Ollie Johnston’s life and career have been well documented. FLIP presents some anecdotes from the next generation of animators whom he so greatly inspired.

Article Care of Steve Moore at Flip Magazine

Randy Cartwright
I was in-betweening for Ollie on The Rescuers. One day he showed me a pencil test loop of Penny. She was holding up her lantern, causing sparkles to appear on the wet wall. It was a slow, not particularly impressive scene.

Ollie pointed and said, “See that? What do you think?”

I replied, hesitantly, “Well, that’s….that’s nice.” (more…..)

The Black Cauldron

Ink and Paint, Scene Planning, Animation and Final Check, Camera and Administration

Click here to see the other departments crew photo.

The Black Cauldron used the traditional ink and paint process where the drawings were xeroxed onto cell and hand painted one by one. I remember that they experimented with a “new” xerox technique (I can’t remember the name) that prooved a failure as the line faded off the cell over time so they returned to the traditional xerox process. But production fell behind and everyone painted cells in the end.

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Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
Together Again

After the announcement of Ollie’s passing on April 14th, 2008.
Words By Nancy Beiman:

It’s been a sad week for animators. First we lose animator/producer Andy Knight on April 11 (he died of a stroke at the age of 46). Now news has come that Ollie Johnston (the last of the famous “Nine Old Men”) died on April 14 after a long illness. Ollie was 95 years old.

I first met him when I was in my freshman year at Cal Arts. I’d gotten the idea of animating an albatross–a gooney bird. I was pretty sure that this amusing creature, which crashes on landing, had never been animated before.

“I hate to disillusion you,” Brad Bird said one day as I was happily working away on a walk on the ‘other’ bird, “but they’re animating an albatross in THE RESCUERS, the new Disney feature. Ollie Johnston is animating it, and he is one of the artists coming to our show this spring to see our pencil tests.” Read more

Caricature by Animation Director John Musker

Well, hello again! I scratched my gray old noggin and dug way in to my past at Disney Feature Animation for a few more reminscences, which might trigger memories for you if you were on production around the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. As mentioned in my previous piece, I began my last decade of professional life hired by Peter Schneider in ‘86 to set up training and recruitment services for all of you. I got tremendous inputs from so many of you “vets” then about what the folks in the trenches were thinking might pick up spirits (that got lowered after Animation got moved off lot into a series of warehouse buildings in a Glendale Industrial Park, aka “Flower Street”! Anyway, for what it’s worth let’s look back. Read more

This picture of me “painting” the blue character is from my short film based on Joe Grant’s concept, LORENZO which came out in 2004 attached to a live action Disney film called Raising Helen. This must have been 2003 or maybe early ‘04. I made it while in room 3136 up on the third floor of the Mickey Hat bldg. I actually painted all the backgrounds and character set ups for the cg artists to match my style so although I am “faking” painting that Lorenzo image I actually did do all the analogue painting that was used in the film’s bgs, character pose set ups etc..—so in that way, it is not fake. That is a genuine authentic Disneyland Frontierland poster behind me that I have had for a long time. My blue paint splattered it’s frame but Lorenzo was a messy project—in certain ways. Read more

1980 Crew
Hanna-Barbera

Photo Care of Phil Phillipson

A lot of animation artists in late 1970′s and early 1980′s cut their teeth in the business at television animation studios like Hanna-Barbera and Filmation Studios. These union studios had on the job training programs where you could learn the trade and get your start in an entry level union position as an inbetweener with the opportunity to work your way up to assistant animator and animator. The above photo is of the crew of artists that were working on Hanna-Barbera’s second feature film Heidi’s Song.

I see many people that I know went on to work at Walt Disney Feature Animation. Let me know who you recognize in the text box below.

1975 The Crew of Planet of the Apes
Saturday Morning Television Cartoon

Photo and Memories Care of Phil Phillipson

Back row left to right: In the light shirt is Tony Segroi, the bearded fellow and the next guy I don’t know, next with the beard and VW hat is George Freeman. George was a young guy who was working for us while going to college and was going to go to a new VFX house up north after graduation. While working with us he was freelancing using this brand new computer simulation for that same company up north on their first feature film. It was some sci-fi picture where he got some of the other guys to freelance with him as well doing glow efx for these light saber fx shots and we all thought that it was a really stupid idea. Light sabers and space ships would never go together. That company was ILM and the sci-fi picture was of course Star Wars. Were we wrong, or what? The next guy is Leo Swenson, and the next is Ziggy, we couldn’t pronounce his real name. Then on the far right is Moe Gollub the ex-Motion Picture Screen and Cartoonists union president.

Second row left to right: The first I guy don’t remember, next guy is Hac Fiq, Jim Muller and I don’t know the next guy with glasses.

Front row left to right: Phil Phillipson, I don’t know the second person, then John Dorman, then Nolly something?

If anyone can help fill in the blanks or has any more stories about this time just click on “comments” and leave a reply in the text box below.
~Memories Care of Phil Phillipson

Early 1980′s Cal-Arts

Photo Care of Rusty Mills

From Left to Right:
Geoff Schroder (1/2 pictured), Rusty Mills, Dan Jeup (in front), Gerry Bowers, Steve Moore, Kevin Lima, Kirk Wise, Tim Hauser

Before we all worked together at Walt Disney Feature Animation this group from the early 1980′s of Cal Arts reads like a who’s who in the animation film industry.

