One of the top animators that ever worked at Disney (NYSE:DIS), Ollie Johnston, died at the age of 95 Monday. He was the last of what was called the "Nine Old Men," who were primarily responsible for the animation style coming out of Disney from Snow White and on.
Johnston's specific strength was in the emotion connected to the characters, which he insisted must flow with the events related to the plot. Much of the warmth enjoyed by viewers was directly connected to the influence of Johnston.
Good friend and colleague Frank Thomas said of Johnston: "Ollie was the only one of the Studio animators who was sensitive to character relationships and how they affected the story.
"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."
Some of the relationships developed between characters which were created by Johnston, were Baloo and Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Prince John and Sir Hiss in Robin Hood and the parents, Pongo and Perdita, in 101 Dalmatians.
The work possibly seen more than any others by Johnston, was in Mary Poppins, where he drew the penguin waiters serving she and Bert in the cafe. The dancing penguins were done by Frank Thomas.
John Lasseter said in a statement concerning Johnston, "He taught me to always be aware of what a character is thinking, and we continue to make sure that every character we create at Pixar and Disney has a thought process and emotion that makes them come alive."
Along with Johnston and Thomas, the rest of the "Nine Old Men" were Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman and Les Clark.
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