Ollie Johnston: A Celebration of Life - 8/19/2008 at the El Capitan Theatre
Page 7 of 10

Vintage photo of part of the rolling stock of Ollie�s backyard railroad
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Michael Broggie, author of Walt Disney�s Railroad Story was asked when he first rode the trains at Ollie�s house. Recalling he was about six at the time, Broggie said it would have been some six decades ago. He explained that one could always have a railroad�but what was needed was passengers. He and other kids were those willing passengers.

Broggie then told the story about the day that Ward Kimball showed up in Ollie Johnston�s office at the Disney lot and had him follow him up to Walt�s office. Upon their arrival, they found a complete Lionel train set laid out on the floor. As they began playing, Walt walked in. He knew Ward was a train buff, but what was Ollie doing there? Ollie proudly declared that he had a one inch scale live steam layout in his backyard. Walt asked, �Can I come see it?� Ollie naturally said yes, and to his surprise found the boss at the front door the next morning at eight o�clock.

Maltin pointed out the interesting link between these three artists. They would spend their weekends �blowing off steam� with this wonderful hobby. Kredel observed that a resting engine comes to life, just as an animator brings his drawings to life. The operator runs the train and controls its operation. Maltin added that it was also not a solitary hobby, but a communal activity.

Kreder fondly remembered Ollie�s �speeder.� He likened it to Mr. Walker and Mr. Wheeler from the Goofy cartoon Motor Mania. Gentle Ollie was Mr. Walker, until the speeder came out and he turned into the maniacal Mr. Wheeler.

Broggie observed, �There�s something about railroading and creative people that goes together.� It brings on a special glow, even an aura that goes only with railroading. He went on to detail the efforts of the CPHS to preserve Ollie�s backyard depot. The playhouse sized structure was offered to Carolwood by Ollie�s family. Through the generosity of members, it was carefully removed and placed near Walt Disney�s Carolwood Barn at the Los Angeles Live Steamers in Griffith Park. There it is made available for visits by the public every third Sunday of the month, free of charge.

Ollie�s backyard depot, preserved on the grounds of the Los Angeles Live Steamers
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The last question was directed to Frank Thomas�s son-in-law, Andy Ayers. Frank and Ollie were so attuned in many ways, yet had two distinctly different hobbies. Frank played piano, and Ollie had his trains. Andy pointed out that they were completely supportive of each other. They even bought vacation property together where Ollie could operate his narrow gauge locomotive on a section of track. He recalled one occasion when Ollie asked him to watch the boiler. By doing this, it enabled Ollie to be the attentive host, greeting people, answering their questions, even paying attention to the simplest questions from the kids. Andy concluded that this �enabled this gracious man to be even more gracious.�

As the train panelists made their way off the stage, Maltin reminded the crowd of Ollie�s many activities in retirement. There were his books, written in collaboration with Frank Thomas, lectures, and mentoring of young animators. Before bringing out one of those young acolytes, Maltin presented another series of film clips. The El Capitan screen came alive with the zany penguins of Mary Poppins. The Jungle Book�s entrancing native girl enticed Mowgli into the Man Village. King John and Sir Hiss played a comical scene in Robin Hood. And orphan Penny shared a tender moment with Rufus, the wise old cat in The Rescuers.

Glen Keane, the animator of Penny was introduced. He took the stage, looked into the house, and asked, �How many of you have had a mentor in your life?� He spoke of what a blessing it was, even if you did not realize it at the time. It was 1974, and he was twenty years old, a blank slate. �I was as blank as they came,� he admitted.

He remembered his first trip to the �Hall of Kings.� This was the floor of the Disney Animation Building where the remaining Nine Old Men worked. He could hear Milt Kahl, loud and boisterous. He saw Frank Thomas, industrious and focused. And at the end of the hall, carrying his own animation in his arms, he found the door to Ollie Johnston�s studio. He knocked, and a mild voice said, �Come in.� �That guy�s not scary,� thought Keane. He recalled that Ollie was always at his desk, working, but that he always found time for a young animator with a difficult scene.

Ollie�s method was to look over the sequence, then add single drawings as suggestions. Keane winced as he saw his own work look worse and worse. But Ollie�s made it better, and while it was humbling, it was also encouraging.

One phrase of Ollie�s stayed with Keane: �Don�t draw what the character�s doing, draw what the character�s thinking.� Ollie knew the young animators may not always have been ready for what he was teaching, but he believed that they would ultimately do better.

�Ollie was a great teacher,� Keane continued. �He made complex things simple. He led by example, and encouraged him to have others look at the work to get their opinions. Keane was startled one day when there was a knock at his door, and Ollie stepped inside. Would Glen look over his drawings, and give him his opinion of the sequence?

Keane noted, �Ollie was also a very hard working man.� He personally animated about a quarter of The Rescuers. His humanity was recalled in a story about a set of drawings for a complicated sequence in the film. It was the last scene he had done for the film, a complicated affair involving Bernard and Bianca, on the back of Orville the Albatross, winging their way off the edge of a building. It had taken Ollie some time to finish the key drawings, and he gratefully handed it off to a young in-betweener. In her desire to get a head start on the work, the young woman decided to take it home for the weekend. On arriving at home, she couldn�t find the sheaf of original drawings. With a sinking heart, she realized she had placed it on top of her car. By now it was getting dark, and it was raining. She raced back to work, and found the intersection near the Disney studio was littered with torn and damaged drawings.

She gathered as much as she could and drove straight to Ollie�s home. There, she met him at the door with tears and apologies. He embraced the frightened young woman and sought to comfort her. Keane marveled that Ollie never criticized her for her mistake. But Ollie couldn�t bring himself to plunge right back into animating the scene again. That, Keane concluded, was a part of his human side.