Last of the Golden Age Disney Animators Dies

The last of the "Nine Old Men" Disney Animators Ollie Johnston has died at 95. We will never see their like again.

Mike

'Golden age' Disney animator dies

Ollie Johnston (fifth from left) was one of the so-called 'Nine Old Men'

The last of the great artists from Walt Disney's "golden age" of animation has died at the age of 95, said Disney.
Ollie Johnston was the last surviving member of an elite group of Disney animation pioneers known as the "Nine Old Men".
His films included Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan.
"Ollie was part of an amazing generation of artists, one of the real pioneers of our art," said Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney.
Bambi scene
Mr Johnston studied at Los Angeles' Chouinard Art Institute and was approached by the then-fledgling Disney studio in 1935 to work on animated shorts including Mickey's Garden, Pluto's Judgement Day and Mickey's Rival.
His first feature film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, and he went on to work on classic Disney animated films such as Fantasia, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and The Jungle Book.
His famous scenes included the heartbreaking death of Bambi's mother at the hands of a hunter.
Mr Johnston retired in January 1978 to devote his time to writing, lecturing and consulting.
In 1989, he received a Disney Legends Award, and in 2003, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held a tribute to him. In 2005, Mr Johnston received the National Medal of Arts, becoming the first animator to ever receive the honour. Mr Johnston, who died in Washington state, is survived by his sons, Ken and Rick.

Yes, they will be sadly missed. The love and skill they displayed in hand animating those Disney masterpieces will never be replicated again

Details of the nine are shown below it makes me glad I taped two superb documentaries on Disney back in the 1980s when four of them Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, Ward Kimball and Frank Thomas were still with us and able to explain how they worked.

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.

By the time Robin Hood was released, only four of the Nine Old Men were still animating at Disney. They were Milt Kahl, John Lounsbery, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, although Eric Larson was still working for Disney as a talent scout and trainer, and Wolfgang Reitherman was by that point directing and producing films. Lounsbery died in 1976, Kahl retired the same year and died in 1987. Thomas and Johnston retired in 1978, and both later enjoyed cameos in the Brad Bird-directed films The Iron Giant (Warner Bros., 1999) and The Incredibles (Pixar, 2004). Thomas died shortly afterwards, in 2004, leaving Johnston as the last surviving "Old Man." He died on April 14, 2008.