Frank Thomas (1912-2004)

On September 8th, animation master Frank Thomas passed away, a few days after his 92 birthday. Thomas was one of Disney’s Nine Old Men, and probably was one of the greatest animators in the history of the medium. Here are some of the characters he helped create (taken from SaveDisney.com):

The Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Bambi, Thumper, Captain Hook, The Queen of Hearts, Flora, Fauna, Merriweather, Ichabod, Stepmother, Pongo, Perdita, Tramp, Lady, Jock, Mad Madam Mim, Baloo, King Louie, Kaa, Duchess, O’Malley, Bernard, Bianca, Pooh, Piglet and many other beloved Disney characters owe their illusion of life to directing animator Frank Thomas.

My first taste of Frank Thomas’ work was Disney’s film The Rescuers. In it they created one of Disney’s most gentle and simple movies to date. Frank Thomas was the supervising animator on the heroes of the film, the Mice: Bernard and Bianca.

But there was a lot more to Mr. Thomas then just animation. He and his best friend, Ollie Johnston, wrote one of the best books on animation, Disney’s illusion of life.

Click here to see a sample of the book

The book is one of the best sources of information on Disney’s 2D animation magic. And even means more since Disney has abandoned the 2D animation to go on to 3D computer imagery instead. Frank and Ollie went on to publish many other books on Disney Animation as well: To Funny for Words, Bambi: from Sketch to Screen, and the Disney Villains.

A wonderful documentary of the relationship of Frank and Ollie is also available on DVD now. The movie is the story of two friends who first went to art classes at Stanford University together, and then to work together as Supervising Animators in the heyday of the Disney Studios. They even lived next door to each other too. The film is charming and fun, and gets you in touch with two of the most amazing actors in Hollywood. But more importantly it shows the power of friendship. I recommend it!

I would write a dissertation on Mr. Thomas’s life if I could, but there are many others who have already written amazing stories on the artist, so here are some links to a few of them. Enjoy.

JimHillMedia.com

LaughingPlace.com

SaveDisney.com

and of course Franks personal website as well (along with friend Ollie Johnston)

Thanks you for all the magic and inspiration you have given us Mr. Thomas, you will be sorely missed.