Cast: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Sylvia Roemer
Director: Theodore Thomas
Screenplay: Theodore Thomas

Synopsis: A documentary about two famed Disney animators, Frank and Ollie. [1].

Review:

“Frank and Ollie” is a celebration not only of two of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” but also a celebration of the elderly in American society. This is a refreshing portrait of two elderly gentlemen that contributed so much to the arts, as well as the foundation for Disney’s success through the years. The depth of their friendship that has withstood the trials over the decades is a true testament to the relationships most people aspire to have in their close circle of friends, but never obtain. At one point in watching the documentary, Frank and Ollie were completing each other’s sentences, which stood out for me because that is common behavior for healthy marriages that have survived ordeals over time and yet we see this same behavior in a friendship. At another point in the documentary, one of the other animators made a comment that when they first started at Disney, they thought, based on the stories, that “Frank and Ollie” were two distinct personalities of the same person. That comment is a tribute to their friendship, and how they complemented each other so well during their lives. Their joy of life was refreshing, even in their twilight years, because as children we want to be adults so much, but yet when we finally arrive we find that we are missing that childhood curiosity and imagination, beaten down by comments from the well-meaning, but terribly misinformed like “Be realistic…,” or “You can’t make a living doing that…”. The fortitude of their wives to support their friendship was also incredible, and the marriages worked with an implicit understanding to let Frank and Ollie continue to live their lives in their imagination. I do not believe relationships would survive today with that same understanding that made Frank and Ollie so successful.

The other theme throughout the documentary is a testament to the hard work and how complex the machinery was behind Disney or animated features for that matter. The dedication to the craft is remarkable, and early on, it becomes clear why these animators had such a strong bond working those hours in close proximity to each other that entire time. Most of the time, especially in current day America, as a society, we tend to focus mostly on the finished product, believing that the splotches of paint could have been thrown onto the canvas by a child, or that anyone that had sixth grade English class can write, or even “Cinderella” is nothing but a cartoon not to be taken seriously. These armchair art critics don’t understand the complexities of the process in producing art, especially in animated features, where every animated feature is a small miracle in its own right because of everything that can go wrong, but also everything that is necessary for it to go right. The sheer volume of frames produced, at a standard movie format of 24 frames per second, comes to a total of around 130,000 frames of animation for a standard length film. I understand that the documentary focused on the lives of these two gentlemen, but I would have appreciated a small segment dedicated to the actual physical complexities of creating an animated feature, including the volume of animation frames necessary.

In summary, this documentary should be seen, especially in American culture, so that we can have an understanding that the elderly are not to be seen as those where their prime is behind them and to cast them away in nursing homes without ever visiting them. This is a continuing trend in American society where once the parents reach a certain age, the children will simply put them in a nursing home justified by the daily care and monitoring of their health. There is some truth, but from my experiences, I have found that it is more of an excuse to not have to deal with the problems of caring for elderly parents. When I was in high school, I would donate time to a nursing home where my mother worked, as well as “Meals on Wheels.” I would bring food to these the elderly patients, and I realized very quickly that most of them were basically abandoned by their children, and all they really wanted to do was just to talk to someone. Most of them had amazing stories about their lives that could fill volumes of novels. In reflecting on that experience, it is sad that those wonderful stories will go untold through the eons, and that the memories of these individuals that actually lived life will fade away.

 

References:

  1. “Frank and Ollie.” IMDb: The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com-Amazon.com, 1990-2014. Mon. 17 March 2014. < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113104/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1>.
  2. “Frank and Ollie.” Rotten Tomatoes.com, 2014. Mon. 17 March 2014. < http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frank-and-ollie/>.
  3. “Frank and Ollie.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Mon. 17 March 2014.< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_and_Ollie>.
  4. “Disney’s Nine Old Men.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Mon. 17 March 2014. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney%27s_Nine_Old_Men>.