Over the past 12 months, we lost many talented, brilliant women and men who devoted their lives to creating animated and VFX-driven projects through the years. We honor their memory, celebrate their accomplishments and are forever indebted to them for making our animated universe a better place.
We are very grateful to the amazing Tom Sito and Yvette Kaplan for producing the Afternoon of Remembrance event every year to celebrate the beloved animation stars who left us. This year’s Animation Guild event will be held on Saturday, February 24 at noon PST. It will be a hybrid event, with some participating at the Animation Guild Hall in Burbank and some via Zoom.
Frank Agrama. Founder and chairman of Harmony Gold, which produced and distributed the popular Robotech movies and Shaka Zulu, the most successful first-run syndicated miniseries in TV history. Agrama grew up as a child actor in Egypt before producing features in Lebanon and founding the Film Association of Rome in Italy. Among HG’s other successful titles in the 1980s were Around the World in 80 Days and Dragon Ball. He also wrote and produced the 2006 movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Died April 25, age 93.
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Per Åhlin. Swedish self-taught animator, illustrator and director who was behind Sweden’s first largely animated feature, I huvet på en gammal gubbe (Out of an Old Man’s Head). The film was written by the comedy duo Hasse & Tage, with whom Åhlin often collaborated. Credits include Dunderklumpen!, the Nordic holiday classic Christopher’s Christmas Mission, the series Alfons Åberg, the Shakespeare-inspired The Journey to Melonia and the feature Hundhotellet (The Dog Hotel). Died May 1, age 91.
Craig Armstrong. Prolific animator known for his work on 1978’s The Lord of the Rings, Batman: The Animated Series, Rocko’s Modern Life, The Simpsons, The Wild Thornberrys, Rugrats, Family Guy, Clifford’s Really Big Movie and more. He was a storyboard artist on FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Tiny Toon Adventures and King of the Hill, on which he also served as assistant director. Died Aug. 15, age 70.
Ted Bastien. Canadian Screen Award-winning director on Guru Studio/Spin Master’s PAW Patrol and several of the hit franchise’s animated specials. He also lent his skills as a director, storyboard artist and designer to many beloved animated classics and cult favorites including Babar, The Magic School Bus, Little Bear, Jacob Two-Two, Braceface, Handy Manny, Mike the Knight and Clone High. Died March 21, age 60.
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Edward Bleier. Longtime television executive at ABC and Warner Bros. responsible for bringing Looney Tunes to TV, repackaging the vintage cartoons for Saturday morning TV and eventually overseeing some 100 variations of Looney Tunes programming on 10 different networks. As president of Warner Bros. Animation, he collaborated with Steven Spielberg on three series: Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. A key figure in the creation of the cable industry, helping develop networks including Nickelodeon and MTV. Died Oct. 17, age 94.
Susan Bielenberg. Talented animator, painter, caricaturist and mural artist who worked as layout and storyboard artist and revisionist on shows such as The Simpsons, Dilbert, Rugrats, King of the Hill, Duckman and The Oblongs. She also designed t-shirts for Paul Frank and drew murals for towns across America. Died Dec. 5, age 58.
Todd Brian. Animation executive and writer who was the director of development, animation, for Canada-based kids and family powerhouse WildBrain. Brian’s credits include serving as production executive on the animated series Esme & Roy and the award-winning short The Most Magnificent Thing, and as a writer on shows including Captain Flamingo, Jimmy Two-Shoes, Caillou and My Big Big Friend. Died Dec. 28, 2022, age 59.
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David Braden. A Xerox processor, scan checker and 2D animation processor who worked at Disney Feature Animation and Filmation. Mulan, Fantasia 2000 and Lilo & Stitch are among his credits. Died Jan. 16, age 61.
Ernesto Brieno. Brieno worked as an in-betweener and breakdown artist at Disney and DreamWorks Animation. Among his credits are Hercules, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000 and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Died May 22, age 57.
Susan Burke. An animation checker and painter who worked at Warner Bros., Disney, Film Roman, Hanna-Barbara, Cool World and Bento Box. Her movie credits include The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog, while TV credits range from Teen Titans to Johnny Test. Died Jan. 11, age 67.
