History Creator / DisneysNineOldMen

Clark made his directorial debut in 1958 with the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-nominated ''Paul Bunyan'', and served as a sequence director on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. After animating a bit on ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Clark directed various educational films for the company until he retired in 1975, after 48 years at the studio. He died of cancer in 1979.

His favorite film after the death of Walt Disney was ''Disney/TheRescuers'', where he animated the interaction between Penny and Rufus the cat, the latter of whom was a self-caricature. After contributing some early animation for ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'', Ollie would return from the Disney studio in January 1978.

Perhaps the broadest character Ollie animated was the female Emotion in the WWII propaganda short ''Reason and Emotion'', who hated to be restrained in the backseat and wanted to have some fun. After the war, Ollie animated the timid but adventurous titular character in ''[[Disney/MakeMineMusic Peter and the Wolf]]'' and the egotistical prosecutor in ''[[Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad The Wind in the Willows]]''.

Clark made his directorial debut in 1958 with the UsefulNoted/AcademyAward-nominated ''Paul Bunyan'', and served as a sequence director on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. After animating a bit on ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Clark directed various educational films for the company until he retired in 1975, after 48 years at the studio. He died of cancer in 1979.

Frank co-authored four books with Ollie Johnston: ''Literature/TheIllusionOfLife'', ''Too Funny for Words'', ''The Disney Villain'' and ''Bambi: The Story and the Film''. He and Frank would also have voice cameos in two of Creator/BradBird's films, ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. Frank died of natural causes in 2004.

He then became an artist at WED Enterprises, Walt's "imagineering" workshop that designed attractions for [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]], alongside his wife Alice, who was a costume designer. Among the attractions he worked on included ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'', ''Country Bear Jamboree'' and ''America Sings''.

He then became an artist at WED Enterprises, Walt's "imagineering" workshop that designed attractions for [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]], alongside his wife Alice, who was a costume designer. Among the attractions he worked on included ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'' and the ''Country Bear Jamboree''. Marc died in 2000.

Ward Kimball joined the studio in 1934. He soon became an assistant to Ham Luske, and was promoted to animator on ''Elmer Elephant''. In 1937, he animated the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen "Music in Your Soup" and "Building a Bed for Snow White"]] sequences for ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', both of which eventually had to be cut for pacing reasons, and was tempted to quit until Walt gave him the task of designing and animating Jiminy Cricket in ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'' as a sort of consolation prize.

* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: You'd be forgiven for thinking it, but the Nine Old Men were not all friends with each other in real life. This is one of the reasons why there are ''very'' few group photos of them all together.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Wolfgang Reitherman.

As the 1940s came to a close, he specialized on more down-to-earth characters, such as Johnny Appleseed and Sluefoot Sue in ''Disney/MelodyTime'', Brom Bones in ''[[Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]]'', the Fairy Godmother in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', the title character of ''Disney/PeterPan'', and Prince Phillip in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''.

Kahl's animation in the 1960s and 1970s is also notable for his characters' broad movements, including Roger in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Merlin and Madam Mim in ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone'' (which he considered his favorite project, and also served as a character designer), Shere Kahn in ''Disney/TheJungleBook'' and Tigger in ''[[Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day]]''. He would retire in 1976 after animating all of Madame Medusa and Mr. Snoops in ''Disney/TheRescuers''.

!!Leslie James "Les" Clark (Nov. 17, 1907--Sept. 12, 1979)

!!Eric Cleon Larson (Sept. 03, 1905--Oct. 25, 1988)

!!Milton Erwin "Milt" Kahl (Mar. 22, 1909--Apr. 19, 1987)

!!Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (Jun. 26, 1909--May 22, 1985)

!!Franklin Rosborough "Frank" Thomas (Sept. 05, 1912--Sept. 08, 2004)

!!Marc Fraser Davis (March 30, 1913--January 12, 2000)

!!Ward Walrath Kimball (Mar. 04, 1914--Jul. 08, 2002)

Ward's work is easily recognizable for his characters' bouncy and often wacky movements; one case he's not well-known for yet probably demonstrates this the most obviously is Faline in ''Disney/{{Bambi}}''. Among his most noted animation included the crows in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'', the demented Nazi take on the Sleeping Beauty story in ''WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath'', the surreal title song of ''Disney/TheThreeCaballeros'', Lucifer in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', and the Mad Hatter and Tweedles Dee & Dum in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland''. He made his directorial debut for the short-lived "WesternAnimation/{{Adventures in Music|Duology}}" series, the second of which, ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward.

