Happy Birthday!
Johnston is the last surviving member of what Walt Disney dubbed his Nine Old Men (a reference to Franklin Roosevelt's Supreme Court in the 1940s).
Johnston's work at Disney spans four decades and the highlights of the most famous Disney characters. He shared with Frank Thomas the credit of Supervising Animator on the lead characters in in both "Pinocchio" and "Bambi", he was the Directing Animator for the three fantastic animated sequences in "Song of the South", with Thomas he was the Directing Animator for most of the characters in both the The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow segments of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", he was the Directing Animator of the Stepsisters in "Cinderella", he was the Directing Animator of the Mr. Smee in "Peter Pan", he was the Directing Animator of Lady, Jock and Trusty in "Lady and the Tramp", with Thomas he was the Directing Animator for most of the three fairy characters in "Sleeping Beauty", with Thomas he was the Directing Animator for the two lead dogs in "101 Dalmatians", he was the Directing Animator of Merlin and Wart in "The Sword in the Stone", he was the Directing Animator of Baloo, Bagheera, Mowgli, and The Girl in "The Jungle Book" and was Directing Animator for Prince John, Sir Hiss, Robin Hood, Little John, Maid Marian in "Robin Hood".
Johnston retired from animation in 1978 and was named a Disney Legend in 1989.
In 1995 Frank Thomas' son made a charming documentary about his father and Johnston's work together and their seventy year friendship called "Frank and Ollie". If you have any interest in animation it's a great movie.
Johnston (seated) with Frank Thomas during the production of Sleeping Beauty in the 1950s
Thomas and Johnston in 1995 documentary "Frank and Ollie"
Caricatures of Thomas and Johnston in Pixar's 2004 movie "The Incredibles"
