Product Details

• Actors: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Sylvia Roemer, John Canemaker, John Culhane
• Directors: Theodore Thomas
• Format: Animated, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Live, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: March 9, 1999
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000G3AX
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,667 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston are two of the world's most beloved artists. If you don't recognize their names, then you are certainly familiar with some of their masterworks: Pinocchio, Bambi, and The Jungle Book. Notes one animation historian in this captivating documentary, "I've never gone any place on this earth that [people] didn't know or talk about specifically scenes that Frank and Ollie did."

Thomas and Johnston are the most prominent of Disney's vaunted group of key animators known as the "Nine Old Men." They have collaborated on books about Disney animation and in interviews are engaging storytellers. Their delightful and illuminating anecdotes spanning their 43-year tenure at Disney, as well as classic film clips, take viewers behind the scenes to see how some of the studio's most beloved characters (such as Thumper and Mowgli) and most indelible scenes (Lady and the Tramp's back-alley spaghetti dinner, Bambi on the ice) were created.

Though they joke about being known as "the men who killed Bambi's mother," Thomas and Johnston are credited with changing not only the face, but the soul of animation. They pioneered what is called personality animation. According to Thomas, "Ollie had a sign above his desk: 'What is the character thinking and why does he feel that way?'"

But at the heart of Frank & Ollie is the lifelong friendship between these kindred spirits. Not only were they professional colleagues, they became next-door neighbors as well.

If you're an animation buff or a Disney fan, then you will want to spend some quality time with Frank & Ollie. --Donald Liebenson

Amazon.com
Frank and Ollie is a highly controlled glimpse at a unique friendship. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of Walt Disney's famous Nine Old Men original animators, are such naturals on camera, they'll put a smile on any audience member. The two met at the Stanford Art School in 1931. Sixty years later the next-door neighbors are so close they meet when taking out the garbage. They have seldom been farther apart. Director, writer, and coproducer Theodore Thomas (Frank's son) is at his best when his film is at its simplest. When Frank and Ollie are at a desk talking to the unseen narrator, it's magical. The two are so in tune they unselfishly finish each other's sentences.

Frank and Ollie is basically a handsomely produced home movie. Nary a negative remark is heard, a procedure challenged, a spark of unpredictability captured. The early scene of Ollie and Frank "accidentally" meeting at the garbage cans is embarrassingly contrived. Yet these aged animators win the audience over. Who cares if the documentary is rehearsed? Anyone who grew up with Disney animation (who hasn't?) will revel in the tidbits Frank and Ollie reveal, including Thumper's origin in Bambi and the ending of The Jungle Book (the film's funniest and most spontaneous bit). --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful look into the lives of Frank and Ollie, July 20, 2001

By	R. M. Ballier "filmmaker" (Southern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful tale of 2 of Walt Disney's "nine old men". I had no idea that the two of them were as close as they were. Shot in a documentary-style, so the viewer has a sense of being their houseguest. Lifelong friends, who shared the same career, and very similar, and disimilar life experiences. This film is for anyone who truly appreciates classic animation. By the end of the film, I understood their artistic motivations, as well as their struggles and triumphs. I also got some insight into their relationship with Walt(Disney), and how his death affected them. A truly wonderful film. I own a copy, and highly recommend it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For animation buffs, it doesn't get any better than this!, November 4, 2000

By	Stewart (Raleigh, N.C.) - See all my reviews

"Frank and Ollie" is the most fasinating documentary I've ever seen. It takes a look at two of Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men," Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, from their early years at Disney in the 1930s to their everlasting friendship today. I am amazed at how they were able to get the expressions, emotions, and feelings on the characters they animated. They made faces to get the expressions of the characters, acted them out, and asked what the characters were thinking, and why were they feeling that way. This documentary kept a big smile on my face right from the beginning. I love documentaries about movies of all genres, and about the people who make them. This is no exception. It is very informative, affectionate, and heart-warming. This is a real and rare treat for serious animation buffs, or fans of Disney in general.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Original Odd Couple of Animation!, May 1, 1999

By	Steve Panozzo ([e-mail]) (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

Without sounding hackneyed, this cute little story about The Odd Couple of feature animation is at once uplifting, charming and heartwarming. As a cartoonist I found myself inspired, informed and - most importantly - appreciative of Frank Thomas' and Ollie Johnson's places in our hearts and memories. Much, much better than a home movie by Frank Thomas' son, Frank & Ollie is guaranteed to leave you reaching for your pencil with a huge smile on your face.