!!John Mitchell Lounsbery (Mar. 09, 1911--Feb. 13, 1976)

!!Oliver Martin "Ollie" Johnston Jr. (Oct. 31, 1912--Apr. 14, 2008)

Some of the most revered animators in the HistoryOfAnimation, '''Disney's Nine Old Men''' were a group of Creator/WaltDisney's top animators, some of whom would even become directors. They also taught and mentored many of today's top animators, both at Disney and elsewhere.

Ward was promoted back to director in 1967. During his tenure, he directed the Oscar-winning ''It's Tough to Be a Bird'' and the satirical live-action short ''Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?'', was well as the animated sequences for ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks''. He also created the syndicated television series ''Series/TheMouseFactory'' before arguments with the management made him retire in 1973, though he would later help Disney with [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks EPCOT Center]]'s ''World of Motion'' attraction in the 1980s. He died in 2002.

!!Leslie James "Les" Clark (11/17/07–09/12/79)

!!Eric Cleon Larson (09/03/05–10/25/88)

!!Milton Erwin "Milt" Kahl (03/22/09–04/19/87)

!!Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (06/26/09–05/22/85)

!!Franklin Rosborough "Frank" Thomas (09/05/12–09/08/04)

!!Marc Fraser Davis (03/30/13–01/12/00)
Marc Davis joined Disney in 1934, and was mentored by veteran animator Creator/GrimNatwick. His first work was animated the title character of ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', working with Natwick under Ham Luske.

!!Ward Walrath Kimball (03/04/14–07/08/02)

Ward was promoted back to director in 1967. During his tenure, he directed the Oscar-winning ''It's Tough to Be a Bird'' and the satirical live-action short ''Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?'', was well as the animated sequences for ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks''. He also created the syndicated television series ''Series/TheMouseFactory'' before arguments with the management made him retire in 1973, though he would later help Disney with [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks EPCOT Center]]'s ''World of Motion'' attraction in the 1980s. He died in 2003.

!!John Mitchell Lounsbery (03/09/11–02/13/76)

John would often animate characters with a lot of squash-and-stretch to them, including Willie the Giant in ''Disney/FunAndFancyFree'', George Darling in ''Disney/PeterPan'', and Tony and Joe in ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''. Other characters John animated included King Hubert and Maleficent's goons in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', and the Colonel and Jasper and Horace Badun in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''.

!!Oliver Martin "Ollie" Johnston Jr. (10/31/12–04/14/08)

Ollie was best known for incorporating feeling and emotion into his characters, and his breakthrough moment is considered to be Disney/{{Pinocchio}} lying to the Blue Fairy from inside a birdcage. Afterwards, he animated the little cherubs dressing up the centaurettes in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' and various personality scenes of the ambitious ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', including the scenes where the Young Prince first learns to walk and where Thumper reluctant says that "eating greens is a special treat".

One of Ollie's toughest assignments was that of the stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', due to the fact that, since he specialized in personality and emotion, those characters were intended to be unlikable. For ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'', he animated a majority of the diminutive King of Hearts and a bit of Alice herself. Afterward came one of his most famous performances, as the lead animator for the bumbling Mr. Smee in ''Disney/PeterPan''.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-Back row: Milt Kahl, Marc Davis, Frank Thomas, Eric Larson, and Ollie Johnston.\\

Ward's work is easily recognizable for his characters' bouncy and often wacky movements. Among his most noted animation included the crows in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'', the demented Nazi take on the Sleeping Beauty story in ''WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath'', the surreal title song of ''Disney/TheThreeCaballeros'', Lucifer in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' and the Mad Hatter and Tweedles Dee & Dum in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland''. He made his directorial debut for the short-lived "WesternAnimation/{{Adventures in Music|Duology}}" series, the second of which, ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward.

!!Les Clark

!!Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman
Woolie Reitherman started at Disney in 1934.

Woolie was known for animating broad action scenes, both dramatic and comedic, such as the climactic chase with Monstro the whale in ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', the dinosaurs in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', Timothy scaring the gossipy elephants in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'', and various scenes with WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} in his shorts. He was also known for animating scenes of tension and suspense, such as the mice trying to retrieve the key in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', and Tramp fighting against the junkyard dogs, and later the rat, in ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''.

