The 10th Old Man

The 10th Old Man is an elderly Disney animator, discovered in a basement still hard at work by Walter in the third episode of the web series Disney Drive-On with The Muppets.
He's shown at work animating the title character from Peter Pan (1953, although the original animation drawings shown were done by Milt Kahl). He mistakes Walter for "Mr. Disney" and is honored by the visit. He recalls how he was supposed to get the office that went to Cinderella animator Marc Davis. He gets Walter to pose as Peter Pan so he can finish the scene.
The character plays on the Nine Old Men, the term for a group of elite animators as explicitly selected by Walt Disney personally (and itself playing off FDR's term for stubborn justices of the Supreme Court of the United States). The group included Kahl, Davis, the often teamed pair of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (later cameoed visually and vocally in The Incredibles), Ward Kimball (especially known for his work on Jiminy Cricket and the Cheshire Cat), Wolfgang Reitherman (who later directed The Jungle Book and others), Mickey Mouse specialist Les Clark, Eric Larson (Peg in Lady and the Tramp), and John Lounsbery (Timothy in Dumbo).
The puppet was recycled from an old lady puppet that was used as part of Geri and the Atrics on The Muppet Show and was later reworked as Carter and others.
Tenoldmen.jpg|Back row, left to right, Eric Larson, the 10th Old Man, Ollie Johnston, Les Clark; middle, Marc Davis and Milt Kahl; front, Ward Kimball, Frank Thomas, John Lounsbery, and Wolfgang Reitherman 
 
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Category:Muppet Characters
Category:The Muppets Characters