Disney fans can give a special gift to Disney Legend Ruthie Thompson for her 110th birthday by donating to the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) for a campaign to raise money for a Post-Production Suite named after her on The Wasserman Campus.
What’s Happening:
- Today is Disney Legend Ruthie Thompson’s 110th birthday!
- The 15-year resident of the MPTF first met Walt Disney and his brother Roy as a child living on the same street in Los Angeles.
- She used to visit Uncle Walt’s house to watch them animating shorts from their home before the Hyperion Studio was built.
- Ruthi had a brief stint in Disney’s Alice Comedies series before reconnecting with Walt Disney while working a a horse riding academy where the animation mogul played polo.
- Through her connection to the Disney Brothers, she was offered a job in the Ink & Paint Department, working on Disney films from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Rescuers.
- Her trailblazing forty year Disney career included work as a final checker and a scene planner.
- Upon her retirement in 1975, she famously requested the same gold Mickey Mouse ring that was given to men of importance when they retired from the studio and the company gladly complied.
- Ruthie Thompson was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2000 for her contributions to the company and her importance to Walt and Roy O. Disney.
- At MPTF, Ruthie has kept her film skills sharp by learning Final Cut Pro, creating her own show, and helping interns.
- MPTF is holding a fundraiser to raise $110,000 to build a new Post-Production Suite in her honor on The Wasserman Campus.
- Fans can click here to learn more and to donate any amount to her cause.