Franklin Thomas (September 5, 1913, Fresno, California - September 8, 2004, Flintridge, California) was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as the Nine Old Men.

He graduated from Stanford University, 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.

He retired from Disney on January 31, 1978.

Thomas authored, with fellow Disney legend Ollie Johnston, the comprehensive book Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life (ISBN 0896592332), first published by Abbeville Press in 1981. Regarded as the definitive authority on traditional hand-drawn character animation (particularly in the Disney style), the book has been republished numerous times, and is considered "the bible" among character animators.

Other books

• The Disney Villain (ISBN 1562827928)
• Walt Disney's Bambi: The Sketchbook Series (ISBN 1557093423)
• Walt Disney's Peter Pan: The Sketchbook Series (ISBN 1557093458)

External link

• Frank Thomas (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858826/) at the Internet Movie Database

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