Working with Disney Read Online Free

short subject (1950), brought UPA to the attention of the animation world. UPA is also well remembered for its Mr. Magoo cartoons. Amid Amidi’s
Cartoon Modern
is an excellent resource for more information about UPA.

Note about the Interviews
    I believe that history is interactive, and while I have tried to ensure the accuracy of names and dates referenced in the interviews, the stories are more challenging. How someone remembers an event may be as significant as what really happened. Readers who are curious need to do some follow-up on their own—in a sense, verifying if what they have been told in the interview is correct. Does the story match what they have previously heard or read? Is this a new facet to a familiar story, or does the account demonstrate the effects of time on memory? Is the version presented in the interview wishful thinking, or could it be the rounding of edges as stories move along through the years? Readers should remember that everyone likes to present themselves in the best possible light.

Working with Disney

Frank Thomas
    Frank Thomas was born on September 5, 1913, in Fresno, California. Interested in art at an early age, he attended Fresno State College and Stanford University, where he met Ollie Johnston, who would become a lifelong friend and a fellow animator. Frank subsequently studied at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. On September 24, 1934, Frank joined the Walt Disney Studio as employee 224, thereby beginning what would be one of the most celebrated careers in animation. After working on short subjects, Frank joined the team on Disney’s first feature-length film,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
where his animation of the dwarfs grieving at Snow White’s bier was a breakthrough that brought audiences to tears. Over his forty-five-year career, Frank set a standard of sincerity in animation that few others could meet and none could surpass. He was a key figure on almost every Disney animation feature produced during that period, including
Pinocchio, Bambi, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians
(1961),
The Sword in the Stone
(1963),
Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book
(1967),
The Rescuers
(1977), and
The Fox and the Hound
(1981). One of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men of Animation, Frank’s influenceon the industry is immeasurable. When he and Ollie retired, they continued to provide guidance to animation through the books they authored:
Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Too Funny for Words, Walt Disney’s Bambi: The Story and the Film,
and
The Disney Villain.
Frank was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1989 and passed away on September 8, 2004. He and Ollie Johnston profoundly influenced subsequent generations of animators, and Brad Bird has given them cameo animated appearances in two of his films, Warner Bros.’
The Iron Giant
and Pixar’s
The Incredibles.
    I interviewed Frank at the Walt Disney Studios on March 26, 1976. He was only my fourth interview so I was still on a steep learning curve. But he was generous in allotting me time during his working day. According to my notes about my visit,
    Frank Thomas was standing out in front of the Animation Building [after the guard had called him upon my arrival] and met me there. We went in and walked down a hall adorned with an aerial photo of the studio, early photographs of Walt and his staff, some beautiful backgrounds and set-ups from
Cinderella
and all of the major releases, and a lot of cels from this new movie they are working on,
The Rescuers.
[In Frank’s office,] there was a big drawing board with a drawing on it that looked like a knee joint or maybe a knot on a tree, drawn in blue pencil. I really couldn’t tell because it hadn’t been finished. Part of a human skull was on top of a stack of papers. There were some drawings of a gorilla. Silver model heads of the three fairies