Ollie Johnson (1912 – 2008)
Cartoon Brew asks Brad Bird to comment on the passing of legendary Disney animator, Ollie Johnson.
When Frank and Ollie retired from production on the same Friday I was the next animator on Ollie’s desk the following Monday; the very desk he had used for decades to create so many indelible animated moments. I was properly awed as I sat down in Ollie’s chair, at his desk.
As I was checking it out and getting the feel of it I noticed the pencil sharpener was full of shavings. Instead of throwing them out I poured them into a glass jar, labeled it and set it atop the desk. Good luck shavings… a simple reminder of the hard work required to create magic. My own jar of real Disney dust. The last jar.
Also of interest:
Frames Per Second tribute to Ollie Johnson
Fare thee well Ollie. We will miss you. :-(
Of all the Ollie stories I have read over the past few days, that little bit from Mr. Bird got to me the most.
Goodbye Ollie.
that makes me like Brad Bird even more, if that’s possible. What a lovely thing to say
It’s really great to see Ollie Johnson’s high standard of animation and story telling living on through Brad Bird.
JohnsTon. Please fix. :-)
Yes, it’s Johnston, not Johnson.