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Steve Hoffman
04-15-2008, 03:43 PM
Animation fans, please take note.

Ollie was one of the nicest and most talented artists to work at Disney. Glad I could share some time with him a few years ago. He's the last of them. Now he's reunited with Walt and partner Frank Thomas, cooking up some great animation for the angels. (Sigh, yes I'm feeling very sentimental about this...)

RIP.

http://frankanollie.com/

CNN:
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Walt Disney Studios says legendary animator Ollie Johnston has died at age 95.

Studio Vice President Howard Green says Johnston died of natural causes on Monday at a long-term care facility in Sequim, Washington.

Johnston was the last of Walt Disney's so-called Nine Old Men.

He contributed animation and direction to classics such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Pinocchio," "Fantasia," "Song of the South," "Cinderella," and "Alice in Wonderland."

Senn20
04-15-2008, 03:49 PM
I don't think we'll ever see features like that again.

RIP Ollie Johnston

thorbs
04-15-2008, 04:11 PM
RIP Ollie!! Thanks for the wonderful work that will live on.

Onrd
04-15-2008, 04:23 PM
I still treasure his wonderful book, "Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life". He was one of my favourite artists. Rest in peace.

mcow1
04-15-2008, 04:24 PM
A true legend: RIP Ollie

A list of Ollie Johnston's feature animation credits:

(1937) SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
Assistant Animator with Fred Moore, in charge of all dwarf drawings.

(1940) PINOCCHIO
Animation Director. Animated Pinocchio talking to the Blue Fairy and telling a lie.

(1940) FANTASIA
Animated Pastoral Symphony Segment.

(1942) BAMBI
Supervising Animators on Bambi. Animated Baby Bambi; older Bambi meeting the neighborhood; Thumper reciting poetry on the meadow; meeting Stag.

(1945) THE THREE CABALLEROS
Animated The Flying Gaucho. (Gauchito)

(1946) MAKE MINE MUSIC
Animator: Casey at the Bat & Peter and the Wolf.

(1946) SONG OF THE SOUTH
Directing animator: Running Away, Tar Baby, the Laughing Place.

(1948) MELODY TIME
Directing Animator: Little Toot & Johnny Appleseed.

(1949) ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD & MR. TOAD
Directing Animator: Rat, Mole, Toad, Cyril & Ichabod, Katrina, Brom Bones.

(1950) CINDERELLA
Directing Animator: Stepsisters, Lackey.

(1951) ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Directing Animator: Alice, King of Hearts.

(1953) PETER PAN
Directing Animator: Mr. Smee.

(1955) LADY AND THE TRAMP
Directing Animator: Lady, Jock, Trusty.

(1959) SLEEPING BEAUTY
Directing Animator: Flora, Fauna & Merryweather

(1961) 101 DALMATIANS
Directing Animator: Pongo, Perdita, Nanny Cook, Puppies.

(1963) SWORD IN THE STONE
Directing Animator: Merlin, Wart, Archimedes, Laughing Owl.

(1964) MARY POPPINS
Directing Animator, Penguins as waiters.

(1967) THE JUNGLE BOOK
Directing Animator: Baloo, Bagheera, Mowgli, and The Girl.

(1970) THE ARISTOCATS
Directing Animator: cats and geese, Amelia, Abigail, Uncle Waldo.

(1973) ROBIN HOOD
Directing Animator: Prince John, Sir Hiss, Robin Hood, Little John, Maid Marian.

(1977) THE RESCUERS
Directing Animator: Orville, Bernard, Bianca, Rufus, Penny.

(1977) THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH
Animator, Pooh, Piglet.

(1981) THE FOX AND THE HOUND
Directing Animator: young Tod, young Copper, Chief, Vixey, and Tod.

Credits courtesy www.frankandollie.com.

LeeS
04-15-2008, 04:42 PM
Wow Mike, that's an impressive resume. RIP.

Dan C
04-15-2008, 04:43 PM
Wow. What an amazing life that man had...and he left some timeless work.
RIP. :sigh:

dan c

gd0
04-15-2008, 04:52 PM
:(

.

apileocole
04-15-2008, 05:11 PM
One segment of animation that he made (Mowgli, for the '67 Jungle Book) was shown in a pencil test form, and I vividly remember being struck by this beautiful man's spirit, you could just see it somehow through the motion and the strokes, you know? I don't think the character action was doing anything, maybe the boy striking a stick in his hand against a tree or some such. It's not the specifics I remember, it was the person doing it coming through.

Think it was then I'd realized that there was an art to some of that work beyond the obvious, an individual art, kind of surprised me given how collaborative making something like those films are. Ollie and his collegues really were masters. There is something of them in there, it can always be seen as long as these films survive. And I won't forget them.

