Ollie Johnston was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes.
17 Facts About Ollie Johnston
2.
Ollie Johnston was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989.
3.
Ollie Johnston's work was recognized with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.
4.
Ollie Johnston contributed to most Disney animated features, including Fantasia and Bambi.
5.
Ollie Johnston's work includes Mr Smee, the Stepsisters, the District Attorney, and Prince John.
6.
Ollie Johnston co-authored, with Frank Thomas, the reference book Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, which contained the 12 basic principles of animation.
7.
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 produced another documentary, Growing up with Nine Old Men, included in the Diamond Edition of the Peter Pan DVD.
8.
Ollie Johnston attended Palo Alto High School 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.
9.
Ollie Johnston then transferred to the Chouinard Art Institute in his senior year.
10.
Ollie Johnston married a fellow Disney employee, ink and paint artist Marie Worthey, in 1943.
11.
Marie Ollie Johnston died May 20,2005, at the age of 87.
12.
Ollie Johnston was a founding Governor of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society along with his fellow Disney animator and railfan, Ward Kimball.
13.
The 1:4-scale Victorian depot from Ollie 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.
14.
Ollie Johnston sold the vacation estate and the narrow gauge train in 1993.
15.
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.
16.
Ollie Johnston died of natural causes on April 14,2008, at the age of 95.
17.
Ollie Johnston was the last surviving member of Disney's Nine Old Men at the time of his death.