Disney Animator Ollie Johnston Has Died At Age 95

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Disney animator Ollie Johnston, the last of the Disney "nine old men," as the studio's core group of senior animators was called, has died. He died on Monday in Sequim, Washington, at the age of 95.

According to Howard E. Green, a Disney vice president, Johnston died of natural causes.

The phrase "nine old men" came from President Franklin D. Roosevelt description of the Supreme Court, but the label stuck to the Disney group when they were in their 20's.

Johnston, and close friend Frank Thomas, were two of the most accomplished of the nine. Thomas, who died in 2004, was Johnston's next-door neighbor.

Johnston worked as an assistant animator on Disney's first full-length feature, "Snow White" (1937), became an animation supervisor on "Fantasia" and "Bambi," and was an animator on "Pinocchio."

Johnston's other credits included "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland," "Lady and the Tramp," "Sleeping Beauty," "101 Dalmatians," "Peter Pan," "Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book," "The Aristocats," "Robin Hood" and "The Rescuers."

Johnston was born in Palo Alto, Calif., on October 31, 1912. He was an art major at Stanford University and in his senior year he went to Los Angeles to study under Pruett Carter at the Chouinard Art Institute. He joined Disney in 1935.