Ollie Johnston(1912-2008)

Oliver Martin "Ollie" Johnston was an American animator from Palo Alto, California. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, a group of senior animators which supervised production at the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. By the time of his death in 2008, Johnston was the last surviving member of the group. Johnston co-wrote the reference book "Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life" (1981), where he explained the twelve basic principles of animation. He helped to both preserve and popularize the knowledge of the techniques that were developed at the Disney studio over several decades.

In 1912, Johnston was born in Palo Alto, California. His father was Oliver Johnston, a professor at Stanford University. The younger Johnston attended Palo Alto High School. He received his college education at Stanford University, where he worked on the campus humor magazine "Stanford Chaparral". He befriended a co-worker at the magazine, the aspiring animator Frank Thomas (1912-2004). The two remained close friends until Thomas' death in the early 2000s.

In his senior year at college, Johnston transferred to the Chouinard Art Institute (1921-1970), a professional art school located in Los Angeles. Johnston was hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios c. 1934. He served as an uncredited inbetweener in several Mickey Mouse short films, and as an assistant animator in the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937).

After being promoted to a regular animator, Johnston's first major assignment was to animate the sentient puppet Pinocchio in the feature film "Pinocchio" (1940). Johnston animated the Centaurettes (female centaurs) and the Cupids in the "Pastoral Symphony" segment of "Fantasia" (1940).Johnston animated the key scene of the death of Bambi's mother in "Bambi" (1942). He animated "The Flying Gauchito" segment of "The Three Caballeros" (1944). He animated both the "Peter and the Wolf" and the "Casey at the Bat" segments of "Make Mine Music" (1946). Johnston animated Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear in "Song of the South" (1946). He animated Jiminy Cricket in "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947). He animated both Johnny Appleseed and his guardian angel in "Melody Time" (1948).

Johnston served as a directing animator in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949). He also animated most of the film's major characters, including J.Thaddeus Toad, Ichabod Crane, Katrina Von Tassel, and Brom Bones. Johnston again served as a directing animator in "Cinderella" (1950). He was also the supervising animator for Cinderella's bratty stepsisters, Drizella Tremaine and Anastasia Tremaine. Johnston was tasked with animating Alice and the King of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951). He animated the inept pirate Mr. Smee in "Peter Pan" (1953), with the character depicted as Captain Hook's first mate and personal assistant. Johnston animated the sentient dogs Lady, Jock and Trusty in "Lady and the Tramp". Johnston animated the heroic fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).

Jonston served as the directing animator for the sentient dog Perdita "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961). He animated the wizard Merlin, his student Wart/Arthur, and the wizard's familiar Archimedes in "The Sword in the Stone" (1963). Johnston animated the penguins in "Mary Poppins" (1964). He served as the directing animator for Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, and Mowgli's unnamed love interest in "The Jungle Book" (1967).

Johnston served as the directing animator for most of the major characters in "The Aristocats" (1970), including Duchess, Thomas O' Malley, and the kittens Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. He also served as a directing animating for most of the major characters in "Robin Hood" (1973), including Prince John, Sir Hiss, Maid Marian, and Lady Cluck. Johnston animated Winnie the Pooh and Piglet in "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977). Johnston served as the directing animator for the co-protagonists Bernard and Bianca, and for the orphan girl Penny in "The Rescuers" (1977).

Johnston served as the supervising animator for the younger versions of the co-protagonists Tod and Copper in "The Fox and the Hound" (1981). This was his last involvement in the production of a Disney feature film. Following his retirement from Disney, Johnston started writing non-fiction about animation and its techniques. He served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute during the 1980s and the 1990s. In November 2005, Johnston received the prestigious National Medal of Arts by the then President of the United States George Walker Bush (1946-, term 2001-2009).

In April 2008, Johnston died of natural causes. He was 95-years-old at the time of his death, and he had survived many of his colleagues at Disney. Theodore Thomas featured biographical information on Johnston in the documentary films "Frank and Ollie"(1995) and "Growing up with Nine Old Men" (2012). Johnston is still fondly recalled by fans of traditional animation.