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[Lemming_JRS]

A true pioneer of the art of animation passed away today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_Johnston

Oliver Martin Johnston, Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was a pioneer in the field of motion picture animation. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last living member. His work was recognized with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.

He was a directing animator at Walt Disney Studios from 1935-1978. He contributed to many films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Bambi and Pinocchio. His last full work for Disney came with The Rescuers, which was the last film of the second golden age of Disney animation that had begun in 1950 with Cinderella. In The Rescuers, he was caricatured as one of the film's characters, the cat Rufus.

Johnston co-authored, with Frank Thomas, the classic reference book The Illusion of Life. 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 Theodore Thomas, Frank's son.


Here's a link to the characters he animated: http://frankanollie.com/Film_Features.html

 

[TrueReligion]

He lived a long life. I really enjoyed his work. RIP

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

well, he certainly couldn't complain

RIP dude

 

[Link Man]

He will be fondly remembered.

 

[eudaemonic]

*moment of posting silence*

 

[JzeroT1437]

This actually kind of depresses me.

 

[Green Shinobi]

Who exactly defines these "golden ages?"

Their best golden age was from The Little Mermaid - Hunchback of Notre Dame (excluding Pocahontas) IMO.

 

[lexi]

Disney's late 80s - mid-to-late 90s golden age makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. So much brilliance.

 

[Duderz]

Who exactly defines these "golden ages?"

Their best golden age was from The Little Mermaid - Hunchback of Notre Dame (excluding Pocahontas) IMO.

Part of it is that the earlier Disney works were unmatched (and continue to be, IMO) in animation, design, etc. They helped pioneer every movie you just mentioned / implied.

Seriously, go and watch a character like Cruella de Ville in 101 Dalmations, and see how realistically her bony self contrasts with the coat she's wearing. It's unmatched.

EDIT: RIP. What a life.

 

[JzeroT1437]

The 80's/90's stuff wouldn't have existed if it weren't for guys like Ollie. He helped pioneer full-length animated film by giving it credible weight. Besides that, think about all the effort and heart these guys poured into their work--they didn't have computers to help with the work.

Mounds of respect.

 

[Dan]

I own The Illusion of Life but I have regrettably read very little of it

Rest in peace.

 

[Green Shinobi]

Well, that's true, and stuff like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Pinocchio are undeniably brilliant.

Actually, now that I think about it, Sleeping Beauty might be my second favorite ever behind Aladdin.

Was Alice in Wonderland made under this guy?

 

[TAJ]

they didn't have computers to help with the work.

What the hell is this supposed to mean? There's almost no CG character animation in the 2D animated Disney features. Examples I can think of off-hand are

1. Magic carpet from Aladdin
2. Cave of Wonders from Aladdin
3. Wildebeest in Lion King
4. Hydra in Hercules
5. Parts of Silver's body in Treasure Planet
6. The annoying robot in Treasure Planet, whatever the fuck its name is. (voice by Martin Short)
7. Whales/fish in Treasure Planet.

 

[Another_visitor]

He & Frank Thomas had cameos in "The Incredibles" & "The Iron Giant". Brad Bird's way of paying tribute.

 

[B!TCH]

What the hell is this supposed to mean? There's almost no CG character animation in the 2D animated Disney features. Examples I can think of off-hand are

1. Magic carpet from Aladdin
2. Cave of Wonders from Aladdin
3. Wildebeest in Lion King
4. Hydra in Hercules
5. Parts of Silver's body in Treasure Planet
6. The annoying robot in Treasure Planet, whatever the fuck its name is. (voice by Martin Short)
7. Whales/fish in Treasure Planet.

Your comment annoys me. The comment you are responding to also annoys me but in a different way.

Read this, C.A.P.S.

 

[Aaron]

What the hell is this supposed to mean? There's almost no CG character animation in the 2D animated Disney features. Examples I can think of off-hand are

While not actually CG, Disney started to use a lot of computer assisted animation, much in the same way live action footage was used as a reference for Cinderella.

 

[Another_visitor]

they didn't have computers to help with the work.

No, they had an army of tracers, inbetweeners & colourers instead. Computers can take the donkey work out of a project but they can't help to create, that has to come from the artist.

Same way that a word processor can't write a novel.

