Ollie Johnston
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Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture
animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...
. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989. His work was recognized with the
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
in 2005.


Career

Johnston was an animator at Walt Disney Studios from 1934 to 1978, and became a directing animator beginning with ''Pinocchio'', released in 1940. He contributed to most Disney animated features, including ''Fantasia'' and ''Bambi''. His last full work for Disney came with ''The Rescuers'', in which he was caricatured as one of the film's characters, the cat Rufus. The last film he worked on was ''The Fox and the Hound''. 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''), Sir Hiss (in ''Robin Hood''), and story consultant in ''Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''. Johnston co-authored, with Frank Thomas, the reference book '' Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life'', which contained the 12 basic principles of animation. This book helped preserve the knowledge of the techniques that were developed at the studio. The partnership of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston is fondly presented in the documentary ''Frank and Ollie'', produced by Thomas' son Theodore, who in 2012 also produced another documentary, ''Growing up with Nine Old Men'', included in the Diamond Edition of the ''Peter Pan'' DVD.


Personal life

Born in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
, to Oliver, a Stanford professor, and Florence Johnston, Johnston had two older sisters, Winifred and Florence. Johnston attended
Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School (commonly referred to locally as "Paly") is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two high schools in the district, the ...
and
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, where he worked on the campus humor magazine '' Stanford Chaparral'' with fellow future animator Frank Thomas, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Johnston then transferred to the Chouinard Art Institute in his senior year. Johnston married a fellow Disney employee, ink and paint artist Marie Worthey, in 1943. Marie died May 20, 2005, at the age of 87. Johnston's lifelong hobby was
live steam Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam may be used to operate stationary or moving equipment. A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those th ...
trains. Starting in 1949, he built the gauge La Cañada Valley Railroad, a miniature backyard railroad with three 1:12-scale locomotives at his home in Flintridge, California. The locomotives are now owned by his sons. This railroad was one of the inspirations for
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
to build his own backyard railroad, the
Carolwood Pacific Railroad The Carolwood Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a -inch () gauge ridable miniature railroad run by Walt Disney in the backyard of his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It featured the ''Lilly Belle'', a 1:8- scale ...
, which inspired the building of the railroad in
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...
. Johnston was a founding Governor of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society along with his fellow Disney animator and railfan,
Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honor ...
. The 1:4-scale Victorian depot from Johnston's backyard was restored and moved to a location near Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn within the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. In the 1960s, Johnston acquired and restored a full-size,
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
Porter steam locomotive originally built in 1901, which he named the ''Marie E.'' He also built the Deer Lake Park & Julian Railroad (DLP&J) at his vacation estate in Julian, California, to run the locomotive with a small gondola and caboose pulled behind it. The ''Marie E.'' first ran on the DLP&J in 1968.. the DLP&J was long and utilized the
railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...
s from the defunct Viewliner Train of Tomorrow attraction in
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
.. Johnston sold the vacation estate and the narrow gauge train in 1993. The engine and its consist were later sold to
John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...
(of
Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
Studios fame) around 2002. On May 10, 2005, it ran on the
Disneyland Railroad The Disneyland Railroad (DRR), formerly known as the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a 3-foot () narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge heritage railway, heritage railroad and attraction in the Disneyland theme park of the Disneyland Resort in ...
during a private early morning event organized by Lasseter to honor Johnston, who was able to take the throttle of the ''Marie E.'' one last time.. This was the first time that the Walt Disney Company permitted outside railroad equipment to run at any Disney Resort. The engine is still fully operational and presently runs on the Justi Creek Railway, located within the vineyards of Lasseter Family Winery, also owned by Lasseter. In the 1980s and 1990s, Johnston served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute and often was a presenter at the annual film festival's award ceremonies.
Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...
paid a tribute to Ollie Johnston with an animated cameo of Johnston in the 2004 Pixar film ''The Incredibles'', as well as a cameo in his 1999 film ''The Iron Giant'', where Johnston played a train engineer. Both cameos also included Frank Thomas. On November 10, 2005, Ollie Johnston was among the recipients of the prestigious
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
, presented by President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
in an
Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...
ceremony. Ollie Johnston died of natural causes on April 14, 2008, at the age of 95. He was the last surviving member of Disney's Nine Old Men at the time of his death.


Filmography


Books by Johnston

* '' Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life'' (1981) *''Too Funny for Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags'' () *''Walt Disney's Bambi—the Story and the Film'' () *''The Disney Villain'' ()


See also

*
Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Rail transport can be found in every amusement park, theme park resort property owned or licensed by Disney Experiences, one of the three business segments of the The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Company. The origins of Disney theme park r ...


References


Sources

* *


External links


Frank and Ollie's official site
*
Disney Legends"Ollie Johnston: Last of the Red-Hot Animators" by John Canemaker
- ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' - April 22, 2008; Page D9
Carolwood Pacific Historical Society Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ollie 1912 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American artists 20th-century American writers American animated film directors Animators from California Chouinard Art Institute alumni Disney Legends Film directors from California Palo Alto High School alumni Stanford University alumni United States National Medal of Arts recipients University of California, Berkeley alumni Walt Disney Animation Studios people Writers from Palo Alto, California People from Julian, California