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.
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