Frank Thomas | |
|---|---|
 Thomas in 1974 | |
| Born | Franklin Rosborough Thomas (1912-09-05)September 5, 1912 Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Died | September 8, 2004(2004-09-08) (aged 92) |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Animator |
| Years active | 1935–2004 |
| Employer | Walt Disney Productions (1934–1982) |
| Known for | One ofDisney'sNine Old Men |
| Spouse | Jeanette A. Thomas |
| Children | 4, includingTheodore Thomas |
Franklin Rosborough Thomas (September 5, 1912 – September 8, 2004) was an Americananimator and pianist. He was one ofWalt Disney's leading team of animators known as theNine Old Men.
Thomas was born on September 5, 1912, inSanta Monica, California, to Frank Thomas, a teacher,[1] and Ina Gregg.[2] He had two older brothers, Lawrence and Welburne.[3] He grew up inFresno.[4] Frank Thomas attendedStanford University, where he was a member ofTheta Delta Chi fraternity and worked on campus humor magazineTheStanford Chaparral withOllie Johnston. After graduating from Stanford in 1933,[5] he attendedChouinard Art Institute, then joinedThe Walt Disney Company on September 24, 1934, as employee number 224. There he animated dozens of feature films and shorts, and also was a member of theDixieland bandFirehouse Five Plus Two, playing thepiano.
His work inanimated cartoon shorts includedBrave Little Tailor, in which he animated scenes ofMickey Mouse and the king, Mickey and the bear inThe Pointer, and German dialogue scenes in theWorld War IIpropaganda shortEducation for Death (shortly before Thomas enlisted in theArmy Air Forces). During World War II he was assigned to theFirst Motion Picture Unit where he made training films.[6]
Infeature films, among the characters and scenes Thomas animated were the dwarfs crying over Snow White's "dead" body, Pinocchio singing at the marionette theatre, Bambi and Thumper on the ice,Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti, the three fairies inSleeping Beauty, Merlin and Arthur as squirrels and the "wizard's duel" between Merlin and Madam Mim inThe Sword in the Stone (in which he was paired with animatorMilt Kahl to great effect), King Louie inThe Jungle Book (the song number "I Wan'na Be Like You" featuring King Louie and Baloo the Bear re-teamed him with Kahl), the dancing penguins inMary Poppins, and Winnie The Pooh and Piglet inWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day andWinnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. Thomas was directing animator for several memorable villains, including the evil stepmother Lady Tremaine inCinderella, the Queen of Hearts inAlice in Wonderland, Captain James Hook inPeter Pan, and story consultant inLittle Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.He retired from Disney on January 31, 1978. In the 1980s and 1990s, Thomas served on the advisory board of theNational Student Film Institute and often was a presenter at the annual film festival's award ceremonies.[7][8]
Thomas co-authored, with fellow Disney legend Ollie Johnston, the comprehensive bookDisney Animation: The Illusion of Life, first published byAbbeville Press in 1981. Regarded as the definitive resource book ontraditional hand-drawncharacter animation (particularly in the Disney style), the book has been republished numerous times, and is widely considered "the bible" among character animators. The book summarized the Disney approach to animation through the so-called12 basic principles of animation.
Thomas and Johnston were also profiled in the 1995documentaryFrank and Ollie, which screened at the 20thToronto International Film Festival, directed by Thomas's sonTheodore Thomas. The film profiled their careers, private lives, and the personal friendship between the two men. In 2012, Theodore Thomas also directed another short documentary, "Growing up with Nine Old Men", included in the Diamond edition of Disney'sPeter Pan DVD.
Thomas's last work in an animated film before his death was forThe Incredibles (directed byBrad Bird), although he voiced a character, rather than animating one. Frank and his friend and colleague Ollie Johnston voiced and were caricatured as two old men saying "That's old school ..." "Yeah, no school like the old school." The pair had previously been heard, and caricatured, as the two train engineers in Bird'sThe Iron Giant. Thomas died inLa Cañada Flintridge, California, on September 8, 2004, three days after his 92nd birthday. His widow, Jeanette A. Thomas, died on September 29, 2012.[9]
The 2001 biographyWalt Disney's Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation byJohn Canemaker (ISBN 0-7868-6496-6) chronicles Thomas' life.
