Ollie Johnston
Johnston in 1989
Born	Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (1912-10-31)October 31, 1912 Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Died	April 14, 2008(2008-04-14) (aged 95) Sequim, Washington, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Oliver M. Johnston, Jr. Oliver M. Johnston Oliver Johnston
Alma mater	Stanford University University of California, Berkeley
Occupation	Animator
Years active	1934–1981 (at Disney) 1981–1993 (book author)
Known for	One ofDisney'sNine Old Men
Spouse	Marie E. Worthey ​ ​ (m. 1943; died 2005)​
Children	2

Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion pictureanimator. He was one ofDisney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes.^[1][2][3] He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989. His work was recognized with theNational Medal of Arts in 2005.

Johnston was an animator atWalt Disney Studios from 1934 to 1978, and became a directing animator beginning withPinocchio, released in 1940. He contributed to most Disney animated features, includingFantasia andBambi. His last full work for Disney came withThe Rescuers, in which he was caricatured as one of the film's characters, the cat Rufus. The last film he worked on wasThe Fox and the Hound. His work includesMr. Smee (inPeter Pan), the Stepsisters (inCinderella), the District Attorney (inThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), and Prince John (inRobin Hood). According to the bookThe Disney Villain, written by Johnston andFrank Thomas, Johnston also partnered with Thomas on creating characters such asIchabod Crane (inThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), Sir Hiss (inRobin Hood), and story consultant inLittle Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.

Johnston co-authored, with Frank Thomas, the reference bookDisney Animation: The Illusion of Life, which contained the12 basic principles of animation. This book helped preserve the knowledge of the techniques that were developed at the studio. The partnership of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston is fondly presented in the documentaryFrank and Ollie, produced by Thomas' sonTheodore, who in 2012 also produced another documentary,Growing up with Nine Old Men, included in the Diamond Edition of thePeter Pan DVD.

Born inPalo Alto, California, to Oliver, aStanford professor, and Florence Johnston, Johnston had two older sisters, Winifred and Florence.^[4] Johnston attendedPalo Alto High School^[5] andStanford University, where he worked on the campus humor magazineStanford Chaparral with fellow future animator Frank Thomas, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Johnston then transferred to theChouinard Art Institute in his senior year.^[6] Johnston married a fellow Disney employee,ink and paint artist Marie Worthey, in 1943. Marie died May 20, 2005, at the age of 87.^[7]

Johnston's lifelong hobby waslive steam trains. Starting in 1949, he built the4+3⁄4 in (121 mm) gauge^[8] La Cañada Valley Railroad, aminiaturebackyard railroad with three 1:12-scale locomotives at his home inFlintridge, California.^[9] The locomotives are now owned by his sons. This railroad was one of the inspirations forWalt Disney to build his own backyard railroad, theCarolwood Pacific Railroad, which inspired the building of the railroad inDisneyland inAnaheim, California. Johnston was a founding Governor of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society along with his fellow Disney animator and railfan,Ward Kimball. The 1:4-scale Victorian depot from Johnston's backyard was restored and moved to a location near Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn within theLos Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.^[10]

In the 1960s, Johnston acquired and restored a full-size,3 ft (914 mm)narrow gaugePorter steam locomotive originally built in 1901, which he named theMarie E. He also built the Deer Lake Park & Julian Railroad (DLP&J) at his vacation estate inJulian, California, to run the locomotive with a small gondola and caboose pulled behind it.^[11][12] TheMarie E. first ran on the DLP&J in 1968.^[13] the DLP&J was 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long and utilized therailroad ties from the defunctViewliner Train of Tomorrow attraction inDisneyland.^[13][14] Johnston sold the vacation estate and the narrow gauge train in 1993.^[13] The engine and its consist were later sold toJohn Lasseter (ofPixar Studios fame) around 2002. On May 10, 2005, it ran on theDisneyland Railroad during a private early morning event organized by Lasseter to honor Johnston, who was able to take the throttle of theMarie E. one last time.^[15] This was the first time that the Walt Disney Company permitted outside railroad equipment to run at any Disney Resort.^[15] The engine is still fully operational and presently runs on theJusti Creek Railway, located within the vineyards of Lasseter Family Winery, also owned by Lasseter.^[15]

In the 1980s and 90s, Johnston served on the advisory board of theNational Student Film Institute and often was a presenter at the annual film festival's award ceremonies.^[16][17]Brad Bird paid a tribute to Ollie Johnston with an animated cameo of Johnston in the 2004 Pixar filmThe Incredibles, as well as a cameo in his 1999 filmThe Iron Giant, where Johnston played a train engineer.^[18] Both cameos also included Frank Thomas.

On November 10, 2005, Ollie Johnston was among the recipients of the prestigiousNational Medal of Arts, presented by PresidentGeorge W. Bush in anOval Office ceremony.

Ollie Johnston died of natural causes on April 14, 2008, at the age of 95. He was the last surviving member ofDisney's Nine Old Men at the time of his death.

• Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life (1981)
• Too Funny for Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags (ISBN 0-89659-747-4)
• Walt Disney's Bambi—the Story and the Film (ISBN 1-55670-160-8)
• The Disney Villain (ISBN 1-56282-792-8)

• Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

• Amendola, Dana (2015).All Aboard: The Wonderful World of Disney Trains (1st ed.).Disney Editions.ISBN 978-1-4231-1714-8.
• Broggie, Michael (2014).Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom (4th ed.).The Donning Company Publishers.ISBN 978-1-57864-914-3.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toOllie Johnston.

Wikinews has related news:

• Disney animator Ollie Johnston dies at 95

• Frank and Ollie's official site
• Ollie Johnston atIMDb
• Disney Legends
• Ollie's backyard railroad
• "Ollie Johnston: Last of the Red-Hot Animators" by John Canemaker -Wall Street Journal - April 22, 2008; Page D9
• Carolwood Pacific Historical Society Web site

• 1912 births
• 2008 deaths
• 20th-century American artists
• 20th-century American writers
• American animated film directors
• Animators from California
• Chouinard Art Institute alumni
• Disney Legends
• Film directors from California
• Palo Alto High School alumni
• Stanford University alumni
• United States National Medal of Arts recipients
• University of California, Berkeley alumni
• Walt Disney Animation Studios people
• Writers from Palo Alto, California
• People from Julian, California

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