aircraft guns, and for use as a primary defense station to guard the nearby Lockheed Aircraft plant against a possible air strike. [23] [24] [229.95] [34.163] [40.204] [48.175] [88.50] [90.52] [92.90] [234.90] [267.150] [1102.381] (December 8 [112.211] [911.71])
- December 8
- The US Navy orders a series of 20 films on aircraft and warship identifications, at a cost of US$4,500 each. [23] [113.211]
- December 12
- Disney delivers the animated film 7 Wise Dwarfs to the National Film Board of Canada. It stars the dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. [177.70] [501.493] (The Seven Wise Dwarfs [23])
- December 18
- Walt Disney is called to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Treasury Department and the IRS. Walt is asked to provide a film to promote paying taxes, to be completed by the end of February, 1942. [23] [48.180]
- December 26
- The Goofy film The Art of Self Defense is released to theaters. [16] [23] [1378.43]
- December
- Walt Disney announces to his family that he has decided to retire from making movies. [34.163]
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