Ruth Irene Tompson (July 22, 1910 – October 10, 2021) was an American former camera technician, artist, and supercentenarian. She is known for her work on animated features at The Walt Disney Company and DreamWorks Animation.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Ruthie Tompson was born on July 22, 1910 in Portland, Maine and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She then moved with her family to Oakland, California in November 1918 at age eight. She experienced the 1918 influenza pandemic near the end of World War I. In 1924, her parents divorced and her mother, Arlene, remarried artist John Roberts. The family relocated to Los Angeles and their house was in the same block as the house of Robert Disney, uncle of Walt Disney. This is where Roy and Walt Disney lived when they first came to Los Angeles.
The Walt Disney Company[]
As she stated in an interview, Tompson first met the Disneys when she visited her neighbor Robert's new baby. She recalls sitting on an apple box until her parents said they'll be going home for dinner. The location of The Walt Disney Company, then known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, was not far from her home – she passed it on her way to grammar school. She was invited into the office after many times of standing outside and watching them work through the window. She visited the office often and ended up appearing in the Alice Comedies.
At the age of 18, Tompson started working at Dubrock's Riding Academy, where Roy and Walt Disney often played polo. Walt Disney remembered Tompson from when she was young and offered her a job as an inker. After training as an inker, Tompson was transferred to the Paint Department, where she helped with Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After working on several other Disney films, Tompson was promoted to final checker position where she reviewed animation cels before they were photographed onto film. Tompson continued working for Disney and was promoted to animation checker during WWII, where she worked on training and education films, for the U.S Armed Forces, starring Disney characters such as Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy. By 1948, Tompson was working in the camera department, developing camera moves and mechanics to shoot animation. She became one of the first three women admitted into the International Photographers Union, Local 659 of the IATSE. Tompson continued to work through the studio ranks, eventually becoming the supervisor of the screen planning department. She retired from Disney in 1975.
DreamWorks Pictures[]
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, while continuing work for Disney, Thompson occasionally worked at DreamWorks (Dora Wilson Productions at that time) with a few Dreamtoons shorts and three animated movies: Time of Blessing (1949), The Leprechaun Kingdom (1950), and Platero (1951).
She officially joined DreamWorks Animation in 1976. TBD
Retirement[]
Tompson retired in 1997. In retirement, she works for an in-house television channel at the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) Country House where she lives. Tompson is the oldest member of Women in Animation. In 2000, Tompson was honored by the Disney Legends program and received the Disney Legends Award for her work at the Walt Disney Studios. In 2017, Tompson was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for her contributions to the animation industry. In July 2020, Tompson became a supercentenarian and celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg wished her a happy birthday.
Tompson died on October 10, 2021, at the age of 111.
Filmography[]
- Lonesome Ghosts (1937) (ink and paint - uncredited)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (ink and paint - uncredited) (1937)
- Pinocchio (1940)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Dumbo (1941)
- Donald in Mathmagic Land (scene planner - uncredited) (1959)
- Sleeping Beauty (checker and scene planner - uncredited) (1959)
- Popeye the Sailor (1960–62)
- Mary Poppins (scene planner - uncredited) (1964)
- The Aristocats (scene planner - uncredited) (1970)
- Robin Hood (scene planning supervisor - uncredited) (1973)
- Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (short; 1974)
- The Rescuers (1977)
- The Lord of the Rings (1978)
- Metamorphoses (1978)
- Martha (TBD) (1980)
- Woolma (TBD) (1982)
- The Ugly Duckling (TBD) (1985)
- Candy Land (TBD) (1986)
- Jungle Jam (TBD) (1991)
- The Dreamtoons Movie (TBD) (1992)
- Trolls (TBD) (1994)
- Blazing Dragons (TBD) (1996)
- The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story (Documentary) (special thanks - as Ruthie Tompson) (1999)
- The Modifyers Movie (2011)
- American Experience (TV Series documentary) (self) (2015)
- Walt Disney - Part 1 (self; as Ruthie Thompson) (2015)
- 110-Year-Old Ruthie Tompson Tells Us About Making Snow White | NOT-SO SMALL WORLD (Web episode) (self; as Ruthie Tompson) (2020)