Frank Thomas (animator)
| Frank Thomas | |
|---|---|
Frank Thomas in 1974
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| Born |
Franklin Rosborough Thomas September 5, 1912 Fresno, California, U.S. |
| Died | September 8, 2004 (aged 92) La Cañada Flintridge, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cerebral hemorrhage |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Animator |
| Known for | One of Disney's Nine Old Men |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanette A. Thomas (m. 1946; d. 2004) |
| Children | Ann, Gregg, Theodore and Douglas |
Franklin Rosborough "Frank" Thomas (September 5, 1912 – September 8, 2004) was an American animator. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators; known as the Nine Old Men.
Born in Fresno, California, Frank Thomas attended Stanford University, where he was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and worked on campus humor magazine The Stanford Chaparral with Ollie Johnston. After graduating from Stanford, he 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.
His work in animated cartoon shorts included "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 Air Force). During World War II he was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit where he made training films.
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 and the "wizard's duel" between Merlin and Madam Mim in The Sword in the Stone (in which he was paired with animator Milt Kahl to great effect), King Louie in The Jungle Book (the song number "I Wan'na Be Like You" featuring King Louie and Baloo the Bear re-teamed him with Kahl), the dancing penguins in Mary Poppins, and Winnie The Pooh and Piglet in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. 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 James Hook in Peter Pan. He retired from Disney on January 31, 1978.
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