Ollie Johnston, the last of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” died Monday. He was 95.

Ollie Johnston was the last of the Disney stable of animators known as the “Nine Old Men.”

Johnston and his colleagues, including Frank Thomas, Eric Larson and Ward Kimball, are the animators responsible for that distinctive invention: the “Disney film,” the feature-length animated classics that include “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia” and “Lady and the Tramp.” The early films, in particular, are flawless combinations of art and story, so timeless and indestructible the studio could release them every seven years and instill a sense of wonder each time.

Today we live in an age of computer animation, technologically spectacular but sometimes wanting creatively. Too many films substitute artistic detail for story, something that Walt Disney didn’t tolerate, especially in the early days. (As noted in Neal Gabler’s brilliant biography “Walt Disney,” he rode his animators hard but maintained a paternal relationship until a mid-’40s union dispute. Indeed, the contrasts between the buttoned-down Disney and the wild men over at Warner Bros.’ “Termite Terrace,” chafing under the stewardship of Leon Schlesinger, say much about the style of their productions.)

There are notable exceptions, none better than Disney’s natural successor (and affiliate), Pixar. In the “Toy Story” films, “Monsters Inc.” and particularly Brad Bird’s amazing work, you can see the attention to detail — including story detail — Disney would have enjoyed. The Nine Old Men would be proud.

It’s no surprise that both Johnston and Thomas had small roles in Bird’s “The Iron Giant” and “The Incredibles.” They knew who upheld tradition.

– Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer

Jules Dassin died the other day. You may know the director’s name from his best-known films, “Never on Sunday” and “Topkapi,” the former for the performance by Dassin’s future wife, Melina Mercouri, and the latter for its Oscar-winning turn by Peter Ustinov.

Melina Mercouri and Jules Dassin are shown in 1960. Dassin’s films included “Topkapi,” “Never on Sunday” and “Rififi.”

But then there’s “Rififi,” which should be more famous than it is.

At the heart of “Rififi,” which Dassin directed in 1954 when he was down on his luck due to the Hollywood blacklist, is an almost 30-minute sequence showing a robbery. Not a word is spoken, not a note of music is heard. (After all, the thieves need complete silence.) You want tension? “Rififi” builds it beautifully.

“Rififi” has me thinking of other wordless (if not necessarily music-less) sequences in the movies. “There Will Be Blood,” which is due for release on DVD Tuesday, begins with essentially no speech for the first 15 minutes or so – a thematic echo (pardon the word choice), down to the occasional ominous music, of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which has no dialogue for the first 20 minutes. (“Blood” director Paul Thomas Anderson has talked about his affinity for “2001” director Stanley Kubrick.)

And though it’s melodramatic, complete with musical stings, I can’t help but remember (SPOILER!) the climactic scene of “Bang the Drum Slowly,” in which Robert De Niro’s ailing baseball catcher loses track of a pop-up, quietly hammering home his fate.

A dialogue-less sequence can be difficult to pull off, but when it works, the result can … well, leave you speechless.

What are some of your favorites?

– Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer