Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving one. 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 in 2005.
Career Johnston was an animator at Walt Disney Studios from 1934 to 1981, 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, to Oliver, a Stanford professor, and Florence Johnston, Johnston had two older sisters, Winifred and Florence.1920 United States Federal Census Johnston attended Palo Alto High SchoolPalo Alto Union High School Madrono Yearbook, 1931 and Stanford University, 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.
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 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, presented by President George W. Bush in an Oval Office 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.
Miniature railroad Johnston's hobby was live steam 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 to build his own backyard railroad, the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, which inspired the building of the railroad in Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Johnston was a founding Governor of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society along with his fellow Disney animator and railfan, Ward Kimball. 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 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 ties from the defunct Viewliner Train of Tomorrow attraction in Disneyland.. Johnston sold the vacation estate and the narrow gauge train in 1993. The engine and its consist were later sold to John Lasseter (of Pixar Studios fame) around 2002. On May 10, 2005, it ran on the Disneyland Railroad 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.
Filmography Year Title Credits Characters Notes 1934 Two-Gun Mickey (Short) Inbetween Artist Uncredited 1935 Mickey's Garden (Short) Uncredited 1936 Mickey's Rival (Short) Assistant Animator UncreditedMore Kittens Uncredited 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Uncredited Little Hiawatha (short) Animator Uncredited 1938 Brave Little Tailor (short) Townspeople Uncredited 1939 Mickey's Surprise Party (short) Mickey and Minnie Uncredited The Practical Pig (short) Uncredited The Pointer (short) Mickey looking for Bear Uncredited 1940 Pinocchio Pinocchio telling a lie Credited as Oliver M. JohnstonFantasia Animation Supervisor - Segment "The Pastoral Symphony" Credited as Oliver M. Johnston Jr. 1942 Bambi Supervising Animator Bambi, Thumper Credited as Oliver M. Johnston Jr. All Together (short) Animator Uncredited How to Play Baseball (short) Uncredited 1943 Victory Through Air Power (Documentary) Credited as Oliver M. Johnston Jr. Reason and Emotion (Short) Female Reason, Female Emotion Uncredited The Winged Scourge (Documentary short) Uncredited Chicken Little (short) Uncredited 1945 The Three Caballeros Panchito Pistoles, José Carioca, Donald Duck 1946 Make Mine Music PeterSong of the South Directing Animator Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, Br’er Bear 1948 Melody Time Johnny Appleseed, Johnny’s Angel, Little Toot 1949 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Angus Macbadger, Rat, District Attorney, Judge, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, Katrina Van Tassel 1950 Cinderella Anastasia Tremaine, Drizella Tremaine 1951 Alice in Wonderland Alice, King Of Hearts 1952 Susie the Little Blue Coupe (Short) Animator 1953 Peter Pan Directing Animator Mr. SmeeBen and Me (Short) Animator Benjamin Franklin 1955 Lady and the Tramp Directing Animator Lady, Jock And Trusty 1959 Sleeping Beauty Flora, Fauna And Merryweather 1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians Pongo, Pertida, Dalmatian Puppies, Nanny 1963 The Sword in the Stone Merlin, Archimedes, Arthur 1964 Mary Poppins Animator The Penguin Waiters 1967 The Jungle Book Directing Animator Bagheera, Mowgli, Shanti, Baloo 1968 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (Short) Animator Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet 1970 The Aristocats Directing Animator Marie, Toulouse, Abigail and Amelia Gabble, Uncle Waldo 1973 Robin Hood Robin Hood, Little John, Prince John, Sir Hiss 1974 Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (Short) Pooh and Piglet 1977 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Animator The Rescuers Directing Animator Miss Bianca and Bernard, Rufus, Penny, Orville 1981 The Fox and the Hound Supervising Animator Young Tod, Young Copper, Chief 1987 The Chipmunk Adventure Special Thanks 1992 Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland Story Consultant Credited as Oliver Johnston 1995 Frank and Ollie (Documentary) Himself 1999 The Iron Giant Additional Voices / Animator Himself 2004 The Incredibles Additional Voices / Special Thanks
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
References
Sources
External links
Frank and Ollie's official site
Disney Legends Ollie's backyard railroad "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