Animated Views Celebrity Obituary Thread

[Dacey]

[Ben]

"DAMN! DAMN THEM ALL TO HEEEEEEE..............!!!!!"
"IT'S...<I>PEOPLE</I>!!"

No-one did that better.

[James]

"You go, girl."

[Ben]

I'm sure that's what got him the Armageddon gig!

[Dan]

Jim Hill Media just announced that Ollie Johnston passed away at the age of 95 while in Sequim, Washington. Ollie was the last of the fabled Nine Old Men.

jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/04/14/remembering-ollie-johnston-1912-2008.aspx

[eddievalient]

This is sad news indeed. Until the new crop of talent came along in the 80's, and even after, He and Frank Thomas were among the most well known animators in the world (and let's face it, you can't talk of one without mentioning the other since they were really known as a team). In all their various media appearences, they seemed to truly love their work and always had a good word to say about the art and the people producing it. Their contributions to the art of animation and the way it developed over the years cannot possibly be understated. Brad Bird was right, "there's no school like the old school". For those who haven't heard of it, there is a wonderful documentary called "Frank and Ollie" that looks at the lives of both of these remarkable men and with the news of Mr. Johnston's passing, the tribute will seem even more poignant. If you haven't seen the film, go thee hence and do so now.

RIP

[bawpcwpn]

This is terribly sad news. I am at a loss for words.

RIP Ollie, you are sorely missed

[Foxtale]

oh no! well he did live a long life. Now none of the 9 old men are still alive? How sad.

[ShyViolet]

This is really sad. I remember reading a comment of how much he loved Ratatouille, that it was a real throwback to the old days of Disney films, and compared it to Pinnochio.

[Dacey]

At least he was pretty old when he died. But this is still very sad.

[Ben]

Our official obit:
animated-news.com/ollie-johnston

Cartoon Brew have also been running an appropriate series of updates.

[Meg]

Oh, man....What a sad piece of news to come home to after being on vacation. We had just watched the scene in The Incredibles where he made a cameo in, too...



Rest in peace, Ollie.

[GeorgeC]

OK,

Can WE MOVE ON?

Why oh why does this have to be on ALL week? Did anybody else that died recently get a FULL week obit on this site or any other? I'm just asking out of curiosity about the sudden morbidity I've noticed this week.

Seriously, Disney as it used to be was LONG GONE before all Nine Old Men died, folks.

Yes, it's sad that they're all gone and most of us regret that we never got to meet any of them let alone express thanks for the great work they did (including yours truly), BUT most of these men lived long rewarding lives and died under pleasant circumstances.

Most of them also had a spiritual life and more than a few believed in something beyond this life. If anything screams clearer to me than the moaning about the last vestiges of "good old Disney" it's about how scared most secularists celebrating the lives of the "Old Nine" are about the end of their own lives. Somehow, I don't think most of these old fellows were as afraid as dying as some of you seem to be.

They lived good lives. They had decent families (for the most part), and they did good work for their communities without even 1/200th the publicized posturing and ego-stroking that's so prevalent and mandatorily public in entertainment today. In short, these guys had class. I wish I could say the same about 90% of the entertainment field today -- INCLUDING animation and its self-proclaimed and annointed "stars."

I could go on philosophizing about why some of us feel the need to belabor the point, but the fact is that Johnston was 95-years-old and we should all be so darn lucky if we live that long with our marbles intact!

[Ben]

Um, George...it's <I>routine</I> for our Top Story to remain on the page until the end of the week, and even sometimes for it to remain up for the following Monday, given that this is our biggest traffic day.

I would stress the importance of the news too. This isn't a minor vocal talent or someone on the fringes of production that's passed away here. It's Ollie Johnston fer cryin' out loud! The guy that many of us grew up with as the "face" of animation with Frank Thomas, thanks to their Illusion Of Life book and TV special. Apart from being a major talent, he was also one of the fabled Nine Old Men. We all knew that they would all eventually slip away, as I made note of in my obit for this site, but whoEVER it was that became the last remaining one, would have gotten this amount of attention. Frank, Woolie, Milt...any one of them that had been the last remaining soul from Walt's original era of his closest, most important co-workers, would have gotten this kind of respect.

And if it's up a week, it's up a week. So what? It won't be there forever. I've also seen this news pop up in a number of places that don't even <I>report</I> such things. I know you paid compliments in your post above, but that's not the same as respect, of which I'm sure he was worthy of yours too.

[Ben]

Yes, you read that right, and I can't believe it.

Stan Winston, one of the industry's most noted special effects and makeup artists who was best known for his work on such projects as the "Terminator" and "Jurassic Park" films, died Sunday. He was 62.

Winston died peacefully and surrounded by family at his home Sunday evening, after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, a Stan Winston Studio spokesperson said.

Winston was a collaborator with such leading filmmakers as James Cameron and Steven Spielberg, and he worked on some of his generation's most memorable films.

He won four Oscars, for the VFX in "Titanic," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Aliens"; and for the makeup on "T2." His earned additional Oscar nominations for his work on "AI: Artificial Intelligence," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Batman Returns," "Edward Scissorhands," "Predator" and "Heartbeeps."

Winston's Stan Winston Studio created characters, creatures and monsters for motion pictures and TV.

He was one of the original founders of VFX house Digital Domain, though he was no longer with the company at the time of his death.

In 2001, he earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I am lost for words. Here is a guy, in his prime, who will really be missed. I had no idea he was so ill. Rest in piece, Stan...you truly were The Man.