The name Ollie Johnston may not mean anything to you, but you undoubtedly know the work of the animating god who sadly passed away last night.
Johnston was one of a group of Disney animators – also including John Lounsbury, Les Clark, Woolie Reitherman, Milt Kahl, Eric Larsen, Marc Davis, Ward Kimball and Frank Thomas – christened The Nine Old Men by Walt Disney.
As part of the group, Johnston was part of the band of artists who shaped Disney's animated output, working on such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Fantasia and Pinocchio. Johnston is the man who brought you the likes of 101 Dalmations' Perdita, Bambi's Thumper, The Jungle Book's Baloo, Peter Pan's Smee and Cinderella's Stepsisters, among many others. He is, in short, one of the greatest men ever to put pencil to paper. He also, along with long-time collaborator Frank Thomas, wrote the animation bible The Illusion of Life.
Johnston's last work as an animator was on The Rescuers in 1977, although he also did some work on The Fox and Hound. Since then he has leant his voice to two films by Brad Bird, a great fan of Johnston's. He voiced a train engineer in The Iron Giant and appeared as himself, with Thomas, in The Incredibles.
The animation world and many childhoods owe him a great debt.