Ollie Johnston: A Celebration of Life - 8/19/2008 at the El Capitan Theatre
Page 6 of 10

Through these reminiscences, Howard Green had been seated quietly at the end of the row. Leonard Maltin called upon him, joking, �As usual, you�ve dominated the stage.� He then asked the Disney publicist to share memories of his travels with Frank and Ollie.

Green recalled he joined them during their work on The Fox and the Hound. After they left Disney, he worked with them as they publicized their books, on trips to publicize films, and for video releases. By 1979, they were meeting about once a month, often in conjunction with dinners and film festivals. One particularly memorable project was a solo trip to London with Ollie. They took a side trip to the Isle of Wight where a man was selling kits of the Marie E. train engine.

Sharing about his 40th and 50th birthday parties, Green brought along video of the irrepressible duo. They joked about the younger man, danced the Charleston, and generally had a joyous time in the company of family and friends. After finishing a particularly silly dance turn, Ollie looked into the camera and exclaimed, �That�s all you get�nobody here but us chickens!�

Ken Johnston spoke of Ollie�s final years. He said his dad grew sweeter as he aged, and was sure to tell everyone he loved them. A very special honor Ollie received was a 2005 National Medal of Arts Award. Each recipient was invited to bring his family to the White House for a personal meeting with the President. After meeting in the Oval Office, and having a family photo taken with George and Laura Bush, Ollie looked up at the President from his wheelchair and said, �I love you.� (Ken suggested that Ollie may not have known that Bush�s approval ratings were then in the low 30s!) Bush was so touched that he leaned over and kissed Ollie on the top of his head. As they left, Ollie declared, �He�s a very nice man.�

Ollie receives a 2005 Medal of Arts at the White House

Later, on a stage for another tribute, Ollie found himself in front of a huge portrait of Frank Thomas and himself. Looking back, he marveled, �Gosh, I didn�t know I was that big!� Ken looked out over the crowd at the El Capitan, and concluded, �Judging by all the people here, he really was.�

Leonard Maltin again introduced film clips, this time discussing Ollie the train man. In the first clip, Ollie recalled his first train ride, at about age three, at the Panama Pacific Exposition. This was followed by a clip of Walt Disney, sharing his love of model steam engines, and a visit to Ollie�s backyard railroad. The final clip showed Ollie with his beloved Marie E. narrow gauge engine.

To swap stories about Ollie�s train hobby were rail enthusiast Bob Kredel, Carolwood Pacific Historical Society founder Michael Broggie, and Frank Thomas�s son-in-law Andy Ayers, with his son Marshall.

The first question went to Andy, who explained that Ollie sized him up as big enough to carry rails. His son Marshall (Frank�s grandson) was born into the steam train hobby. He explained that he was often lulled to sleep while riding the rails at Ollie�s place. Ollie was concerned that he was bored, but, he assured him, he loved it.

Bob Kredel admitted that he wasn�t sure just exactly when he first got into trains. He did recall being introduced to model railroading in Ward Kimball�s backyard in the 1950s. He thought everybody had trains in their backyard. Maltin asked if he was recruited to help with Ollie�s trains. Bob explained that no one had to be recruited; everyone just fell in line if there was a train to work on. �All it took was one phone call,� he said.