I spoke with the film’s creator and director, Ted Thomas, about this new DVD and the many things the film and its supplemental material have to offer.

“The wonderful thing about DVD’s is that they’re both temporal and permanent�?, says Thomas. “It’s temporal in the sense that you have the experience of sitting down and watching the movie itself. It is what it is, and lasts only as long as it takes to watch it. But then there’s the more permanent part of it; the supplemental material that you can return to again and again at your leisure and flip through rather like a novel.�?

An encyclopedia might be a more appropriate analogy. Filled with supplemental gems (chosen in part in response to focus groups with viewers who offered suggestions on what they’d like to see included) the FRANK & OLLIE DVD is as complete an entertainment experience as time and money could afford. There’s much to recommend it, not the least of which is an entire segment from THE RESCUERS in story reel. Equally as thrilling is watching two giants in the second generation, Glen Keane and Andreas Deja, discuss the influence of Frank and Ollie and dissect their art with love and admiration. Without all the fanfare that fails to deliver on other discs, this uncomplicated disc has layer after layer after layer of divine delight for anyone inspired by or involved in the creative process. Whether film, theatre, music, writing, painting or drawing, FRANK & OLLIE Special Edition DVD provides a spiritual tonic for the soul and the mind.

Lest it appear that the film appeals only to animation addicts like myself, it’s important to point out how this DVD provides entertainment and substantive value for non-animation geeks. “For instance,�? Ted Thomas points out, “a professor at USC Business School contacted us and asked to screen it in his classroom, because it was a valuable tool in teaching about the benefits of team work and collaboration.

There’s so much more we wanted to include, but time and money always dictate how much you can do,�? Ted told me. “Of course with Walt it didn’t matter.�?

“No, he had Roy chewing on pencils in another office!�? I say.

He laughs. “Yes, if only we had Roy. But we made it as complete as possible given the limitations.�?

It is also, arguably, the most loving gift a child has ever given to a parent. I related a story to Ted of sitting with a colleague looking over a stack of his Father’s drawings of Fauna from SLEEPING BEAUTY, where she waxes about the joys of a baby. You could see the thinking process on the page. The searching that is visible on the paper as he struggled to find the perfect line. “It was like looking at an exercise in sculpting in two dimensions or reading the notes that lead up to a great mathematical formula,�? I tell him. “How exactly did that manifest itself on the set? This approach to working and re-working to find the exact right way, what was that like during the film making process?�?

Ted Thomas and Frank Thomas (1994)

Ted laughs. “Well, we did a lot of preparation, and Kuniko (Thomas is referring to his co-producer and wife, Kuniko Okubo) and found that it was better if Frank had something to chew on. So we did a lot of exploration and discovery and detail work before we started filming. It had to be discussed ahead of time or else we would never have been able to work under the deadline of time that film puts on you.�?

So what do it’s subjects think upon seeing the film again seven years after it first released in 1995?

“Well, the good news is that they like the film!�? says Thomas. “And true to form Frank’s response was in keeping with his approach to the work. It was all observations of the way it was crafted and all the details that were included, while Ollie’s response was more emotional ‘It’s just wonderful the way you captured the feeling of things.’ Again, all in keeping with how Frank examines and dissects and how Ollie wears it and ingests it.�?

“And the biggest surprise that you had in the process?�? I ask.

“The surprise I had was how much work they put into the preparation and discovery. I had had the chance to carpool with them to work when I worked at the Disney studio in the 1970’s and I was still living at home. But nothing I experienced from that prepared me for their approach to the collaborative process. I was overwhelmed by how much work they put into everything before they even start to do the labor. I had this extraordinary opportunity to experience the great Disney tradition of creating something, and it changed the way Kuniko and I worked on everything we did after that.�?