Frank Thomas (animator)

Franklin Thomas (September 5, 1913, Fresno, California - September 8, 2004, Flintridge, California) was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as the Nine Old Men.

Related Topics:
September 5 - 1913 - Fresno, California - September 8 - 2004 - Flintridge, California - Walt Disney - Animator - Nine Old Men

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He graduated from Stanford University, attended Chouinard Art Institute, then joined The Walt Disney Company on September 24, 1934 as employee number 224. There he animated dozens of feature films and shorts, and also was a member of the Dixieland band Firehouse Five Plus Two, playing the piano.

Related Topics:
Stanford University - Chouinard Art Institute - The Walt Disney Company - September 24 - 1934 - Dixieland - Firehouse Five Plus Two - Piano

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His work in animated shorts included The Brave Little Tailor, in which he animated scenes of Mickey Mouse and the king; Mickey and the bear in The Pointer, and German dialogue scenes in the World War II propaganda short Education for Death (shortly before Thomas enlisted in the airforce). He also worked on Pooh and Piglet in two of the Winnie the Pooh featurettes.

Related Topics:
Animated - The Brave Little Tailor - Mickey Mouse - The Pointer - World War II - Propaganda - Education for Death - Winnie the Pooh

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In feature films, among the characters and scenes Thomas animated were the dwarfs crying over Snow White's "dead" body, Pinocchio singing at the marionette theatre, Bambi and Thumper on the ice, Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti, the three fairies in Sleeping Beauty, Merlin and Arthur as squirrels in The Sword in the Stone, and King Louie in The Jungle Book. Thomas was directing animator for several memorable villains, including the evil stepmother Lady Tremaine in Cinderella, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, and Captain Hook in Peter Pan.

Related Topics:
Films - Snow White - Pinocchio - Bambi - Lady and the Tramp - Sleeping Beauty - The Sword in the Stone - The Jungle Book - Cinderella - Alice in Wonderland - Captain Hook - Peter Pan

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He retired from Disney on January 31, 1978.

Related Topics:
January 31 - 1978

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Thomas authored, with fellow Disney legend Ollie Johnston, the comprehensive book The Illusion Of Life, first published by Abbeville Press in 1981. Regarded as the definitive authority on traditional hand-drawn character animation (particularly in the Disney style), the book has been republished numerous times, and is often considered "the bible" among character animators. Thomas and Johnston were also profiled in the 1993 documentary Frank and Ollie, directed by Thomas's son Theodore Thomas. The film profiled their careers, private lives, and the personal friendship between the two men.

Related Topics:
Ollie Johnston - The Illusion Of Life - Abbeville Press - 1981 - Documentary - Frank and Ollie - Theodore Thomas

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Thomas's last appearance in an animated film before his death was in The Incredibles, although he only voiced a character, rather than animating one. He, along with friend and colleague Ollie Johnston, voiced and were caricatured as two old men saying "That's old school..." "Yeah, no school like the old school.". On the Director's commentary, Brad Bird says that only the night before Frank Thomas passed away, and pays his homage. The pair had previously been heard, and caricatured, as the two train engineers in Bird's The Iron Giant.

Related Topics:
The Incredibles - Ollie Johnston - Brad Bird - The Iron Giant

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To date, apart from the personal website created by Thomas, along with Ollie, not long before his passing, the best biographical profile of the man can be found in the 2001 book Walt Disney's Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation by John Canemaker.

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