Documentaries to Watch: Disney Edition

So the first documentary I'm going to mention is one called Frank and Ollie.

Frank and Ollie is a 1995 documentary about the life and careers of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

These were two chief animators who had worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios from the early years until their retirement in the 70s.

The film starts out talking about these veteran animators and their humble beginnings at Disney in the early days.

And then they talk about some of the original animators that they worked with and how they each had a style to bring characters to life.

They talk about all the various little movements and expressions they brought to life in dozens of characters over the years, dating all the way back to Bambi.

And periodically throughout the film, Frank or Ollie will act out or describe a scene at Disney that they animated, and then they show the scene from the film.

It was really interesting to show how they influenced that character and all the little mannerisms that they brought to these characters that really and truly brought that character to life.

Then, of course, they talked about what was known as the Nine Old Men, nine of the most favored original Disney animators, each with their own strength.

He talked about how some were really good draftsmen, Some were really good with zany sequences and characters, and others were specialists on drawing female characters.

Frank and Ollie were described as being the best with sincere, emotional animation.

Frank and Ollie also wrote a book together called Disney Animation, The Illusion of Life.

It was published in 1981.

The book gives a history of Disney animation and explains the process involved in clear, non-technical terms.

The philosophy is expressed in the so-called 12 Basic Principles, of animation.

It includes hundreds of black and white illustrations as well as full color ranging from storyboard sketches to entire animation sequences.

Now, like I said, when I watch a documentary, it's because I'm interested in the subject material.

This may not be for everybody, but I was particularly interested in learning more about Frank and Ollie because these two are responsible for bringing life to characters in some of the most favorite treasured films I've ever seen.

People who've worked at Disney, people who've worked in animation, or even just big Disney fans like myself would know the name Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

And you might not recognize their name, but you'd recognize the characters they animated.

Now for some films they animated certain scenes and for others they animated entire characters.

And I wanted to start with the Frank and Ollie documentary because I wanted to start with the beginning.

These animators were there at the beginning and they were there for several decades.

So they paved the way from the beginning to the middle.

They were there with that very first classic animated release of Snow White in 1937.