Frank Thomas; his drawings, empathy delivered beloved Disney moments; at 92

LOS ANGELES — Frank Thomas, one of Walt Disney’s top artists who animated two dogs romantically nibbling a single strand of spaghetti in the 1955 Disney film ‘‘Lady and the Tramp,’’ died Wednesday at his home. He was 92.Mr. Thomas had been in declining health following a cerebral hemorrhage earlier this year.

In his 43-year history at Disney, Mr. Thomas, often working with old friend and collaborator Ollie Johnston, also animated the dancing penguins in ‘‘Mary Poppins’’ and Thumper teaching Bambi how to ice skate.

Walt Disney jokingly dubbed Mr. Thomas and other top animators his ‘‘Nine Old Men,’’ derived from a description of the Supreme Court by President Franklin Roosevelt.

‘‘Frank was a giant in our field, and he meant everything to me and to all of us who loved the art of animation,’’ John Lasseter, creative head of Pixar Animation Studios and a former Disney animator, said in a statement.

Animation historian John Canemaker said yesterday that Mr. Thomas would ‘‘go down as one of the greatest animators of all time.’’

‘‘Although one of the most intelligent of animators, Thomas’s work never smacks of dry intellectualism,’’ Canemaker said. ‘‘Rather, his ideas about what a character should think or feel are always in the service of high drama and sincere emotionalism.’’

Born in Santa Monica, Mr. Thomas graduated from Stanford University, where he majored in art, drew cartoons for the school newspaper, and met classmate Johnston, forming a lifelong friendship.

The two started working at the Walt Disney Studios in 1934 and were members of the team that created ‘‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,’’ the first full-length animated feature.

Mr. Thomas then directed the animation of the title character in ‘‘Pinocchio,’’ and drew the ‘‘I’ve Got No Strings’’ musical number. His other credits include the wicked stepmother in ‘‘Cinderella,’’ the Queen of Hearts in ‘‘Alice in Wonderland,’’ and Captain Hook in ‘‘Peter Pan.’’

Mr. Thomas handled some of the most emotionally complex scenes in the Disney features. When Grumpy, the self-styled ‘‘woman hater’’ among the dwarfs, buried his face in his hands at Snow White’s bier, audiences wept, perhaps for the first time, at the pain of an animated character.

Every parent could recognize Baloo’s awkward body language as he tried to explain why Mowgli couldn’t remain in the jungle in ‘‘The Jungle Book.’’ Mr. Thomas also conveyed Pinocchio’s wonder when the audience cheered his clumsy song and dance.

‘‘I was looking for anything that showed he was only born last night,’’ Mr. Thomas recalled in 1998. ‘‘He had no experience to draw on, so he had to be very wide-eyed and innocent looking.’’

‘‘To me, Frank’s characters always had the most believable feeling of life on the screen — to the point where it became hard to imagine someone actually creating them from drawings,’’ said Disney animator Andreas Deja, whose work includes Lilo in ‘‘Lilo and Stitch.’’Mr. Thomas was also a talented musician. He served as pianist in the Dixieland jazz band the Firehouse Five Plus Two, which Ward Kimball, another of the Nine Old Men, formed 1948.

Mr. Thomas and Johnston both retired in 1978 and wrote several influential books on animation, including ‘‘Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life’’ and ‘‘The Disney Villain.’’

The pair were the subject of a 1995 documentary film ‘‘Frank and Ollie,’’ written and directed by Theodore Thomas, the animator’s son.

‘‘Besides being one of the key guys to help elevate animation from a novelty to an incredible art form, he was so generous in passing along his knowledge and experiences to the generations that followed,’’ Lasseter said.

Material from the Los Angeles Times was used in this obituary.