Thanks Ollie. :)

Michael
04-15-2008, 05:21 PM
what a legacy and long life he had! R.I.P...

Dillydipper
04-15-2008, 06:37 PM
I hear in Heaven they're "shooting on 2's" again...:cry:

Walt
04-15-2008, 07:32 PM
He also provided cameo appearances/voices in THE INCREDIBLES, THE IRON GIANT, and MONSTERS INC.

:cry:

lukejosephchung
04-16-2008, 12:50 AM
Think I'll dig out my "Frank & Ollie" DVD to remind myself of how much we animation fans have lost with the passing of "the last old man"!!! RIP, Ollie, you were one of the true greats!!!:wave:

-Alan
04-16-2008, 02:26 AM
Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Nine_Old_Men) is the complete list. They certainly were a huge part of my childhood and I never knew it.

Disney's Nine Old Men were the core animators (some of whom later became directors) who created the Disney studio's most famous works, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward to The Rescuers. Walt Disney jokingly called this group of animators his "Nine Old Men," referring to what Franklin D. Roosevelt called the nine judges of the US Supreme Court, even though the animators were in their thirties and forties at the time.

They were:

Les Clark (November 17, 1907 - September 12, 1979), who joined Disney in 1927. His specialty was animating Mickey Mouse as he was the only one of the Nine Old Men to work on that character from its origins with Ub Iwerks. Les did many wonderful scenes throughout the years, animating up until Lady And The Tramp. He moved into directing and made many animated featurettes and shorts.

Ollie Johnston (October 31, 1912 - April 14, 2008), who joined Disney in 1935, first worked on Snow White. He went on to author the animator's bible The Illusion of Life with Frank Thomas. His work includes Mr. Smee (in Peter Pan), the Stepsisters (in Cinderella), the District Attorney (in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), and Prince John (in Robin Hood). According to the book The Disney Villain, written by Johnston and Frank Thomas, Johnston also partnered with Thomas on creating characters such as Ichabod Crane (in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad) and Sir Hiss (in Robin Hood).

Frank Thomas (September 5, 1912 - September 8, 2004) joined Disney in 1934. He went on to author the animator's bible The Illusion of Life with Ollie Johnston. His work included the wicked Stepmother (in Cinderella), the Queen of Hearts (in Alice In Wonderland), and Captain Hook (in Peter Pan).

Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (June 26, 1909 - May 22, 1985) joined Disney in 1935 as an animator and director. He directed all the animated Disney films after Walt's death until his retirement. Some of his work includes the Crocodile (in Peter Pan), the Dragon (in Sleeping Beauty), and the Rat (in Lady And The Tramp).

John Lounsbery (March 9, 1911 - February 13, 1976) started in 1935 and, working under Norm 'Fergy' Ferguson, quickly became a star animator. Lounsbery, affectionately known as 'Louns' by his fellow animators, was an incredibly strong draftsman who inspired many animators over the years. His animation was noted for its squashy, stretchy feel. Lounsbery animated Ben Ali Gator in Fantasia; Father in Peter Pan; Tony, Joe, and some of the dogs in Lady And The Tramp; The Kings in Sleeping Beauty; The Elephants in The Jungle Book; and many, many others. In the 1970s, Louns was promoted to Director and co-directed Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too and his last film, The Rescuers.

Eric Larson (September 3, 1905 - October 25, 1988) joined in 1933. One of the top animators at Disney, he animated notable characters such as Peg in Lady And The Tramp; the Vultures in The Jungle Book; Peter Pan's flight over London to Neverland; and Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear (in Song of the South). Because of Larson's demeanor and ability to train new talent, Larson was given the task to spot and train new animators at Disney in the 1970s. Many of the top talents at Disney today were trained by Eric in the '70s and '80s.

Ward Kimball (March 4, 1914 - July 8, 2002) joined Disney in 1934. His work includes Lucifer, Jaq and Gus, (in Cinderella), and the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat (in Alice in Wonderland). His work was often more 'wild' than the other Disney animators and was especially unique.

Milt Kahl (March 22, 1909 - April 19, 1987) started in 1934 working on Snow White. His work included Shere Khan (in The Jungle Book), Edgar the butler (in The Aristocats), the Sheriff of Nottingham (in Robin Hood), and Madame Medusa (in "The Rescuers").

Marc Davis (March 30, 1913 - January 12, 2000) started in 1935 on Snow White, and later he went on to develop/animate the characters of Bambi and Thumper (in Bambi), Maleficent and the raven (in Sleeping Beauty), and Cruella DeVil (in One Hundred and One Dalmatians). Davis was responsible for character design for both the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions at Disneyland.