Paul Bush. British experimental film director and animator known for using innovative animation techniques including object replacement animation. His works include The Cow’s Drama, His Comedy, Rumour of True Things, Furniture Poetry and While Darwin Sleeps... In his 1998 film, The Albatross, he scratched each frame directly into the surface of the filmstock over live action to create an animated sequence with the look of engraved wood. Also taught filmmaking and lectured at several art and film courses around the world. He also taught visual arts at his alma mater, Goldsmiths. In 1996, he formed his own company, Ancient Mariner Productions. Died Aug. 17, age 67.
John “Rich” Chidlaw. Underground comic and storyboard artist who worked at studios including Disney, Nickelodeon, Fox and Cartoon Network. As a storyboard artist, he worked on dozens of projects including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, A.L.F., Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles, the Disney TV series of Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians, Hercules and many more. He was storyboard designer for series including The Berenstain Bears, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and DuckTales. Died Oct. 3, age 72.
Roger Chouinard. Co-founder of successful commercial animation studio Duck Soup Productions, where he designed and directed many award-winning TV commercials. Duck Soup’s clients included global brands like Levi’s, Nestle, Kellogg’s, Verizon and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Died March 24, age 81.
Rolly Crump. One of Disney’s top designers during the creation of Disneyland who lent his artistic flair to classic attractions. He first joined the studio in 1952 as an in-betweener and later animator on Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty. By 1959, he was brought into the show design department at WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering), where he shone as a key designer on the Enchanted Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Adventureland Bazaar, the mod 1967 update to Tomorrowland and it’s a small world (he came up with the ride’s famous cartoon clockface). He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2004. Died March 12, age 93.
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Sukhdev Dail. Originally from India, Sukhdev was invited to the U.S. to work on Scooby-Doo. He worked as an animation timer and layout artist at Hanna-Barbera, Universal Cartoon Studios, and Warner Bros. on shows such as Super Friends, Rugrats and Rocket Power. He also exhibited extensively with his paintings and sculptures. Died August 7, age 81.
Bill Dennis. A dedicated animation executive for major studios who helped lay the foundations of the animation industry in India. As Disney VP of feature animation, he put together talent and resources for iconic Renaissance movies such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. He also a post with Hanna-Barbera running the Fil-Cartoons studio in Manila. In 1999, Dennis set up the Toonz studio in Trivandrum with G. A. Menon. Under his leadership as CEO, the studio created the award-winning series The Adventures of Tenali Raman. Died Jan. 22, age 80.
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Alan Dewhurst. Passion Pictures co-founder and producer of the Oscar-winning and BAFTA-nominated short Peter & the Wolf. He started in the industry working for animator Richard Williams in Soho. He and Andrew Ruhemann co-founded Passion, which grew into a three-time Academy Award-winning, full-service global animation, documentary and commercial production company. He left the company in 1998 to focus on narrative animation. Other credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Most Beautiful Man in the World and Iconicles. Died May 20, age 63.
Ian Emes. British film director, animator, artist, writer and pioneer of experimental film techniques, famous for his work with Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield and Paul & Linda McCartney. His first musical animated short, French Windows, set to Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days,” was discovered by the band’s keyboard player, Rick Wright. The band commissioned him to work on animated sequences for The Dark Side of the Moon live show. His “Time” sequence, filled with flying clocks, has been seen by millions around the world. He won three BAFTAS and was nominated for an Oscar for his live-action work. Died July 16, age 73.
Don Ernst. A film, sound and music editor and producer who worked on many hits over more than 50 years. He cut his teeth in live-action TV in the mid-1950s and went on to win two Emmy Awards for his sound editing work. His earliest work in animation was with the auteur New York director Ralph Bakshi, working on his Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, Hey Good Lookin’, the fantasy epic Wizards and animated adaptation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. He eventually began working on Disney shorts and served as co-producer on Aladdin and as a producer on Fantasia 2000, as well as on Disney’s English-language dub of Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away. Died April 9, age 89.
