Ollie Johnston - RIP

In case you haven't heard the sad news...

Ollie Johnston, final surviving member of Disney's Nine Old Men, passed away yesterday at the age of 95.



I never met Mr. Johnston, nor have I ever taken a class or received advice directly from him, and yet he has taught me more about animation than anyone. I wouldn't be doing what I do today, were it not for Ollie and the greats of the Animation industry blazing the trail that they did.

A year or so back, I had actually talked my wife into agreeing that if our first child turned out to be twin boys, we would name them Frank and Ollie. Now my son is four months old, and we often joke about if he would have been Frank or if he would have been Ollie. He seems to love trains though, so I lean towards Ollie.

For more on Mr. Johnston's passing, please visit the link at Cartoon Brew below.

Thank you for making me laugh as a kid and an adult, Ollie, and I can't wait for my son to get old enough that I can share your wonderful work with him as well.

More on Ollie Johnston's Passing at Cartoon Brew

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Runaway Brain

How can you not love Mickey Mouse?



I had never seen this short until tonight, and had no idea where it was from or who was behind it. Here is the blurb on YouTube:

Runaway Brain is an Academy Award nominated 7-minute animated short-subject produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation Paris, and starring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. It was released on August 11, 1995 attached to the feature A Kid in King Arthur's Court and was re-released on July 16, 1997 in front of Disney's live-action remake of George of the Jungle. In international theaters, it was shown in front of A Goofy Movie.

So there you have it. It really has the old school Disney charm, yet at the same time feels very modern.

Man... I wish I could animate in 2D. Where's that magic genie machine from "Big" when you need it?

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