Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple 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 ...

. He was one of

Disney's Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to ''The Rescuers'' (1977), ...

, 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 patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons ...

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 Disney's twelve basic principles of animation were introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book '' The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation''. The principles are based on the work of Disney animators fro ...

. 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 for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was esta ...

to Oliver, a

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

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 schools in the district, the other ...

and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, where he worked on the campus humor magazine ''

Stanford Chaparral The ''Stanford Chaparral'' (also known as the ''Chappie'') is a humor magazine published by students of Stanford University since 1899. History The ''Stanford Chaparral'' was established in 1899 by Bristow Adams. Published for more than 112 ye ...

'' with fellow future animator Frank Thomas, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Johnston then transferred to the

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art In ...

in his senior year. Ollie married a fellow Disney employee, ink and paint artist Marie Worthey, in 1943. Marie Johnston died May 20, 2005 at the age of 87. Ollie's lifelong hobby was

live steam Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is 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 that ar ...

trains. Starting in 1949, he built the gauge La Cañada Valley Railroad, a miniature

backyard railroad __NOTOC__ A backyard railroad is a privately owned, outdoor railroad, most often in miniature, but large enough for one or several persons to ride on. The rail gauge can be anything from to or more. Smaller backyard or outdoor railroads that c ...

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 and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film pr ...

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 theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, 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. Disney initially envision ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. Ollie 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 honore ...

. The 1:4-scale Victorian depot from Ollie's backyard was restored and moved to a location near Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn within the

Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum The Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum (LALSRM) is a non-profit public-benefit corporation founded in 1956 by live steam enthusiasts for the purpose of educating the public about railroad history and lore, and to promote live steam and scal ...

in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. In the 1960s, Ollie 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 narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

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 Julian is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,502, down from 1,621 at the time of the 2000 census. Julian is an official California Historical Landmark (No. 412). The Ju ...

in order 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 transfe ...

s from the defunct Viewliner Train of Tomorrow attraction in

.. 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, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, ...

(of

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Califor ...

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 heritage railroad and attraction in the Disneyland theme park of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, in the United Stat ...

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 90s, Johnston served on the advisory board of the

National Student Film Institute The National Student Film Institute (NSFI), formerly the Los Angeles Student Film Institute (LASFI), was founded in 1978 by Brenda Norman, Dave Master, Jutti Marsh and Ralph Rogers as a festival for films made by children from kindergarten through n ...

and often was a presenter at the annual film festival's award ceremonies. Brad Bird 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

, presented by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

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 located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

ceremony. Ollie Johnston died of natural causes on April 14, 2008, at the age of 95. He was the last surviving member of

at the time of his death.

Filmography

Books by Johnston

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

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Frank and Ollie's official site
*
Disney Legends"Ollie Johnston: Last of the Red-Hot Animators" by John Canemaker
- '' Wall Street Journal'' - April 22, 2008; Page D9
Carolwood Pacific Historical Society Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ollie 1912 births 2008 deaths Writers from Palo Alto, California American animated film directors 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 Film directors from California Animators from California Disney Legends