On theAnimation Podcast, Disney directorJohn Musker discussed Frank Thomas, and mentioned that at one time, fellow animation greatChuck Jones had christened Thomas the "Laurence Olivier of animators."
| Year | Title | Credits | Characters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | The Cookie Carnival (Short) | Animator | uncredited | |
| Music Land (short) | uncredited | |||
| 1936 | Orphans' Picnic (Short) | uncredited | ||
| Mickey's Circus (short) | uncredited | |||
| Mickey's Elephant (short) | uncredited | |||
| More Kittens (short) | uncredited | |||
| 1937 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | TheSeven Dwarfs | ||
| Little Hiawatha (short) | uncredited | |||
| 1938 | Brave Little Tailor (short) | uncredited | ||
| 1939 | The Practical Pig (short) | uncredited | ||
| The Pointer (short) | Animator: "Mickey looking for Bear" | uncredited | ||
| 1940 | Pinocchio | Animation Director | Pinocchio | Credited as Franklin Thomas |
| 1942 | Bambi | Supervising Animator | Bambi,Thumper, Faline | Credited as Franklin Thomas |
| All Together (short) | Animator | uncredited | ||
| 1943 | The Grain That Built a Hemisphere (Documentary) | |||
| Victory Vehicles (Short) | uncredited | |||
| The Winged Scourge (Documentary short) | uncredited | |||
| Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi (short) | uncredited | |||
| 1944 | Position Firing | |||
| Camouflage (short) | Director | |||
| 1945 | The Three Caballeros | Animator | "The Flying Gauchito" | Credited as Franklin Thomas |
| 1946 | In Dutch (Short) | |||
| 1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | Directing Animator | Mr. Toad, Water Rat, Mole, Cyril Proudbottom,Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, Katrina Van Tassel | |
| Pueblo Pluto (Short) | Animator | uncredited | ||
| 1950 | Cinderella | Directing Animator | Lady Tremaine, a few scenes of the Grand Duke | |
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | Doorknob,Queen of Hearts | ||
| 1953 | Peter Pan | Captain Hook, a few scenes ofSmee | ||
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp | Lady, Tramp, Jock, Trusty | ||
| 1959 | Sleeping Beauty | Three Good Fairies | ||
| Donald in Mathmagic Land (Short) | Animator | uncredited | ||
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | Directing Animator | Pongo, Perdita, Puppies, Roger, Anita, Nanny, Labrador | |
| 1963 | The Sword in the Stone | Arthur,Merlin, Archimedes, Squirrels, Madam Mim | ||
| 1964 | Mary Poppins | Animator | Dancing Penguins | |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | Directing Animator | Mowgli,Baloo,King Louie,Kaa | |
| 1968 | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (Short) | Animator | Winnie the Pooh,Piglet, Owl,Christopher Robin | |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | Story / Directing Animator | Duchess, O'Malley, Amelia and Abigail Gabble, Napoleon, Lafayette, Edgar | |
| 1973 | Robin Hood | Directing Animator / Story Sequences | Robin Hood in stork disguise,Sheriff of Nottingham, Skippy, Bunnies, Maid Marian,Prince John, Little John | |
| 1974 | Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (Short) | Directing Animator | ||
| 1977 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | Animator | Winnie the Pooh,Piglet, Owl,Christopher Robin | |
| The Rescuers | Story / Directing Animator | Bernard, Miss Bianca, The Chairman, Orville, Brutus, Nero, Ellie Mae, Luke, The Swamp Folk | ||
| 1981 | The Fox and the Hound | Supervising Animator | Tod, Copper | |
| 1987 | The Chipmunk Adventure | Special Thanks | ||
| 1992 | Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland | Story Consultant | ||
| 1995 | Frank and Ollie (Documentary) | Himself | ||
| 1999 | The Iron Giant | Additional Voices | Himself | |
| 2004 | The Incredibles | Additional Voices / Special Thanks / posthumous release |
| Year | Title | Credits | Characters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961–82 | Disneyland | Animator (3 episodes, 1961–1970), directing animator (1 episode, 1982) | 4 episodes |
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