In the mid-1950s, Woolie was promoted to director, and served as a sequence director for ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' (the climactic dragon fight) and ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' (including the puppies' reunion with their parents). In 1963, with the downsizing of the animation staff, Woolie became the first director to solely direct an animated feature at Disney with ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone''.

Following Walt's death in 1966, Woolie assumed duties as head of the animation department. Afterwards, he would win an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for ''[[Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day]]'', and he would serve as producer on all the animated features until his retirement during production of ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''.

!!Eric Larson

During the 1940, Larson shined with animal characters' personalities, including Sasha the bird in ''[[Disney/MakeMineMusic Peter and the Wolf]]'' and Brer Bear in ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'' and the Aracuan Bird in ''[[Disney/MelodyTime Blame It on the Samba]]''. In a departure from this role, he would animate the majority of the title character in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', and Disney/PeterPan's flight over London. He made a return to animals with characters like Peg in ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'' and the puppies in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''.

!!Milton "Milt" Kahl

!!Franklin "Frank" Thomas

!!Ward Kimball

!!Marc Davis
Marc Davis joined Disney in 1934, and was mentored by veteran animator Creator/GrimNatwick. His first work was animated the title character of ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', working with Natwick under Ham Luske.

After ''Snow White'', he was assigned to the story and animation of ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', where he animated all of Flower the skunk. He then animated several scenes in ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'', including the first scene of Br'er Rabbit, and the scene where Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear build the tar baby.

Marc was best known for animating solid and dainty female characters, including Disney/{{Cinderella}} (where he animated the iconic scene of her receiving her sparkly gown), Disney/{{Alice|InWonderland}}, (which included her experience at the Mad Tea Party) and [[Disney/PeterPan Tinker Bell]]. His crowning achievement came when he designed and supervised Maleficent, the wicked villainess of ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. After his most challenging assignment, animating all of Cruella de Vil in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Marc left the animation department.

He then became an artist at WED Enterprises, Walt's "imagineering" workshop that designed attractions for [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]], alongside his wife Alice, who was a costume designer. Among the attractions he worked on included ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'' and the ''Country Bear Jamboree''. Marc died in 2000.

!!Oliver M. "Ollie" Johnston Jr.

!!John Lounsbery
John Lounsbery joined Disney in 1935, and would serve as an assistant to star animator Norm Ferguson. His first job as an animator was a scene of Mickey Mouse scolding Pluto in ''The Pointer''. He received his first credit on ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', where he animated with Norm on Honest John and Gideon. Afterward, he would animate on Ben Ali Gator in the "Dance of the Hours" sequence of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', and scenes in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' where the titular elephant interacts with Timothy.

John would often animate characters with a lot of squash-and-stretch to them, including Willie the Giant in ''Disney/FunAndFancyFree'', George Darling in ''Disney/PeterPan'', and Tony and Joe in ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''. Other characters John animated included King Hubert and Maleficent's goons in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', and the Colonel and Jasper and Horace Badun in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''.

John was promoted to director in 1973, and directed the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-nominated ''[[Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too]]''. He died suddenly in 1976 while co-directing ''Disney/TheRescuers'' (animator Art Stevens would take over his duties).

[[caption-width-right:350:[-Back row: Milt Kahl, Marc Davis, Frank Thomas, Eric Larson, and Ollie Johnston.-] [-Front row: Woolie Reitherman, Les Clark, Ward Kimball, and John Lounsbery.-] ]]

Some of the most revered animators in the HistoryOfAnimation, '''''Disney's Nine Old Men''''' were a group of Creator/WaltDisney's top animators, some of whom would even become directors. They also taught and mentored many of today's top animators, both at Disney and elsewhere.

!!The Nine Old Men in question are:

'''Les Clark'''

Clark's skills improved while attending art classes held at the studio and, as the 1940s dawned, animated such scenes as Disney/{{Pinocchio}} turning his body all the way around while Geppetto inspected him, and Mickey working his magic on a broomstick in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}''. In the 1950s, he would animate Disney/{{Cinderella}} dancing with her Prince Charming, [[Disney/AliceInWonderland Alice]]'s joining a merry caucus race and [[Disney/LadyAndTheTramp Lady]] bring opened as a Christmas present.

----

'''Wolfgang Reitherman'''

Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman started at Disney in 1934.

Woolie was known for animating broad action scenes, both dramatic and comedic, such as the climactic chase with Monstro the whale in ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', the dinosaurs in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', Timothy scaring the gossipy elephants in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'', and various scenes with WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} in his shorts. He was also known for animating scenes of tension and suspense, such as the mice trying to retrieve the key in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', and Tramp fighting against the junkyard dogs, and later a rat, in ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''.

