Ollie, seated, with frequent collaborator Frank ThomasJenny at the Blackwing Diaries has posted the very sad news that Ollie Johnston, Disney animator and the last of Walt’s Nine Old Men, passed away today at the age of 95. I’m sure that many tributes will begin to appear very soon, so any attempt for me to eulogize Ollie here would be glaringly deficient. I never met the man in person, but his work and the work of his peers has affected my life greatly. His contribution to the art of animation is incalculable, as is the effect of his training and mentoring on the subsequent generation of animators that studied under him. He was an artist, a teacher, a family man and a heck of an engineer. His passing marks the end of an era; he is the last of the titans to fall. He will be missed.
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