Ollie (left) and Frank try on some new shoes in Denmark. Photo courtesy of Hans Perk.

In 1985 and 1986 I had the pleasure of inviting them to Denmark, where I was working on the feature film Valhalla — and both came with great advise. They lectured two days in the Danish Film Institute. Many of the animators here still often watch the video recording of that, however poor the video and audio quality... In the end of 1986 and in 1987 four of us here in Denmark worked together with Frank, Ollie and Ken Anderson on a feature film project called Troll Story, which we still have on the boards. It was an amazing experience — and Frank did his best to instill in us the values of “Warmth, Charm and Humor.”

Frank and Ollie both have influenced Danish animation and myself more than I can say — with their lectures and their books — with their wonderful animation, of course, and with their wonderful personalities. I will miss Frank a lot...

He showed us that great animation doesn’t come from the hand, but from the heart...

Gary Goldman
Animation Producer, The Secret of NIMH

On FRANK THOMAS 1972 to 1979
Frank Thomas, during the years that I knew him, was a gracious legend in the art of animation. His loyalty to the Walt Disney Co. and to his close friend, Ollie Johnston, was admirable. He knew the art inside out. He was a tough taskmaster and teacher. He wouldn’t just give information away. You had to discover it. When I think of Frank, I think, “Here is a man that lived an incredible life. Very intelligent (rumored to be a member of Mensa — a society of those with IQs over 140), he was a talented artist and animator, story-man, author, accomplished musician and member of the popular Dixieland jazz band Fire House Five Plus Two, and to top it off…he was married with four children.” Even after a long career, he and Ollie, toured film schools, gave talks, advised young animators and wrote books, sharing their life experiences in animation at Walt Disney Prods.

Eric Larson, another of Disney’s famous “Nine Old Men,” was the tutor for all of us in the animation-training program. It was mid-April, 1972, and the end of my evaluation period. Fresh out of art school, with degrees in Life Drawing and Art History, I had spent two grueling months animating screen tests. The tests were to determine if I had the potential to be an animator at Walt Disney Prods. The day had come for the review board to judge whether I would stay and go into production as a neophyte inbetweener, or be discharged as “not-fit-for-animation” at the legendary studio.

The review board was composed of the `best of the best’ of the remaining master-animators, story-men and layout artists. Included were Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Ken Anderson, Vance Gerry and Don Griffith, plus production administrators Don Duckwall and Ed Hansen. The truly frightening idea that my career was riding on an evaluated performance consisting of two short months as an intern-trainee at the most prestigious animation studio in the world was overwhelming, and severe self-doubt devolved into urges to vomit. Late in the day, Ed Hansen informed me that the review board accepted me and that following Monday I would start production under Eric Larson. Whew!

Monday arrived and Eric was gone. Apparently, his scheduled cruise to the northern European countries had been overlooked. Ed Hansen came to me early Monday morning and said that Eric would be gone for six weeks, but Frank Thomas would take me on as his “ruff” inbetweener.

I had become familiar with Eric and thought of him as a kind, older uncle who was always easy to approach. On the other hand, rumors abounded about Frank Thomas. He was strict. He was intolerant. He was known as the “Velvet Needle” for supposed dismissals of animation staffers in the past. Allegedly, artists were sent packing due to condemnations from Frank and none ever knew their removal was due to him. According to the stories, these dismissals were for the tiniest of infractions, something like talking in the quiet hallway of D Wing on the first floor in the old animation building, the notorious “Wing of Gods.” It was there the likes of Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, Eric Larson and Frank made their magic. I never discovered whether the rumors were true or not, but I was definitely intimidated by the assignment.

There was a lot to be intimidated by, but I couldn’t help but be very excited about working for one of the greatest master-animators of all time. Just being allowed to work on his scenes was thrilling.

Frank, it turned out, was the same age as my mother. Both were born in 1912. He turned 60 the year I started in the animation industry. This thread of information gave me the feeling that we had something in common…maybe, but it nonetheless did help me relax a bit.