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Ruthie Thompson: "She was the only person still alive that Walt Disney had known from his earliest Hollywood years."
Photo: John Sciulli
She worked as an animator for Disney for almost 40 years: now the American Ruthie Thompson has died at the age of 111.
The Walt Disney Company announced this in a message on Twitter.
Robert Iger, former Disney boss and now executive chairman of the board of directors, called Thompson a "true animation legend" in a tweet.
"Your contributions to Disney - from› Snow White ‹to› Bernard and Bianca ‹- are still popular classics today," writes Iger.
"Your extraordinary work and your pioneering spirit will always inspire us."
In a statement from the Walt Disney Company, producer Leslie Iwerks also spoke of a "true legend": "She was the only person still alive that Walt Disney had known from his earliest Hollywood years."
Thompson first grew up in Boston (Massachusetts).
Her family later moved to Los Angeles, near the then-fledgling Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio on Kingswell Avenue.
At the age of 18 she took a job at a riding club, where she later met Roy and Walt Disney.
Walt offered her a job as a draftswoman, later she switched to animation control and scene planning.
For Disney, Thompson was involved in the animation of numerous well-known cartoons such as "Dumbo" and "Sleeping Beauty".
According to the Walt Disney Company, Thompson's favorite film was her first cartoon "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" from 1937. Thompson retired in 1975 after working on "Bernard and Bianca".
In 2000 the Walt Disney Company awarded her the title "Disney Legend".
ime