Ruthie Tompson (1910–2021), pioneering Disney animator on “Snow White,” “Dumbo”
Ruthie Tompson was one of the earliest Disney animators, who worked on classic movies including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Pinocchio,” and “Dumbo.”Tompson first met Walt Disney and his brother Roy when she was a child who lived near them, then she began working for them as a young woman. She started at the Walt Disney Company as an inker at age 18, working on their groundbreaking 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Tompson went on to work in a variety of positions in animation over a 40-year career at Disney, with a hand in films including “Fantasia,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Mary Poppins,” “Robin Hood,” and “The Rescuers.” She also worked on Disney-produced training films for the U.S.