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Ian Falconer. Caldecott Honor-winning creator of the bestselling Olivia children’s book series, which was adapted into a 3D CG series on Nick Jr. in 2009. The Brown Bag Films-animated show earned a Parents’ Choice Award. Before Olivia, he was known for his 30 clever cover illustrations for The New Yorker and for creating costumes for theater productions around the world with David Hockney in the 1990s. Died March 7, age 63.
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Cam Ford. Australian animation legend whose career spanned over 50 years. He worked on the Beatles’ film Yellow Submarine, drawing the iconic Blue Meanies and Glove; Hanna-Barbera cartoons; and Australia’s first-ever animated feature, Marco Polo Junior Versus the Red Dragon. In 1975, Ford founded his own studio, Cinemagic Animated Films, which churned out hundreds of TV commercials, as well as narrative projects. Died Nov. 27, age 87.
Gerry Fournier. Storyboard artist, illustrator and caricaturist who worked for Atomic Cartoons Inc., Guru Studio, ToonBox Entertainment, 9 Story Media Group, Slaphappy Cartoons, Little Tugboat Productions, Pipeline Studios, Yowza and Cookie Jar Entertainment. His credits include Beetlejuice: The Animated Series, Eek! the Cat, Tales From the Far Side, The Wacky World of Tex Avery, Max & Ruby, My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, Spaceballs: The Animated Series and Ed, Edd n Eddy. Died Aug. 14.
Randy Fullmer. Disney animator and producer who worked his way up over 18 years at the studio from effects animator on Oliver & Company and The Little Mermaid, to effects supervisor on The Rescuers Down Under and Beauty and the Beast, to artistic coordinator on The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and finally to producer on The Emperor’s New Groove and the studio’s first completely CG-animated feature, Chicken Little. Fullmer launched his career as an independent, producing educational films, commercials, Sesame Street segments and Saturday morning cartoons before going to work for Don Bluth Studios, Apogee and Filmation. Died July 10, age 73.
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Johnny Hardwick. Comedian, voice actor, writer and producer best known for playing the lovable crackpot Dale Gribble on King of the Hill for the show’s entire run, appearing in 257 of its 258 episodes over the course of 13 years. After Greg Daniels and Mike Judge discovered him during a set at Los Angeles’ Laugh Factory, Hardwick went on to write 20 episodes of the two-time Emmy-winning sitcom and also served as a producer, supervising producer and consulting producer for the series. Died Aug. 8, age 64.
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Vahe Haytaian. A technical director who worked for Bento Box and Walt Disney TVA. His many credits include Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Big Hero 6: The Series, Amphibia, The Owl House, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Bob’s Burgers, Central Park and The Great North. Died April 27, age 40.
Al Jaffee. Award-winning MAD cartoonist and Fold-In inventor known to generations for his clever creations. He began his career in the early ’40s as an artist working for several comics publications, including Marvel Comics precursors Timely Comics and Atlas Comics. He made his MAD magazine debut in 1955. In addition to innovating the Fold-In cover in 1964, Jaffee also notably created Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. He was officially declared to have had “the longest career as a comics artist” (73 years, three months) by Guinness World Records in 2016, well before he retired at age 99. Died April 10, age 102.
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Gregory Joackim. Greg Joackim worked as a writer at Warner Bros. Animation, Paramount Pictures and Cartoon Network. His credits include Looney Tunes: Reality Check and Looney Tunes: Stranger than Fiction. Died Feb. 4, age 52.
William “Bike” Kinzle. Kinzle worked as a color designer at Film Roman and Fox Animation. Among his credits are The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, Rugrats and more than 100 episodes of Family Guy. Died March 6, age 69.
Tony Klück. Two-time Emmy-nominated animation director and storyboard artist. After he began his career at Toonder Studios in Amsterdam, he entered the U.S. animation scene and went on to work on Beavis and Butt-Head, CatDog, Daria, Downtown and King of the Hill. Other credits include animation timer on Duplex and lead animation supervisor on The Lizzie McGuire Movie. He also worked as a storyboard artist on Blue Sky’s first Ice Age movie, Cartoon Network series Sheep in the Big City, PBS show Maya & Miguel and Fox’s Bob’s Burgers. Died April 24, age 75.
