A young Ub Iwerks (on the right) pictured with his boss Walt Disney

This Monday, March 24, marks what would have been the 102^nd birthday of Disney animation pioneer Ub Iwerks. But while his work, and the techniques he perfected, are as recognizable and beloved today as ever, many fans - especially younger fans - don't know very much about the man behind the drawings. That's where we come in...

Born in Kansas City, MO in 1901, Ub's childhood was dominated by a love of art. And sure enough, as soon as he turned 18 he started to manifest that love into a career, with a job at the commercial art studio Pesman-Rubin. Soon after he began working with Pesman-Rubin, however, a young, outgoing man with visionary ideas joined the team and became his friend. He was Walt Disney.

The two became so close that the next year, they formed the Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists company. Though the company was short lived, it was just the beginning of the Iwerks-Disney partnership. The two then went to work for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where Walt's wild and crazy side proved the perfect compliment to Ub's more conservative demeanor. Not that Ub was dull, by any means. He reportedly had a screwball sense of humor that, while understated, often came out in his animation work.

Ah, animation. It was while working with the Kansas City Film Ad Company that both Walt's and Ub's attentions began to turn to the then brand-new art form. Of course, Disney wasn't the type who could be pinned down in Kansas City for long, and he decided to seek his fortune in California. Ub remained behind at first, not joining Disney on the West Coast until 1923, when he immediately began work at Disney Brothers Productions (which would later become Walt Disney Studios).

He worked on the very popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and remained by Disney's side even after distributor Charles Mintz won ownership rights to the character. So, it was only natural that when his friend got the idea for a new character - one Mickey Mouse - Ub was there to help him develop his new creation.

So, with Walt dreaming up storylines and imbuing his new character with unique personality traits, and with Ub doing the drawing (sometimes as many as 600 pieces in one day), Mickey Mouse soon became a sensation. In the midst of all this, Ub married Mildred Henderson in 1927, with whom he would have two children. And as time went on, Ub began to contribute more and more to the storyline aspect of Mickey's adventures and the ongoing development of his personality. Despite the way things were looking up, however, Ub's friendship with Walt was actually standing on shaky ground. This was due partially to studio tensions that had been building, and the fact that Ub was often the victim of Walt's short temper and fiery outbursts. Their falling out, however, was also in part because of the antics of a man named Pat Powers, who had made a one-year distribution deal with Disney that he was unable to keep. Disney lost tons of money because of it - and, for awhile at least, he lost his best friend. See, Powers had also tempted Iwerks with a deal to finance his own studio - an offer that, during such tense times, was irresistible. So, in 1930, Iwerks left Disney and set out on his own animation adventures.

This led to the creation of the Ub Iwerks Studios and the development of, among other characters, Flip the Frog - an adorable, wide-eyed creature who was MGM's first sound character. Despite their charm, however, they were only moderately successful, and the studio closed in 1936. Ub then went to work for Columbia in 1938, finally returning to Disney two years later in 1940.

Though things were odd between the two old friends at first, they both knew that their reunion was good for both of them - and Ub soon became one of the Walt Disney Studios' visual effects pioneers. This was the era when he developed some key innovations that have changed the world of the medium, including the "multiplane camera" (a tool that gave the illusion of greater depth in cartoons) and the "matte process" which allowed animators to combine their drawings with live action. Over the years, he was honored with two Academy Awards, as well as a Special Effects nomination for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. He passed away in 1971, and was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 1989.

In this new age of computer technology and animation, we can only imagine how the entertainment world be different were he still here.