----

'''Eric Larson'''

Eric Larson joined Disney 1933, and became as assistant to Ham Luske. His first major job was animating the forest animals on ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', but his breakthrough was supervising Figaro the cat in ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', who he envisioned as having the personality a 4-year-old boy. After working on the pegasus family and the centaruettes in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', Larson would animate all of Friend Owl in ''Disney/{{Bambi}}''.

His only directorial effort was a sequence director on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' (he was originally going to direct ''WesternAnimation/TheSmallOne'' before it was handed over to Creator/DonBluth). As the 1960s drew on, he animated less and less on the features, such as the farm animals in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and the vultures in ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', before quitting altogether in 1973 to head Disney's training program, teaching a new generation of animators. Among these younger animators he mentored would become be key players UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation, including Creator/GlenKeane, John Musker and Creator/JohnLasseter. Larson would remain at Disney as a mentor and consultant until he retired in 1986, making him the only member of the Nine Old Men to wind up working under the 1984 Management Shift team [[note]] Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg [[/note]]. He died in 1988, and the prince in ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' was named in his honor.

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'''Milt Kahl'''

Described as "the Michelangelo of animation", Milt Kahl joined Disney in 1934. Among his first assignments were animating Mickey Mouse on shorts like ''Mickey's Circus'' and ''Disney/LonesomeGhosts'', as well as the forest animals in ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. His breakthrough came when he would design the title character of ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', treating him not as a puppet, but as a cute little boy; he would animate when Pinocchio came to life, and later when Pinocchio found himself turning into a donkey.

After ''Pinocchio'', he would be assigned to be a supervising animator on ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', where he animated, among other scenes, the scene where Thumper gets "twitterpated". Often assigned to realistic and solid characters, he was often mocked by his fellow artists for animating "cute", but it all changed when he animated most of the comical tiger from the WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} short ''Tiger Trouble''. Another famous scene of his was from ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'', where Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox into tossing him into the briar patch.

As the 1940s came to a close, he specialized on more down-to-earth characters, such as Johnny Appleseed and Sluefoot Sue in ''Disney/MelodyTime'', Brom Bones in ''[[Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]]'', the Fairy Godmother in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', the title character of ''Disney/PeterPan'' and Prince Phillip in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''.

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'''Frank Thomas'''

Described by Creator/ChuckJones as "the Creator/LaurenceOlivier of animation", Frank Thomas joined the studio in 1934, and soon became an assistant to Creator/FredMoore, one of Disney's star animators. his first important scene was in ''Mickey's Elephant'', where Pluto tries to make head or tail of a disappearing ball, and then animated the powerful scene in ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' where the dwarfs mourn Snow White in her glass coffin. Frank became a rising star at the studio, and animated another fine piece of personality animation, MickeyMouse's encounter with a grizzly bear in ''The Pointer'

He then animated the not-yet-alive Disney/{{Pinocchio}} during the "Little Wooden Head" number, and then drew him alive for the sing "I've Got No Strings". After that, Walt assigned Frank to be a supervising animator on ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', where his best known scene is Bambi and Thumper's misadventure while skating on a frozen lake. When World War II broke out, Frank briefly enrolled in the Air Force and joined an animation unit producing films for the Army. He returned to Disney in 1946, and soon after, animated a scene in ''[[Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]]'' where Ichabod Crane nervously and slowly rides through the hollow.

During the first half of the 1950s, Thomas animated some of Disney's most memorable villains, including Lady Tremaine in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', the Queen of Hearts in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'' and Captain Hook in ''Disney/PeterPan''. After that, he was assigned to ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'', where he most famously animated the iconic SpaghettiKiss, and then helped work with the three good fairies in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' with his lifelong friend and fellow animator Ollie Johnston.

In the 1960s, Frank worked on such scenes as Roger reviving a a newborn puppy in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' and the Wizards' duel in ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone''. One of his most famous and emotional scenes would occur in the ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', where Baloo has to bring himself to tell Mowgli that he has to back to the man-village. In the 1970s, he animated the geese and dogs in ''Disney/TheAristocats'', Disney/RobinHood disguised as a stork, and a lot of scenes of Bernard and Bianca in ''Disney/TheRescuers'', which he considered his best film without Walt Disney. He retired in January 1978 during production of ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''

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'''Ward Kimball'''

Ward Kimball joined the studio in 1934. He soon became as assistant to Ham Luske, and was promoted to animator on ''Elmer Elephant''. In 1937, he animated two sequences for ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' that had to be cut for pacing reasons, and was tempted to quit until Walt gave him the task of designing and animating Jiminy Cricket in ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}''.