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Jim Korkis. Animation, comics and Disney historian and prolific writer who wrote over three dozen books, including the Vault of Walt series, as well as long-running columns for Amazing Heroes, Animation Magazine, Animato!, Animania, Comic Journal, Cartoon Research, MousePlanet and more. A former teacher and Disney employee — he worked as a performer, animation instructor, tour instructor and coordinator in Orlando — he became an expert on the history of the Mouse House and helped preserve the legacy of Walt Disney. Died July 28, age 72.
Pete Kozachik. Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor of The Nightmare Before Christmas and accomplished stop-motion animator and cinematographer on several Tim Burton and Henry Selick projects, including James and the Giant Peach, Corpse Bride and Coraline, as well as the live-action hybrid feature Monkeybone. He also served as a VFX camera operator for films including Howard the Duck, Willow, RoboCop 2 & 3 and Star Wars: Episode II. Kozachik worked with Phil Tippett and provided additional photography for his acclaimed feature, Mad God. Died Sept. 12, age 72.
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Marty Krofft. Television creator, writer and puppeteer who, along with brother Sid Krofft, birthed numerous children’s television and variety show programs in the 1970s including H.R. Pufnstuf, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost, Donny and Marie and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. Many of the programs had brief original runs but became cult favorites. While Sid was his more creative counterpart, Marty brought his business acumen to the partnership. The duo received a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Died Nov. 25, age 86.
Ippei Kuri. Co-founder and president of Japanese anime studio Tatsunoko Production from 1987 to 2005. Born Toyoharu Yoshida in 1940, Kuri was the youngest of the three Yoshida brothers who founded Tatsunoko in 1962. He made his manga debut in 1959 with Abare Tengu. He would later write and illustrate on manga adaptations of Judo Boy and Messenger of Allah, and on Minoru Kume’s Mach Sanshirou, among other titles. At Tatsunoko, he helped with series and movies including Space Ace, Speed Racer, Judo Boy and The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee, as well as the enduring Gatchaman, Time Bokan and Casshern franchises. He eventually became president of the company. Died July 1, age 83.
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Daniel Langlois. Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the animation/VFX software Softimage. He worked as an animation director for private studios, as well as the National Film Board of Canada, earning global recognition for his work on the CGI film Tony de Peltrie and Transitions, which featured the first stereoscopic 3D computer animation for Imax. In 1986, Langlois teamed up with software engineers Richard Mercille and Laurent Lauzon to develop Softimage Creative Environments, which combined modeling, animation and rendering capabilities. It was soon adopted by major effects and animation studios and helped bring to life the dinosaurs of Steven Spielberg’s iconic Jurassic Park. Over the years, Softimage tech contributed to groundbreaking VFX blockbusters such as Titanic, Men in Black, The Matrix, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Oscar-winning animated feature Happy Feet, as well as many video games. Died Dec. 1, age 66.
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Lin Larsen. Lin worked as a storyboard and layout artist at Disney Television Animation, Marvel, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Bros. Among his many credits are The Big Bang, Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters and Devlin. Died Jan. 10, age 89.
Chris Ledesma. Music editor of The Simpsons for 33 seasons, from its launch on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1989. He contributed to more than 700 episodes until he stepped down from the conductor’s podium in May of 2022. He also worked on live-action TV shows including The Nanny and Dark Shadows. Died Dec. 16, 2022, age 64.
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Nick Levenduski. Levenduski worked as a production technical director, digital effects lead and crowds artist for DreamWorks and Disney. His credits include Encanto, Black Panther, Penguins of Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon , and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Died April 6, age 41.
Gerald “Jerry” Loveland. Visual development and background artist who worked at Sony Pictures Animation, Disney, Warner Bros., Filmation and Hanna-Barbera. His TV credits include BraveStarr and the Tom & Jerry Kids Show. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Princess and the Frog, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs are among his film credits. Died April 21, age 58.
Anne Luiting. Production manager for several animated series including Muppet Babies, Batman: The Animated Series, Garfield and Friends and Bobby’s World. She worked on 72 episodes of The Simpsons, for which she also served as animation vice president of production. Died Jan. 22, age 64.
