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When John Musker arrived at Disney in 1977, the old guard was departing. Milt Kahl had left the year before and Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston would retire the year after. But the new guard hadn't yet found its footing. The Disney animation department was then divided into two factions. John worked on the Christmas featurette The Small One, after which director Don Bluth exited the studio, taking half the animation crew with him. The department began rebuilding, and a short time later John was the first of the Disney newcomers to become a director. Briefly assigned to The Black Cauldron. John received his first director's credit on The Great Mouse Detective, where he worked for the first time with Ron Clements. Clements and Musker became full-fledged partners on The Little Mermaid, and commenced a fruitful collaboration with writer and lyricist Howard Ashman […]