Ollie Johnston

Ollie Johnston photo (Walt Disney Archives, n.d.)

Ollie Martin Johnston, known as Ollie Johnston, was born in 1912, California, and died in 2008. He was one of the names known as animators at Walt Disney. He studied at Stanford University and the Chouinard Art Institute. (Walt Disney Archives, n.d.)

He married Marie Worthey who worked at Disney. He started working at Disney in 1935 as an apprentice animator, working on Disney shorts. (Walt Disney Archives, nd) His work as a professional animator began with the long film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Pinocchio" in 1940. (National Endowment for the arts, nd) Most films from Disney have their contribution, as is the example of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Bambi. (The Disney wiki, n.d.)

Ollie had steam trains as a hobby, and he liked it so much that he had a railroad built in his backyard. It was this setback that inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. (The Disney wiki, n.d.)

His recognition came with the Disney Legend Award in 1989. (The Disney wiki, n.d.)

He managed to garner a seat at Disney in such a way that he was called one of the "nine old men". (National Endowment for the arts, n.d.)

 His animation work was unique. Walt Disney Archives (n.d.) cites Frank Thomas who says about Ollie: “Ollie was the only one of the Studio animators who were sensitive to character relationships and how they affected the story. Back then, cartoon characters seldom touched unless they hit each other. But one day Ollie said, ‘You know, the act of two people holding hands communicates in a powerful way.’ And he was right. His warmth made a difference in so many of our characters. ” This was what distinguished Ollie's work, not only creating historical characters in the world of animation but also getting them to relate. We have the example of Baloo and Mowgli in The Jungle Book. (Walt Disney Archives, n.d.)

He was also a co-author of the Disney animation reference book that showed the twelve basic principles of animation. (The Disney wiki, n.d.)

Ollie has inspired many animators over time to continue working at Disney. Even today, the concepts he developed in animation are taught in animation courses. (Walt Disney Archives, n.d.)

My choice for this animator is related to the importance he had in the world of animation. It is good to watch the Disney animations and see the evolution from the beginning and see how much the animation has evolved. To be entertainers we must know the classics and understand what is done within this area and what is its evolution. It was good that all the animators were able to do an internship in all the big studios to understand how the animation is done, gain experience and learn from the different work experiences.

Ollie left me with a fundamental idea, which he himself considered important (in the words of his friend Frank Thomas), which is to think well about what kind of emotional relationship there is between the characters. This relationship gives life and involves people with the characters we create. It is an aspect that I never gave much importance to, but that left me thinking. How to be able to transmit interpersonal relationships in the characters we create? can we communicate these relationships as we would like? I believe that these questions will be the basis for my reflection in creating an animation.

Some characters animated by Ollie: 

Pinocchio, Image from The Disney wiki (n.d.)    Bambi, Image from The Disney wiki (n.d.)

Alice, Image from The Disney wiki (n.d.)     Dalmatian Puppies, Image from The Disney wiki (n.d.)

References:

National Endowment for the arts (n.d.) Ollie Johnston [online] Available from: Ollie Johnston | National Endowment for the Arts [accessed on: 10/03/2021]

The Disney wiki (n.d.) Ollie Johnston [online] Available from: Ollie Johnston | Disney Wiki | Fandom [accessed on: 10/03/2021]

Walt Disney Archives (n.d.)  Ollie Johnston [online] Available from: Ollie Johnston - D23 [accessed on: 10/03/2021]