Ric Machin. Cartoonist, caricature artist and animation supervisor. He spent 25 years working in animation in London, New York and South Korea, where he served as overseas animation supervisor on Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm, Doug’s 1st Movie and PB&J Otter. Upon returning to England, he hosted three one-man exhibitions of oil paintings in London, established Ric Machin Studios and began providing art and entertainment for events. Died in Nov.
Istvan Majoros. Majoros worked as a layout artist and character designer at Filmation, Bakshi Productions, Universal Cartoon Studios, Warner Bros., Film Roman and Fox Animation. Film credits include BraveStarr: The Legend, FernGully: The Last Rainforest and The Simpsons Take the Bowl. He also worked on Tiny Toon Adventures, Futurama and The Simpsons. Died Sept. 27, age 72.
Walter P. Martishius. Production designer, art director, set designer, concept artist, matte painter and video game concept artist who worked on over 100 projects over the last 33 years.. Feature credits include Sleeping with the Enemy, A River Runs Through It and 1993’s Super Mario Bros., which he worked on with his own brothers. Beginning in the 2000s, Martishius worked primarily on projects for TV including Dinotopia (which garnered him an Emmy nomination), over 20 Barbie and Fairytopia direct-to-video movies, Tarzan and Jane and Wacky Races. His recent work included The House With a Clock in Its Walls, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two, Curious George: Cape Ahoy and The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special. Died March 19, age 63.
Leiji Matsumoto. Legendary manga artist and creator of thrilling sci-fi worlds adapted to anime including Captain Harlock, Starzingers, Space Battleship Yamato, Star Blazers 2199 and Galaxy Express 999. He got his big break in the 1970s with the tale of a struggling student, Otoko Oidon. He married pioneering manga creator Miyako Maki in 1961, and the duo collaborated on multiple projects, including opening their own studio, Leijisha. His work found fans all over the world, including Daft Punk, with whom Matsumoto collaborated on multiple music videos. Died Feb. 13, age 85.
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Burny Mattinson. Disney Legend who spent an unprecedented 70 years adding to the magic of Walt Disney Animation Studios. The studio’s longest-serving employee, Mattinson started in the mail room, made his animation debut as an in-betweener on Lady and the Tramp (1955) and most recently served as a story artist on Strange World (2022). Among Mattinson’s many achievements over the years, he directed the 1983 Dickens adaptation Mickey’s Christmas Carol and was a co-director and producer of the Sherlock sendup The Great Mouse Detective. Mattinson also worked as an in-betweener and animator on classics including Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Robin Hood and multiple Winnie the Pooh movies; a story contributor to The Rescuers, Pete’s Dragon, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan and Tarzan; a story supervisor on 2011’s Winnie the Pooh; and a story artist on Big Hero 6 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. He was still working full time as a story consultant and studio mentor at the time of his passing. Died Feb. 27, age 87.
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Ian McGinty. A gifted writer and artist working in comic books, animation and games. He was best known for his illustration work on comics inspired by popular animated series including Nickelodeon’s Rocko’s Modern Life and Invader Zim, Cartoon Network/Frederator’s Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors and Bee and Puppycat, and Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty. The artist gained a more individual following for his original comic-book series Welcome to Showside, which Modern Prometheus optioned for an animated series in 2015. McGinty wrote, designed and voice-starred as Kit in a pilot episode, which attracted over a million views. Died June 8, age 38.
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Russell Merritt. Film historian, writer and Disney expert who co-wrote Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney and Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series. He was a longtime professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he started the film studies program, and UC Berkeley. Died March 3, age 81.
Lloyd Morrisett. Co-creator of pioneering children’s television classic Sesame Street. He also co-founded the nonprofit educational organization Sesame Workshop and remained a lifetime honorary trustee since retiring as chairman of the board in 2000. Died Jan. 15, age 93.
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Ken Mundie. Animation producer and storyboard artist who trained as an animator at Disney and worked on some of the studio’s classics including Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians. He later began working for Friz Freleng and animated the opening titles for the TV series The Wild Wild West and the movie The Great Race. He then independently animated his short film The Door (1968). Mundie also directed the Fat Albert pilot, worked on a production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in London, and animated campaigns for Leo Burnett Advertising. He also did storyboards for TV shows such as The New Adventures of Johnny Quest, Pinky and the Brain, Life With Louie, Fox’s Peter Pan and the Pirates and Casper the Friendly Ghost. Died April 3, age 97.
