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DRAWN TO GREATNESS: Johnston's work is ingrained in American culture.
Paul Hiffmeyer |
The Last From Disney's Golden Age
Oliver Johnston's fingerprints are all over some of the most beloved films of the 20th century. As the last survivor of Walt Disney's famous animation team, dubbed “Nine Old Men,” Johnston brought Bambi and Thumper to life. Johnston also had a hand in other classics, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio and The Jungle Book.
Ollie Johnston, '35, died April 14 in Sequim, Wash. He was 95. He was born in Palo Alto in 1912, the son of a professor of Romance languages at Stanford. As a student at Stanford, he met Frank Thomas, '33, his lifelong friend and another of the Nine Old Men. They were two of only six students in Stanford's art department at the time.
They both went to work for Disney, and their 1981 book, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, is considered the field's bible. Thomas died in 2004.
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Douglas Kirkland/CORBIS |
Johnston's work was praised for its sentiment; one of his finest moments was bringing audiences to tears when Bambi's mother is killed by a hunter. The scene proved that the fledgling field of animated work could be nuanced and sympathetic enough to elicit real emotion in viewers.
Johnston's farewell to Disney came with The Rescuers. His work on Rufus the cat was considered something of a self-caricature: the furry animal wore a mustache and glasses just like Johnston's.
In 2005, Johnston became the first animator honored with a National Medal of Arts. Aside from his work, Johnston's passion was steam trains. He and Thomas purchased a 40-acre plot of land in Julian, Calif., a small town near San Diego, and used it as a home for the Marie E., a full-size antique locomotive named for Johnston's wife. With the help of his sons, Johnston also built a track at his home in Flintridge, Calif., for his miniature railroad, considered to be one of the best in existence.
Johnston is survived by his sons, Ken and Rick. His wife of 63 years, Marie, died in 2005.
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WRITE STUFF: Hartmann composed key speeches and was Ford's close adviser.
Courtesy Hartmann Family |
The President's Right Hand
It is an uncommon combination: a Chaparral humor magazine editor who goes on to write one of the most memorable presidential addresses in U.S. history. But such was the case for Robert Trowbridge Hartmann, confidant and senior aide to former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford.
Hartmann, '38, of Bethesda, Md., and Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, died April 11, at 91, of cardiac arrest. He was a member of Delta Chi fraternity. During World War II, he worked in public relations and press censorship roles for the Navy. He retired from the Navy Reserve in 1977 with the rank of captain. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1939 and spent 25 years there as a reporter, editor and Washington bureau chief. He also headed Middle Eastern coverage from Rome. Hired as an “idea man” in 1966 for the House Republican Conference, Hartmann be-friended Ford, then the House minority leader. He became Ford's senior aide and, in 1973, was appointed the new vice president's chief of staff.
In August 1974, minutes after Richard Nixon left the White House, Hartmann handed Ford his speech to the nation, containing the now-famous declaration “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” Ford worried the phrase was “too harsh,” but Hartmann threatened to resign if the words were removed. Hartmann became the president's counsel, directed the speechwriting staff and acted as a liaison between the executive office and the Republican Party.
Hartmann was often considered brusque, and his 1980 autobiography, Palace Politic: An Insider Account of the Ford Years, gave details about his disagreements with White House officials. Hartmann was considered Ford's closest personal aide, but the book maintains a critical and analytical account of his presidency.
After Ford lost the 1976 presidential race, Hartmann was named to a term on the Board of Visitors, U.S. Naval Academy. After that, he won a two-year appointment as senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He won the 1958 national Distinguished Service Award of Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists, for the year's best Washington correspondence. He also won the Overseas Press Club of America's 1961 citation for the best series on Latin America, and other journalistic honors.
Survivors: his wife of 65 years, Roberta Sankey; one son, Robert; one daughter, Roberta Brake; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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