notes from underground

I feel like an era is finally over. Ollie Johnston, the last of the “Nine Old Men” of Disney Animation, died last Monday. I haven’t been very plugged in this week, and only just heard the news… I know he hasn’t been at the forefront of recent productions, but this man worked on Snow White. He worked on Bambi! He was the last living representative of the group of artists responsible for the most memorable films of my childhood. Sure, Aladdin and The Lion King are flashier, more modern productions, but dammit, I still cry during Bambi, and that just doesn’t happen in either of those newer films. (Well, Mufasa’s death is an occasional exception.)

I am graduating in May, and come hell or high water I am moving into the world of professional animation. I regret that it is no longer a world in which men like Ollie Johnston can take a part; that said, nearly every serious animation student I know has a copy of Ollie’s book The Illusion of Life (written with Frank Thomas, of course), so their legacy lives on.

Rest in peace—I hope I will live up to the high standards you have set for this art.