REMEMBERING JEANETTE THOMAS

A few days ago I received a letter from the family of Frank and Jeanette Thomas to say  that Jeanette had passed away. Frank, of course, was one of the top Disney animators, known collectively as the Nine Old Men, and Jeanette was his wife for over 60 years.

 

With her passing comes the end to one of the most fascinating and wonderful chapters in animation. Frank had a lifelong friendship with Ollie Johnston, another of the Nine Old Men, a friendship that began before either had gone to the Disney animation studio. Aside from the animation aspects, their friendship was one of the great won. I was privileged to know them for over 25 years and remember the last time I visited the four of them, Ollie showed me their new website. He had insisted it be called Frank an Ollie, because the way people called them it always sounded like “Frank and Dolly”, and “I'm not a Dolly!' he laughed.

 

I cherish the time I spent with Frank, Jeanette, Ollie and Marie, be it in person, on the phone or through letters. They were so sympatico together yet were four distinct, individual personalities that complemented each other perfectly. When you spent time with them you came away enriched by their knowledge of animation and just feeling good in general. You can feel this in the documentary feature FRANK AND OLLIE (1985) which is the best film ever made about animation. It was made by Frank's son Theodore and is required viewing in every animation course I have given since its release. I'm pleased to see it has now finally come to YouTube. Frank, Ollie, Jeanette and Marie are all featured prominently.

 

We talked about animation, of course, of specific films, scenes and charcters and of Walt Disney and others at the studio, but talked of other things as well. All four were generous and open, definite and strong in their opinions.

 

All four are gone now, but they leave us with not only great works that will last for many generations to come, but also a truly wonderful example of human friendship that will last an eternity.