Frank Thomas ( animator ) Franklin Rosborough " Frank " Thomas ( September 5 , 1912 – September 8 , 2004 ) was an American animator . He was one of Walt Disney ' s team of animators ; known as the Nine Old Men . Biography . Born in Fresno , California , Frank Thomas attended Stanford University , where he was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and worked on campus humor magazine " The Stanford Chaparral " with Ollie Johnston . After graduating from Stanford , he 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 , playing the piano . Career . His work in animated cartoon shorts included " The Brave Little Tailor " , in which he animated scenes of Mickey Mouse and the king ; Mickey and the bear in " The Pointer " , and German dialogue scenes in the World War II propaganda short " Education for Death " ( shortly before Thomas enlisted in the Air Force ) . During World War II he was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit where he made training films . In feature films , among the characters and scenes Thomas animated were the dwarfs crying over Snow White ' s " dead " body , Pinocchio singing at the marionette theatre , Bambi and Thumper on the ice , Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti , the three fairies in " Sleeping Beauty " , Merlin and Arthur as squirrels and the " wizard ' s duel " between Merlin and Madam Mim in " The Sword in the Stone " ( in which he was paired with animator Milt Kahl to great effect ) , King Louie in " The Jungle Book " ( the song number " I Wan ' na Be Like You " featuring King Louie and Baloo the Bear re - teamed him with Kahl ) , the dancing penguins in " Mary Poppins " , and Winnie The Pooh and Piglet in " Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day " and " Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too " . Thomas was directing animator for several memorable villains , including the evil stepmother Lady Tremaine in " Cinderella " , the Queen of Hearts in " Alice in Wonderland " , and Captain James Hook in " Peter Pan " . He retired from Disney on January 31 , 1978 . Thomas co - authored , with fellow Disney legend Ollie Johnston , the comprehensive book " " , first published by Abbeville Press in 1981 . Regarded as the definitive resource book on traditional hand - drawn character animation ( particularly in the Disney style ) , the book has been republished numerous times , and is widely considered " the bible " among character animators . The book summarized the Disney approach to animation through the so - called 12 basic principles of animation . Thomas and Johnston were also profiled in the 1995 documentary " Frank and Ollie " , which screened at the 20th Toronto International Film Festival , directed by Thomas ' s son Theodore Thomas . The film profiled their careers , private lives , and the personal friendship between the two men . Thomas ' s last appearance in an animated film before his death was in " The Incredibles " ( directed by Brad Bird ) , although he voiced a character , rather than animating one . Frank and his friend and colleague Ollie Johnston voiced and were caricatured as two old men saying " That ' s old school . . . " " Yeah , no school like the old school . " The pair had previously been heard , and caricatured , as the two train engineers in Bird ' s " The Iron Giant " . Frank Thomas died in Flintridge , California on September 8 , 2004 , 3 days after his 92nd birthday . His widow , Jeanette died September 29 , 2012 The 2001 biography " Walt Disney ' s Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation " by John Canemaker ( ISBN 0 - 7868 - 6496 - 6 ) chronicles Thomas ' life . On the " Animation Podcast " , Disney director John Musker discussed Frank Thomas , and mentioned that at one time , fellow animation great Chuck Jones had christened Thomas the " Laurence Olivier of animators . "