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Yuji Nunokawa. Founder of the internationally regarded Studio Pierrot. Nunokawa worked as an animator, first on TCJ’s Space Boy Soran, and as a key animator on Robotan for TMS. He joined Tatsunoko Productions in 1971, onboarding as a character designer and later assuming the director’s chair at Tatsunoko, on the Time Bokan! series. He also directed for Yatterman and Gatchaman II. He formed animation collective Studio Pierrot in 1979, where as president he served as a producer and executive producer on many hit anime series, including the original 1981 Urusei Yatsura series, Creamy Mami, Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto, Tokyo Mew Mew and Bleach, as well as several Bleach and Naruto movies. He also helped establish the Association of Japanese Animations and NUROANI Juku animation school, where he continued to lecture until his death. Died Dec. 25, 2022, age 75.
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Jansen Panettiere. Actor and artist who was the younger brother of Hayden Panettiere. Jansen voiced roles for animated hits including Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Blue’s Clues. He began his career quite young, guest-starring on Even Stevens, Hope & Faith and Third Watch, as well as on Canadian animated series Jacob Two-Two. He had a recurring role on the original Blue’s Clues series as Periwinkle the cat and later played Truman X on The X’s. In more recent years, he appeared in MTV’s How High 2, The Babysitters, The Walking Dead, Nickelodeon’s The Last Day of Summer and the award-winning indie Love and Love Not. Died Feb. 19, age 28.
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Duane Earl Poole. Prolific writer for animated series. During the ’70s, Poole wrote for numerous Hanna-Barbera shows, beginning with The Great Grape Ape Show, Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, CB Bears, A Flintstone Christmas, The All-New Super Friends Hour, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour and Godzilla. He also penned the screenplay for the cult classic “robot-dog” movie C.H.O.M.P.S. and wrote for Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. In the ’80s, Poole wrote for The Smurfs, The Flintstone Comedy Show, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Biskitts. He later wrote for popular live-action shows including Hart to Hart and Love Boat, as well as films like Katharine Hepburn’s This Can’t Be Love and Return to the Batcave. Died April 1, age 74.
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Dick Rauh. Animator, artist and art director with a long career in special effects in the New York film industry. He served as president of the New York Screen Cartoonist Union and president of the animation community organization ASIFA-East. He was also the art director and part owner of the Optical House, where he worked on many films and TV ads and did pro bono work for public television shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company. His other credits include doing visual effects for Little Shop of Horrors and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Died Oct. 9, age 98.
Michael Reaves. TV writer, comic-book writer, novelist and story editor known for his Emmy-winning work on Batman: The Animated Series. He also wrote for Flash Gordon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Smurfs, Star Wars: Droids, Ewoks, My Little Pony, The Real Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Gargoyles. Reaves is also the author of several Star Wars novels, including the Coruscant Nights trilogy, as well as the InterWorld trilogy, which he wrote along with Neil Gaiman and daughter Mallory Reaves. Died March 20, age 72.
Paul Reubens. Comedian, actor, writer, producer and children’s entertainer who was best known for his hugely popular character Pee-wee Herman, who began as a character created for the L.A. comedy troupe the Groundlings, and then a live show, which led to an acclaimed special for HBO and inspired the influential CBS Saturday morning children’s show Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The series, which won 15 Daytime Emmys, featured charming stop-motion animated segments and showcased the creative design of influential animation artists. The success of the character led to three films: Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), directed by Tim Burton, sequel Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and Netflix’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday (2015). Reubens also lent his voice to a wide range of characters in animated series, specials and video games including Rugrats, Tripping the Rift, Re-Animated, Chowder, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Adventure Time, Tron: Uprising, Robot Chicken, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, TMNT, Sanjay and Craig, Star Wars Rebels, Phineas and Ferb, American Dad!, Voltron: Legendary Defender and Bob’s Burgers. Died July 30, age 70.
