Legendary animators Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston remember the golden day of motion picture animation and the glories of creating the illusion of life.
When anyone speaks of film animation, the name Walt Disney immediately leaps to mind. That's largely due to the studio's near monopoly on the production of feature-length cartoons like Pinocchio, Peter Pan and Bambi.
Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas have been intimately involved with these films and the other Disney classics. They began their careers at the studio in the early 1930s in the midst of one of the most creative periods in Hollywood history, a time that has taken on the mantle of legend.
The two men have worked together for 50 years and complement each other perfectly. At 75, they are a lively, unique duo, a sort of Laurel and Hardy of animation, though a trifle more subdued. We met with the two men in their Plaza Hotel suite overlooking Central Park as they prepared for an exhibit of Disney art at a local gallery.
They were pleased to discuss their careers and eager to talk about their second book which Abbeville Press will publish this fall, Too Funny For Wors! Disney's Greatest Sight Gags.
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