DVDizzy Forum

Just got an email from Leonard Maltin stating that he will be doing a tribute to Ollie with Howard Green at the Academy.

This was in response to a request for Leonard to write about Ollie and his contributions on his web page.

Really depressing news.

Ollie Johnson was one of the most talented people on Earth. Only 8 other people could've claim the craft in animation he had. Shame an end of an era has come. But at least he was 95 and lived a great life. But that won't change the fact he'll be greatly missed.

2008 sucks so far.

RIP Ollie.

This is truly sad news. As T/P fan stated, it is the end of an era. Ollie will be greatly missed.

RIP Ollie Johnston.


Edit: Fixed typo.

what a grave loss to us all. my sympathies to his family, friends, co-workers, ect.


But in the words of the great jimmy buffett: "A legend never dies"

his wonderful characters & movies he helped create will keep his legacy going onforever.

I am saddened by Ollie's death but my sadness is helped by knowing that he had a full life. I have always been impressed by the success of his happiness in his personal life even more than all his tremendous professional achievements.

I imagine Ollie's final years were probably a bit lonely, with his close friend Frank Thomas dying in 2004 and Ollie's wife dying in 2005. I'm not sure what family or friends he had left alive to mourn him. But he has thousands of fans like me who are still here to mourn him.

As soon as I read about his death, I pulled out his book with Frank - "the Illustion Of Life Disney Animation" my favorite of the several books they did together. This one book helped me realize the true majesty of Disney animation and the work of the animators. It was partially responsible for my decision to collect all the Disney animation on video that I could. I've spent the last 20 + years since this book first came out enjoying that video.

I was just recently enjoying some of the Disney animation films and the cartoons on DVD, including the Treasures DVD sets.

It is a wonderful legacy that Ollie, Frank, the Nine Old Men, and the numerous other animators, storymen, ditrectors, etc. have left us from the many years of creative genius shared with their fans and general viewing public.

Thanks to all of them. Much peace to you Ollie in your well-deserved REST. I can't praise you enough for the animator, author, and person that you were.

Sad news indeed, but hardly shocking. It's great that he got to live for 95 years - essentially as a success both personally and artistically.

R.I.P. to Ollie Johnston

Thus marks the end of an era.

R.I.P. Ollie, and thanks for all the great memories.

As you may know, the last Disney animated film that Ollie Johnson worked as an animator was "The Fox and the Hound" in 1981. I have it both on VHS and on DVD.

a-net-fan wrote: Very Sad news. Did anyone see in Entertainment Weekly in his small tribute they put Frank Thomas' picture there INSTEAD of Ollies? Unreal!

That's horrible! Have people uproared enough to get a correction or an apology?

How retarded can you get? Do these people even know how to use Google search?

Julian Carter wrote: Do these people even know how to use Google search?

Hey! Those things can be tricky!



Still, that's terrible. At least they cared enough to do a tribute to him.

UmbrellaFish wrote:Still, that's terrible. At least they cared enough to do a tribute to him.

In this case, I don't think "it's the thought that counts" cuts it...

steve wrote:In this case, I don't think "it's the thought that counts" cuts it...

Actually, it does. Usually Walt Disney or Chuck Jones are metioned in tributes and such. Animation is considered a children's field, and giving tributes to other animators are rare. Think about it, more people know of Walt Disney than ANY of the Nine Old Men.

I appreciate the fact that they did pay tribute to Ollie, but I would think that if you're going to tribute someone, you'd do it properly, no matter who it was. It's a sign of respect. The fact that such an oversight happened in the first place makes me slightly sceptical of EW's intentions. I'm still glad he got a mention, though. He deserves at least that.

But enough about EW from me, this thread is for Ollie, not for the normal kind of nit-picking I regularly find myself getting involved in...I just wish I had something poignant to say, but I think it's all been said very well above, so I'll just say "thanks".

This is very saddening news...