Also, some things are actually easier in 2D. Speed blur, breaking joints, squash & stretch etc. Computers & pencils are just tools & both have their advantages.

 

[FnordChan]

RIP Ollie. Cartoon Brew has an excellent post collecting tributes and videos about Ollie's impact on animation.

FnordChan

 

[Prime crotch]

Aww crap, truly Disney's best works.

 

[Zedsdeadbaby]

Source? Not a single source mentioned here except for a citeless wiki article. :/

edit: no it's ok I'll do it you fucking lazy bums. http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=22932

 

[JzeroT1437]

What the hell is this supposed to mean? There's almost no CG character animation in the 2D animated Disney features. Examples I can think of off-hand are

1. Magic carpet from Aladdin
2. Cave of Wonders from Aladdin
3. Wildebeest in Lion King
4. Hydra in Hercules
5. Parts of Silver's body in Treasure Planet
6. The annoying robot in Treasure Planet, whatever the fuck its name is. (voice by Martin Short)
7. Whales/fish in Treasure Planet.

You don't understand much about modern animation it would seem. Something doesn't have to be 100 percent CG to be computer animated. The majority of animation done today is done through character models which come from several sketches input as reference, which are then reused over and over. They also assist in shading, coloring, etc. For a simple comparison, look at Snow White, then look at the animation style of Teen Titans or whatever. Notice how smooth and even the light and shading are in modern times? How completely even the coloring is? That's because it's done by computers and not by hand.

In the time of the 9 old men, this shit was all done by hand. It was hard stuff. Not to mention the role the animators played in genuine design.

 

[Deleted member 20415]

Who exactly defines these "golden ages?"

Their best golden age was from The Little Mermaid - Hunchback of Notre Dame (excluding Pocahontas) IMO.

They're arbitrary on some level - but I've heard The Golden Age referred to Disney's early works and then "The New Golden Age" to refer to the period you mentioned... But, I go with comic book terms... Golden Age - Silver Age - Bronze Age.

For those that are interested, there's a good documentary Disney put out about Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas called "Frank and Ollie."

 

[Dyno]

What the hell is this supposed to mean? There's almost no CG character animation in the 2D animated Disney features. Examples I can think of off-hand are

1. Magic carpet from Aladdin
2. Cave of Wonders from Aladdin
3. Wildebeest in Lion King
4. Hydra in Hercules
5. Parts of Silver's body in Treasure Planet
6. The annoying robot in Treasure Planet, whatever the fuck its name is. (voice by Martin Short)
7. Whales/fish in Treasure Planet.

Disney was experimenting with and using CG in limited fashion since The Little Mermaid. In that particular movie there were stairways and other very geometric set pieces that were rendered in CG. In their second movie of those times; Beauty and the Beast (my favourite - a masterpiece through and though) they were doing whole rooms in CG (the solarium/ballroom with the chandelleer.) So it's fair to say that the entire 'third golden age' was given help from CG, something this man had no access to.

I know this to be true because I have a three year old and all the Disney movies from The Little Mermaid right on up are on the TV at some point each and every day.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[borghe]

Disney was experimenting with and using CG in limited fashion since The Little Mermaid.

Great Mouse Detective actually. The entire clocktower sequence was created by (IIRC from the DVD BTS featurette) the company that eventually became Pixar (who also did the Aladdin cave sequences for sure)

as for the news... the passing of an entire generation is always sad, this one particularly so. The nine old men were responsible for many many generations of filmmakers and animators. Even though Pixar and Lassetter are often compared to Disney and the nine old men, the fact that these guys pretty much created the feature animation storyteller method goes to show the real difference.

Rest In Peace Ollie. And when you see Walt and the other 8 thank them and yourself for the decades (and more) of joy you all brought the world multiple times over.

 

[speedpop]

A shame that an end of an era has passed.

 

[AMUSIX]

No, they had an army of tracers, inbetweeners & colourers instead. Computers can take the donkey work out of a project but they can't help to create, that has to come from the artist.

Same way that a word processor can't write a novel.

and penmanship has gone to hell. The point about CAPS is exactly that it's easier these days, making the animation of past that much more impressive. Just watched Junglebook last night, and none of the 80's and 90's disney features come close to matching it's 'drawing come to life' look.