Ward's work is easily recognizable for his characters' bouncy and often wacky movements. Among his most noted animation included the crows in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'', the demented Nazi take on the Sleeping Beauty story in ''WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath'', the surreal title song of ''Disney/TheThreeCaballeros'', Lucifer in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' and the Mad Hatter and Tweedles Dee & Dum in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland''. He made his directorial debut for the short-lived "[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresInMusicDuology Adventures in Music]]" series, the second of the two, ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward.

Ward was promoted back to director in 1967. During his tenure, he directed Oscar-winning ''It's Tough to Be a Bird'' and the satirical live-action short ''Dad, Can I Borrow the Car?'', was well as the animated sequences for ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks''. He also created the syndicated television series ''Series/TheMouseFactory'' before arguments with the management made him retire in 1973, though he would later help Disney with [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks EPCOT Center]]'s ''World of Motion'' attraction in the 1980s. He died in 2003.

----

'''Marc Davis'''

Marc Davis joined Disney in 1934, and was mentored by veteran animation Creator/GrimNatwick. His first work was animated the title character of ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', working with Natwick under Ham Luske.

After ''Snow White'', he was assigned to the story and animation of ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', where he animated all of Flower the skunk. He then animated several scenes in ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'', including the first scene of Brer Rabbit, and the scene where Brer Fox and Brer Bear build the tar baby.

Marc was best known for animating solid and dainty female characters, including Disney/{{Cinderella}} (where he animated the iconic scene of her receiving her sparkly gown), [[Disney/AliceInWonderland Alice]] (which included her experience at the Mad Tea Party) and [[Disney/PeterPan Tinker Bell]]. His crowning achievement came when he designed and supervised Maleficent, the wicked villainess of ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. After his most challenging assignment, animating all of Cruella de Vil in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Marc left the animation department.

----

'''Ollie Johnston'''

Ollie Johnston started at the Disney studio in 1935, as a cleanup artist on ''Mickey's Garden''. In 1936, he became an assistant under Creator/FredMoore, who is credited with establishing the Disney style. Ollie be the head assistant on the dwarfs in ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', who Moore had designed and was supervising animator on. Ollie would make his debut as an animator on ''WesternAnimation/BraveLittleTailor'', where he animated the scenes of the townspeople spreading the rumor of Mickey killing seven giants.

Ollie was best known for incorporating feeling and emotion into his characters, and his breakthrough moment is considered to be Disney/{{Pinocchio}} lying to the Blue Fairy from inside a birdcage. Afterwards, he animated the little cherubs dressing up the centaurettes in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' and various personality scenes of the ambitious ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', including the scenes where the young prince first learns to walk and where Thumper reluctant says that "eating greens is a special treat".

'''John Lounsbery'''

John Lounsbery joined Disney in 1935, and would serve as an assistant to star animator Norm Ferguson. His first job as an animator was a scene of Mickey Mouse scolding Pluto in ''The Pointer''. He received his first credit on ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', where he animated with Fergy on scenes of Honest John and Gideon. Afterward, he would animate on Ben Ali Gator in the "Dance of the Hours" sequence of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', and scenes in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' where the titular elephant interacts with Timothy.

Louns would often animate characters with a lot of squash-and-stratch to them, including Willie the Giant in ''Disney/FunAndFancyFree'', George Darling in ''Disney/PeterPan'', and Tony and Joe in ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''. Other characters Louns animated included King Hubert and Maleficent's goons in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', and the Baduns and Colonel in ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''.

Louns was promoted to director in 1973, and directed the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-nominated ''[[Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too]]''. He died suddenly in 1976 while co-directing ''Disney/TheRescuers'' (animator Art Stevens would take over his duties).

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* ArtifactTitle: Walt's nickname for the Men was in reference to a derisive nickname used by UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt to refer to a then Republican-controlled Supreme Court, which was constantly striking down New Deal legislation as being unconstitutional.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Wolfgang Reitherman.

