DeLacy took a job as a Girl Scout executive in southern California in 1935, hoping to leave Kelly behind. But Kelly left his job at General Electric in Bridgeport and moved to Los Angeles, not only to be near DeLacy, but also to work for Walt Disney Studios. There, he finally won her over and they eventually married.
The Disney Years
At Disney, Kelly started as a story man and sketch artist on Pinocchio and then became an assistant animator. In addition to working on short subjects, Kelly animated sequences in Fantasia and Dumbo. But Kelly had problems at the studio, according to his long-time friend, Disney animator Ward Kimball. Most of the creative staff dressed in casual clothes, but Kelly always worked in a three-piece suit, starched collar and bow tie. And his highly personal drawing style made it hard for him to copy model sheets that others designed. Scenes Kelly drew were too distinct, spoiling the seamlessness of the animation. "When Kelly worked with other people, he would always manage to change the drawing of the character a little," Kimball told interviewers Thomas Andrae and Geoffrey Blum in 1988. "Maybe, in hindsight, we should have made our drawings look like his.
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