From Left to Right:
Mike Show (1/2 pictured), Rusty Mills( Boris Badinoff), Rob Minkoff (Sammy Davis Jr. claus), Steve Moore (blue meanie), Leon Joosen (Jack the ripper?), Mona Koth (Witch), Breth Koth (bum)

Fox and the Hound

There are some amazing names are on this list of credits and WOW doesn’t this list seem short compared to the feature film credit rolls of today.

In those days not everyone got screen credit and Ink and Paint was one of the departments whose work ended up on the screen but their names did not.

Left to Right Front Row: Karen Comella, Janette Hulet, Robin Police, Melanie Pava, Tatsuko Watanabe, Gretchen Albrecht, Charlotte Armstrong, Sherri Vandoli

Left to Right Middle Row: Susan Moreau, Edie Hoffman (w/ sunglasses), Marisha Noroski, Jean Erwin – Supervisor (w/camera flare on top of head), Penny Coulter, Marcia Sinclair (polka dot blouse), Ann Neale (tall with sort of shag haircut), Barbara Palmer (leaning on rail, outside vertical support post)

Left to Right Back Row: Micki Zurcher (head turned toward screen right), Lois Ryker (w/ hand in the air), Ginni Mack (forehead and top of hair), Gina Wooten (dark bangs, right eye and a bit of nose), Robyn Roberts, Jill Sturdivant, (KP) Karen Paat

Affectionately known as “The Ink and Paint Ladies” pictured above huddled with big smiles in the Ray Bradbury Something Wicked This Way Comes gazebo on the Disney backlot. Ink and Paint was the largest department in the production process at that time. We didn’t call it a production pipeline until much later. (smile)

Top: (?)
Middle Left to Right: (?), (?), (?), Penny Coulter
Bottom Left to Right: (?), (?), (?), (?), (?)

The painters might be in units defined by a characters in the film. The colored paper drawing (color model mark up) would show the color separation areas (color seps) and identify what paint would needs to go where. Inside wing, outside wing, inside mouth, white of eye, etc…. There is a cell for every drawing in the film and it this crew who perfected the traditional skills of painting onto cells for feature animated films and painted every single one of them.

Top Left to Right: (?), (?), (?), (?), (?)
Bottom: Gretchen Albrecht

Done before digital technology (CAPS) all with paper, cells, gloves, brushes, water, paint, drying shelves and all those great people sitting together in one department combined with the fact that Disney ground their own pigment and made their own paint created a quality and a look second to none.

Top: Saskia Pele
Bottom Left to Right: Robin Police, (?), (?), Tatsko

At that time most of the cells from a Disney animated feature film were thrown away in a dumpster out behind the camera department and animation artists would dig through at night in search of cells they could take home. At the time no one knew they were creating museum pieces that by today’s prices are worth thousands of dollars.

Left to Right: Ed Hansen, Chris Hecox, Don Paul, Janet Bruce, Robyn Roberts

Although before my time, Ink and Paint traditionally had some of the best parties while on the Disney lot and off. Maybe it was because they were always separated from the rest of the animation department that gave them a rogue freedom that we all enjoyed. But we all felt the release from the exhaustive overtime hours at the Ink and Paint parties.

Left to Right: (?), Ron Rocha, Bill Brasner, Joe Morris, (?) Camen Sanderson, Karen Patt

Talented people, working together toward a single cause, achieving results beyond their means and contributing to a future while contributing to a legacy during a time when they were “Drawn2gether”.

Photos care of Penny Coulter.

It all starts with story.

Back Row Left to Right: Darryl Rooney, Kirk Hansen, Terry Rocio, Roger Allers, Ted Eliott, James Fuji, Chris Sanders, Kevin Harkey, Dave Smith.
Front Row Left to Right: Rebecca Reese, Sue Nichols, Burni Mattison, Ed Gombert, Brian Pimental, Kevin Lima, Francis Glebas and Jean Gillmore.

Ted Eliott and Terry Rocio were the writing team who later wrote Shrek, Mark of Zorro, Godzilla and Pirates of the Carribbean. Kevin Limo went on to Direct 102 Dalmations and The Enchanted.

By Aladdin we had really out grown our warehouse space at 1420 Flower St. and had spread out over the 5 square block industrial park taking over many different buildings. We affectionately named our locations “The Hart Bldg”, “The Royce Bldg”, “AirWay”, “1420″ and “1520″. Computer Animation, CAPS Ink and Paint, Compositing, Scanning and Scene Planning stayed behind in 1420 while the rest of the animation departments and various productions moved into these other buildings in the industrial park and the streets connecting the buildings became our hallways.

Scenes of hand drawn animation that were ready to be scanned got wrapped up in chipboard bound with rubberbands and transferred back and forth via courier’s on bicycles who repeatedly got tickets from Glendale Police Department for some such violation as they hurried back and forth.