Curiosity
04-16-2008, 02:28 AM
R.I.P. Ollie

Mark
04-16-2008, 04:43 AM
Man, talk about the end of an era. These "nine" could make me cry and laugh, frequently at just about the same time.

Kustom 250
04-16-2008, 09:30 AM
RIP Ollie


I'm so thankful for the films and the great books he left behind.

Hawkman
04-16-2008, 09:36 AM
Wow Mike, that's an impressive resume. RIP.

Ditto!

R.I.P. :cry:

Steve Hoffman
04-16-2008, 09:55 AM
Warning, name dropping post below...


Wow, looking at the above list I got to meet every one of the Nine Old Men except John Lounsbery and Les Clark. 7 out of 9 isn't bad. An advantage of living in LA and hanging out with animation lovers and Disney artists like Hans Bacher, Howard Lowery etc. I used to collect animation art in the 1970's-80's until it got too crazy money-like. When an original cell from ALICE IN WONDERLAND jumped from 200 bucks to 2,000 bucks overnight it was time to stop collecting.

Leonard Maltin's cartoon tribute nights back then let us meet up close all of the Disney legends that were still alive. Leonard's book OF MICE AND MAGIC was one of the first to concentrate on Animation as an art form..

I feel honored to have met these talented artists. I think they were overwhelmed to have been "rediscovered" in the 1980's by the fans. I'm glad they did; they worked under anonymity for too long behind the walls.

I also met Grim Natwick (who drew SNOW WHITE and BETTY BOOP) at a ASIFA-Hollywood meeting in LA in 1977. He was an old man but was still drawing. June Foray brought him down. Heck, thinking about it, the ASIFA meetings allowed us fans to meet most of the living cartoon makes of the vintage era plus the current crop of talents.

We met "Tex" Avery in 1977 as well. How? Found his name in the Yellow Pages and just called him up one day. Told us to come on down and chat. Same for Chuck Jones, another childhood hero. Just called him up, same for Friz Freeling. That worked great, so we did the same (I mean my girlfriend Terra and I) to the old fogies who worked at Hanna-Barbara as well including Bill and Joseph, Harry Love and the Columbia/Screen Gems-MGM crowd that had not retired yet and were still keeping a hand in at H-B. Shook hands with Daws Butler and Don Messick, two of my idols from childhood. They loved to talk about the good old days, especially when I asked about the departed legends such as Bill Tytla and Ub Iwerks. The director of Snow White (David Hand) I didn't even know was still alive (he died in 1986). No Internet back then to find anyone, all there was consisted of the Yellow Pages and word of mouth.

Ah, the good old phone book.

One day standing outside of Collectors' Book Store on Hollywood Blvd. in 1978 I ran into Mel Blanc, recognized him immediately. Couldn't believe my good fortune. He had a bunch of cells and drawings from WB that he wanted to sell to Howard Lowery. That was a thrill, he looked 100 but still had that great voice. He was amazed that this long-haird kid knew even who he was.

I guess most of these artists from the golden age of animation are gone now. It's a shame but at least their work lives.

Joel Cairo
04-16-2008, 11:23 AM
Not to hijack the thread, but since the boss mentioned Mel Blanc, Mark Evanier had a great clip from the "Tonight Show" on his site a couple of days ago, which featured Mr. Blanc, and an associate whose face might be familiar...

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_04_14.html#015083

-Kevin

Steve Hoffman
04-16-2008, 11:47 AM
Kevin,

Thanks, that was great. Mel Blanc and Jack Benny.

Jay Leno should be so lucky.

thorbs
04-16-2008, 12:07 PM
Thanks Kevin!! Classic, we miss the great ones.

Joel1963
04-16-2008, 12:20 PM
Same for Chuck Jones, another childhood hero. Just called him up, same for Friz Freeling.

I'm really glad I got to see Chuck Jones during our city's Just for Laughs festival. And I LOVE Of Mice and Magic.

Jeff H.
04-16-2008, 02:30 PM
I just found the headline a few minutes ago. Though 95 years is a long life, I'm still saddened to hear of Ollie Johnston's passing. I'm a major fan of the classic Disney animation and have long admired the work of Walt's "Nine Old Men". I'm sure Ollie is back with his buddy Frank Thomas and the other guys. R.I.P.:cry:

stereoptic
04-17-2008, 05:36 AM
One of the last originals. These guys did truly 'animate';they brought life to a few lines and curves leaving us with visual and emotional memories. RIP Ollie.