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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

  • http://artbonnie.com/sketchyblog/ bonnie

    Fare thee well Ollie. We will miss you. :-(

  • http://artbonnie.com/sketchyblog/ bonnie

    Fare thee well Ollie. We will miss you. :-(

  • http://stovepipe.net/ J.M.Stovepipe

    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.

  • http://stovepipe.net J.M.Stovepipe

    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.

  • http://www.themousehunter.com/blog almilway

    that makes me like Brad Bird even more, if that’s possible. What a lovely thing to say

  • http://www.themousehunter.com/blog almilway

    that makes me like Brad Bird even more, if that’s possible. What a lovely thing to say

  • http://dpsullivan.com/ dsully

    It’s really great to see Ollie Johnson’s high standard of animation and story telling living on through Brad Bird.

  • http://dpsullivan.com dsully

    It’s really great to see Ollie Johnson’s high standard of animation and story telling living on through Brad Bird.

  • http://www.trevour.com/ Trevour

    JohnsTon. Please fix. :-)

  • http://www.trevour.com Trevour

    JohnsTon. Please fix. :-)

  • http://blog.artandstory.com/ Lee-Roy

    Yes, it’s Johnston, not Johnson.

  • http://blog.artandstory.com Lee-Roy

    Yes, it’s Johnston, not Johnson.