Disney's Nine Old Men

Some of the Nine Old Men also worked as directors, creating some of Disney's most popular animated movies from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Rescuers.

Eric Larson was the last to retire from Disney, after his role as animation consultant on The Great Mouse Detective in 1986.

[2][3] All nine members of the group were acknowledged as Disney Legends in 1989 and all would receive the Winsor McCay Award for their lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation.

According to researcher Neal Gabler and animator Frank Thomas, a board was formed to study all possible problems affecting the company in relation to its work between 1945 and 1947.

The documentary was included in both the Diamond edition of the Peter Pan DVD[22] in the US, and the re-release of The Jungle Book in Europe.

Disney's Nine Old Men. From left to right:
Back row : Milt Kahl, Marc Davis, Frank Thomas, Eric Larson, and Ollie Johnston. Front row : Woolie Reitherman, Les Clark, Ward Kimball, and John Lounsbery.
Frank Thomas (center) and Ollie Johnston (right) with their wives in 1985.