* [[CoolOldGuy Cool Old Guys]]

* ShoutOut: ''WesternAnimation/RunawayBrain'', ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' make shout outs to Frank and Ollie.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Many of the [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation renaissance-era]] animators, such as Creator/GlenKeane, Creator/AndreasDeja, [[Creator/PixarRegulars John Lasseter]], and Creator/BradBird, all of whom were their proteges.

Ward's work is easily recognizable for his characters' bouncy and often wacky movements. Among his most noted animation included the crows in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'', the demented Nazi take on the Sleeping Beauty story in ''WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath'', the surreal title song of ''Disney/TheThreeCaballeros'', Lucifer in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' and the Mad Matter and Tweedles Dee & Dum in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland''. He made his directorial debut for the short-lived "[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresInMusicDuology Adventures in Music]]" series, the second of the two, ''Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Many of the [[TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation renaissance-era]] animators, such as Creator/GlenKeane, Andreas Deja, [[Creator/PixarRegulars John Lasseter]], and Creator/BradBird, all of whom were their proteges.

* ArtifactTitle: Walt's nickname for the Men was in reference to a nickname that JFK gave his (significantly older) cabinet.

Les continued to direct educational films for Disney until his retirement in 1975.

Clark's skills improved while attending art classes held at the studio and, as the 1940s dawned, animated such scenes as Disney/{{Pinocchio}} turning hid body all the way around while Gepetto inspected him, and Mickey working his magic on a broomstick in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}''. In the 1950s, he would animate Disney/{{Cinderella}} dancing with her Prince Charming, [[Disney/AliceInWonderland Alice]]'s joining a merry caucus race and [[Disney/LadyAndTheTramp Lady]] bring opened as a Christmas present.

John Lounsbery joined Disney in 1935, and would serve as an assistant to star animator Norm Ferguson. His first job as an animator was a scene of Mickey Mouse scolding Pluto in ''The Pointer'' He received his first credit on ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', where he animated with Fergy on scenes of Honest John and Gideon. Afterward, he would animate on Beli Ali Gator in the "Dance of the Hours" sequence of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', and scenes in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' where the titular elephant interacts with Timothy.

During the first half of the 1950s, Thomas animated some of Disney's most memorable villains, including Lady Tremaine in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', the Queen of Hearts in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'' and Captain Hook in ''Disney/PeterPan''. After that, he was assigned to ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'', where he most famously animated the iconic SpaghettiKiss, and then helped work with the tree good fairies in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' with his lifelong friend and fellow animator Ollie Johnston.

In the 1960s, Frank worked on such scenes as Roger reviving a a newborn puppy in ''Disney/OneHUndredAndOneDalmatians'' and the Wizards' duel in ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone''. One of his most famous and emotional scenes would occur in the ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', where Baloo has to bring himself to tell Mowgli that he has to back to the man-village. In the 1970s, he animated the geese and dogs in ''Disney/TheAristocats'', Disney/RobinHood disguised as a stork, and a lot of scenes of Bernard and Bianca in ''Disney/TheRescuers'', which he considered his best film without Walt Disney. He retired in January 1978 during production of ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''

His only directorial effort was a sequence director on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' (he was originally going to direct ''WesternAnimation/TheSmallOne'' before it was handed over to Creator/DonBluth). As the 1960s drew on, he animated less and less on the features, such as the farm animals in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and the vultures in ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', before quitting altogether in 1973 to head Disney's training program, teaching a new generation of animators. Among these younger animators he mentored would become be key players UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation, including Creator/GlenKeane, John Musker and Creator/JohnLasseter. Larson would remain at Disney as a mentor and consultant until he retired in 1986. He died in 1988, and the prince in ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' was named in his honor.

Described as "the Michelangelo of animation", Milt Kahl joined Disney in 1934. Among his first assignments were animating Mickey Mouse on shorts like ''Mickey's Circus'' and ''Disney/LonesomeGhosts'', as well as the forest animals in ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. His breakthrough came when he would design the title character of ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', treating him not as a puppet, but as a cute little boy; he would animate when Pinocchio coming to life and when he found himself turning into a donkey.

'''Mlt Kahl'''

Described as "the Michelangelo of animation", Milt Kahl joined Disney in 1934. Among his first assignments were animating Mickey Mouse on shorts like ''Mickey's Cirsus'' and ''Disney/LonesomeGhosts'', as well as the forest animals in ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. His breakthrough came when he would design the title character of ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', treating him not as a puppet, but as a cute little boy; he would animated Pinocchio acting to himself coming to life and when he found himself turning into a donkey.