Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Apr 15, 2008, 1:19 AM
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Ollie Johnston, 95, was last of the Nine Old Men
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Ollie Johnston, the last of Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men," died Monday in Sequim, Washington, where he maintained a home on the Olympic Peninsula. He was 95.
The "Nine Old Men" were the hand-picked artists and animators who worked with Disney during the studio's golden age.
"Ollie was part of an amazing generation of artists, one of the real pioneers of our art, one of the major participants in the blossoming of animation into the art form we know today," said Roy Disney, Walt Disney's nephew.
"One of Ollie's strongest beliefs was that his characters should think first, then act… and they all did. He brought warmth and wit and sly humor and a wonderful gentleness to every character he animated. He brought all those same qualities to his life, and to all of our lives who knew him. We will miss him greatly, but we were all enormously enriched by him."
Johnston outlived his former colleagues: Johnny Lounsbery (1911-1976), Les Clark (1907-1979), Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (1909-1985), Milt Kahl (1909-1987), Eric Larson (1905-1988), Marc Davis (1913-2000), Ward Kimball (1914-2002)... and Frank Thomas, his close friend and frequent collaborator (1912-2004).
Inducted as a Disney Legend in 1989, Johnston animated such memorable friendships as that of Baloo and Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1967) and the sycophantic relationship shared by Sir Hiss and Prince John in Robin Hood (1973). And he valued his own relationship with the characters he animated, including Thumper in Bambi (1942), Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953), and the trio of fanciful fairies in Sleeping Beauty (1959).
"They were all good friends, whom I remember fondly," Johnston once said.
He was born Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. in Palo Alto, California on October 31, 1912. He attended grammar school on the campus of Stanford University, where his father served as professor of Romance languages. After graduating from Palo Alto High School, he returned to Stanford and spent his last year of study at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.
On January 21, 1935, Johnston joined the Walt Disney Studios as an apprentice animator. That year, he worked on such early Disney shorts as Mickey's Garden and The Tortoise And The Hare, which won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon.
He went on to work as animator and directing animator on more than 24 feature films, including Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia (1940), Song Of The South (1949), Cinderella (1950), Alice In Wonderland (1951) and Lady And The Tramp (1955).
After 43 years with the studio, Johnston retired on January 31, 1978. Although his last full work for Disney came with The Rescuers (1977) -- in which he was caricatured as Rufus the Cat -- he stayed into touch with the animation community, appearing in many talks and sessions. In 1980, he received the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement.
He went on to co-author four books with Thomas, beginning with the definitive Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, followed by Too Funny For Words, Walt Disney's Bambi: The Story and the Film, and The Disney Villain.
The two were also the subjects of the 1995 documentary Frank and Ollie, which chronicles their unique friendship, which began at Stanford, and creative relationship at Disney. That same year, Disney artists also paid tribute to the legendary elder-animators in the Mickey Mouse featurette Runaway Brain -- by creating a villain whimsically named "Dr. Frankenollie."
In 2005, Johnston received the National Medal of Arts.
"Ollie was the only one of the Studio animators who was sensitive to character relationships and how they affected story," Thomas once said.
"Back then, cartoon characters seldom touched unless they hit each other. But one day, Ollie said, 'You know, the act of two people holding hands communicates in a powerful way.' And he was right. His warmth made a difference in so many of our characters."
An avid train enthusiast in his spare time, Johnston created a backyard railroad at his home (with three 1/12th scale locomotives) and was instrumental in helping stir Walt Disney's own personal interest in trains. He restored and operated a narrow-gauge engine, the Marie-E (named for his wife); recently it was purchased by John Lasseter and sent to be operated in Northern California.
"If you ask anyone who's anyone in our business, they'll have a story about Ollie Johnston: his work, his advice, guidance, criticism, inspiration... encompassing all of it the sheer delight of watching his animation performances," storyboard artist Jenny Lerew wrote on her blog.
"That at least I can say I share with them. He was one of a handful of geniuses of the art who made millions laugh, cry and dream, and most of all believe in his drawings, believe them to be alive."
In 1943, Ollie Johnston married Marie E. Worthey, a Disney employee in the Ink and Paint Department. She died in 2005. They had two sons, Rick (born in 1949) and Ken (born in 1951).
The Carolwood Pacific Historical Society has an event scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18 to dedicate Ollie's Station at Walt's Barn in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Apr 15, 2008, 1:22 AM)
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Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Apr 15, 2008, 6:50 PM
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Re: Ollie Johnston, 95, was last of the Nine Old Men
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Ollie Johnston died of natural causes at a long-term care facility in Sequim, the town where he had lived after his retirement.
"(People) know his work. They know his characters. They've seen him act without realizing it," said film historian Leonard Maltin. "He was one of the pillars, one of the key contributors to the golden age of Disney animation."
Besides sons Ken and Rick, he is survived by daughters-in-law Carolyn Johnston and Teya Priest Johnston.
Funeral services will be private. The Walt Disney Studios is planning a life celebration for Johnston.
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Inbetweener / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 15, 2008, 9:32 PM
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Re: Ollie Johnston, 95, was last of the Nine Old Men
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RIP, Ollie, Frank, Les, Ward, Eric, Woolie, John, Marc and Milt.....there's no one who can touch ya.
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"As we say in Swahili: 'OOP!'"
--George of the Jungle
(This post was edited by dingdog on Apr 15, 2008, 9:34 PM)
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Directing Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 16, 2008, 2:18 PM
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Re: Ollie Johnston, 95, was last of the Nine Old Men
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The Nine is now a complete unit, probably making animated magic somewhere up there...
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Key Animator
Posted:
May 1, 2008, 7:40 AM
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Re: Ollie Johnston, 95, was last of the Nine Old Men
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That's sad...Disney will never be the same again.
Wait...it hasn't been for awhile!
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Thank God for kids who love obscure things-Lee Hazelwood (1929-2007)
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