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Lance Reddick. Prolific actor best known for his roles in features such as the four John Wick movies, as well as his powerhouse performances in shows such as The Wire, Fringe, Oz, The Corner and Bosch. He was also well known in the animation world for the many characters he voiced throughout the last decade: Cutler in Disney’s Tron: Uprising, Alan Rails in Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, Lunaris in Disney’s DuckTales, Captain in Castlevania, Thordak in The Legend of Vox Machina, Agent Clappers in Paradise PD and Renzo in Farzar. His video game credits include the Quantum Break, Destiny and Horizon series. Died March 17, age 60.
Jeffrey Riche. Jeffrey worked as a background designer at Crest Animation, Hyperion, Amblin and Hanna-Barbera, and his many credits include Yogi’s Space Race, Super Friends, Godzilla, Trollkins, The Jetsons and numerous Scooby-Doo series and TV movies. Died Jan. 20, age 76.
Filonella “Nellie” Rodriguez Bell. Bell worked as a cel painter at Filmation, Rich Entertainment, Hanna-Barbera, Disney, Kroyer Films and Warner Bros. Animation. Her credits include The Little Mermaid, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest, The Black Cauldron, Jetsons: The Movie and Batman: The Animated Series. Died May 26, age 87.
Jessie Romero. Animator, layout and storyboard artist who had been working for acclaimed L.A. animation studio Titmouse for the last two years. Romero’s credits include Emmy-winning series Bob’s Burgers and Emmy-nominated American Dad! and both the 2011 and 2022 revivals of Beavis and Butt-head, as well as the Paramount+ movie Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe, King of the Hill and Bless the Harts. Died March 21, age 52.
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Joy Rosen. Portfolio Entertainment’s co-founding partner and CEO. The animation executive, along with business partner Lisa Olfman, transformed Portfolio from an ambitious startup into a leading production, distribution and animation company of kids and family entertainment with a roster that includes the PBS series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Hero Elementary, Doki and Groundling Marsh. Rosen led Portfolio’s global distribution division, and in 2015 the partners launched Portfolio Animation. Died June 8, age 65.
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William Ruzicka. Animation director and storyboard artist who worked on Invincible, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight and Blood of Zeus. He started his animation career doing storyboard revision for Hasbro cartoons such as Transformers Prime, Transformers Rescue Bots and G.I. Joe: Renegades. His recent work includes the acclaimed Robert Kirkman adaptation Invincible for Prime Video, for which Ruzicka directed and storyboarded the Season 1 finale. He also applied his skills to Crunchyroll’s High Guardian Spice and Onyx Equinox, Paramount+ adult comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks, Nickelodeon’s Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Legend of Korra, as well as several DC projects. Died Feb. 1, age 45.
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Lucinda Sanderson. An in-betweener, breakdown artist and assistant animator who worked at Warner Features, Rich Entertainment, Hyperion Productions, Filmation, Hanna-Barbera and Disney. Her credits include The Brave Little Toaster, Happily Ever After, Jetsons: The Movie, The Swan Princess and Space Jam. Died July 28, age 72.
Raoul Servais. Belgian filmmaker, animator and comics artist. A fundamental figure in the Belgian animation scene, he also founded the animation faculty of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He was best known for his animated shorts, especially Harpya, for which he won a Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival in 1979. His other works included Harbor Lights, Chromophobia, Operation X-70 and Goldframe. He incorporated satire and social commentary into his shorts. Servais received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Animafest Zagreb in 2016 and made films until the end of his life, including his most recent, The Tall Guy. Died March 17, age 94.
Jeff Scott Smith. A storyboard cleanup artist at Fox Television Animation, whose credits include American Dad! Died July 5, age 70.
Arleen Sorkin. Actress known to animation and DC fans as the original voice and inspiration for Harley Quinn, and known to soap opera fans as the character Calliope Jones on Days of Our Lives, for which she was twice Emmy-nominated. Calliope’s appearance as a jester on the show inspired Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Paul Dini to model a henchwoman/foil for Joker on a classic commedia dell’arte Harlequin. Sorkin went on to voice Harley Quinn in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and future Batman animated series and video games, as well as toons like Superman: The Animated Series, Gotham Girls, Static Shock and Justice League. She won a Peabody Award in 2011 for the “Bhutto” episode of documentary series Independent Lens, and she is credited with writing two episodes of the ’90s animated classic Tiny Toon Adventures. Died Aug. 24, age 67.
