District’s own celebrity

Several years ago, substitute teacher Thomas Van Oosting became an online sensation after a student posted a picture of him on Tumblr. The post addressed Van Oosting’s uncanny resemblance to Milo, the protagonist of the 2001 Disney animated movie “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”. It was accompanied by the caption, “The guy from Atlantis was my history sub today,” and went on to receive over 109,380 notes. It was even featured on Buzzfeed in January 2013.

Van Oosting says, “I don’t remember exactly what happened, but some student said something like, ‘Dude, you’re on Tumblr,’ and I checked out the picture and said, ‘Oh, there I am.’ I didn’t have too much of a reaction to it. I thought it was odd. I don’t know the person [who posted the picture]. I actually don’t even know what class it was for, but it didn’t bother me [that someone posted my picture]. I just thought it was funny.”

When the post first appeared, Van Oosting hoped it would attract attention to his website. The site displays musical compositions from a variety of genres, including action-adventure, romance, fantasy, and horror. His music has also been featured in television shows like “E! News Live,” “Tia and Tamara,” “Whose Wedding is it Anyway?,” and “Behind the Music.” According to his IMDb page, Van Oosting has also acted in a variety of films and shorts, including Consumer, Lost Cause, and Cold Comfort.

Van Oosting says, “Once, I was stopped on the street. I was walking through San Mateo to see a movie and a bunch of kids stopped me on the street. That was odd. It’s just a fun thing [to be recognized].”

Freshman Karan Nevatia says, “He subbed for my English class once. He’s pretty fun, pretty cool. Atlantis was one of my favorite movies. He’s a little shorter than Milo, though.”

“He’s pretty popular as a sub because he’s pretty chill and a really nice guy. It’s not just because of his resemblance that he attracts people,” says senior Brandon Dere.

Despite all the internet attention and popularity Van Oosting’s resemblance has not always been so apparent. He remarks, “I think I started noticing [the comparison] right around the same time [as the article]. Now that people mention it, I see it. It wasn’t until people mentioned it that it occurred to me.”

In fact, Van Oosting’s likeness to Milo extends beyond the movie character. Van Oosting says, “I can say that I am a movie buff and I know that the voice of that character is Michael J. Fox. Once, when seeing Michael J. Fox being interviewed on Inside the Actors Studio, I saw that his son was with him, and I look very much like his son.”

Van Oosting concludes, “I saw the movie when it came out, whenever that was … Not the best movie in the world, but there are worse comparisons you can make.”