At the core of Walt’s studio team was a group of animators and directors he jokingly referred to as his Nine Old Men. They joined Disney before or during the production of Snow White in 1935, and many stayed for decades.

The were: Marc Davis, who animated Bambi and Cruella De Vil; Eric Larson, who created Peter Pan’s flight over London and trained many animators still at Disney today; Les Clark, who aided the creation of Mickey Mouse and specialised in animating the Disney icon; Milt Kahl, who created Shere Kahn and the Sheriff Of Nottingham; Ollie Jonston, who created Peter Pan’s Mr Smee and the Ugly Stepsisters; Ward Kimball, who designed both the Cheshire Cat and The Mad Hatter; John Lounsbury, a star animator who went on to direct Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too; Frank Thomas, who animated Captain Hook and The Queen Of Hearts; and Wolfgang Reitherman, who directed all the studio's animated films from Sleeping Beauty to The Rescuers.

They are widely considered as the fathers of modern animation, and had a huge influence on younger filmmakers. Pixar director Brad Bird created cameo roles for surviving old men Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in both his debut Iron Giant and his first Disney film, The Incredibles.