TOMPSON BINNED
One of the minor recurring trends of 2010s deadpooling was seemingly every other year, a WWII-era Disney animator leaping from obscurity to become a vaguely popular pool pick. The death of Ruthie Tompson, aged 111, definitively closes that era. Her association with Walt Disney began as a background extra in the 1920s Alice Comedies series, and her familiarity to Walt would later translate to a lengthy career with the Disney company. The last alive to have worked on Snow White, Tompson would contribute to the bulk of Disney animated feature films until 1975’s The Rescuers in a variety of roles such as inker, cel checker, and camera technician.
Tompson admittedly would not be widely known beyond her co-workers if not for her extreme longevity, but was still a pioneer worth acknowledging. The unheralded minor bits of animation that no casual watcher thinks about are nevertheless crucial to the final product, and her camera skill was such that fellow animators have compared her to a human computer. Inducted as a Disney Legend in 2000, she stood in her final years as a living reminder of when Disney was revolutionizing animation off ambition and talent rather than trudging along as a franchise-absorbing corporate behemoth.
Ruthie Tompson scores for 8 teams. Non-theme team CENTAURIANS cashes in a lucrative joker. A few actual centenarian theme teams also benefit, as does Walt-era Disney alums assemblage This Knee Ain’t What It Used To Be. Cancel My Appointments (who originally thought Tompson was only famous for being an elderly baseball fan!) achieves a tenth hit, while theoldlady fittingly inches back in the top 10 off the back of a really old lady. They’ll all exhale a sigh of relief at not having to remember if the “Tompson” has an “H” or not anymore. Anyways, time to pick Shannon Doherty…
Note that as is recurring tradition when DDP hosts pass the baton, this obit was not msc’s doing but rather DI’s very first! I may or may not contribute a few more obits before officially taking the reins, but overall it shall remain msc’s duty for the rest of the year…
Ruthie Tompson
22 July 1910 – 10 October 2021, aged 111
8 teams (💀💀💀 3 points, 🃏 (x1) 6 points)