Full Obit Here
Allen Stovall. An effects assistant and animator who worked at Duck Soup, Filmation, Turner Feature Animation and Disney. His TV credits include Ghostbusters, She-Ra: Princess of Power and BraveStarr. His film credits range from The Little Mermaid, Rescuers Down Under and Beauty and the Beast to Rugrats in Paris and Rugrats Go Wild. Died May 8, age 69.
Leo D. Sullivan. Pioneering animator, designer, writer and director whose trailblazing career spanned more than 60 years. Part of the latter 20th century vanguard of Black American animators, Sullivan worked on iconic series such as Fat Albert, the Scooby-Doo franchise, Beany and Cecil, Flash Gordon, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, My Little Pony and The Transformers, as well as the animated intro for Soul Train. He helped bring ’90s favorites Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs to the screen, as well as Taz-Mania, C Bear and Jamal, The Incredible Hulk, Dumb and Dumber and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures animated series. After working for Bob Clampett Productions, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros., Sullivan joined forces with former Disney animator and fellow icon of Black animation Floyd Norman to form Vignette Films in the 1960s, where the duo created films designed to educate American students about important figures in Black history. He went on to found Leo Sullivan Multimedia and its namesake foundation, dedicated to teaching animation and video game development to kids. He won an Emmy Award as a timing director in 1992. Died March 25, age 82.
Full Obit Here
Andrei Svislotski. TV animation veteran whose colorful career started by working on Russian shows such as Kubik, Doremi and Cat Leopold before working on shows such as Edith Anne, Santo Bugito and Duckman as character designer, layout supervisor and animator at L.A.-based Klasky Csupo studio. Svislotski was an animation director for Nickelodeon series such as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Rocket Power, Rugrats and its sequel, All Grown Up! He also helmed several Curious George projects and was character layout supervisor on The Rugrats Movie, animation director on the studio’s adult animated project The Immigrants and directed several episodes of Disney Junior’s Sheriff Callie’s Wild West. He worked as a storyboard artist on a wide variety of projects, including A Very Pink Christmas, Doc McStuffins, DreamWorks Dragons, Peter Rabbit, Masha and the Bear, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Mission Force One. Died Dec. 19, 2022, age 62.
Full obit here
Hélène Tanguay. Longtime National Film Board of Canada employee and “animation champion.” She was a beloved, “unwavering ambassador for animated films” who “tirelessly travelled the world presenting and viewing films.” Tanguay retired from the NFB in 2007, after almost 40 years of distinguished service in bringing the work of NFB creators to an ever-wider audience through her impassioned work and warm presence at festivals around the globe. Died Jan. 7, age 70.
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Osamu Tezuka. Toei Company Ltd. president and CEO who worked his way up after joining Toei in 1983. The company oversees the iconic Toei Animation studio (One Piece, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Saint Seiya). Tezuka also recently served as chairman of the executive committee of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Died Feb. 14, age 62.
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Marc Thorpe. Visual effects artist, model maker and puppet engineer. In 1979, he joined Bay Area VFX institution ILM, where he served as chief model maker and animatronic designer for many Lucasfilm features, including the second and third Star Wars chapters and the original Indiana Jones trilogy. His other credits include Dragonslayer, Poltergeist, Joe Dante’s Explorers, Howard the Duck, *batteries not included and Oscar winner The Hunt for Red October. Thorpe also created the popular Robot Wars concept in the 1990s, which he described as “a festival of destruction and survival.” Died Nov. 24, age 77.
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Cilia van Dijk. Netherlands-based, Academy Award-winning animation producer. In addition to producing noteworthy films such as Piet Kroon’s Dada, Sjaak Meilink’s Stiltwalkers and Børge Ring’s Anna & Bella, van Dijk was a champion of Dutch animation on the international scene. She married actor-filmmaker Gerrit van Dijk in 1963 and was introduced to the world of animation when he began making animated films; she served as producer on his works like The Last Words of Dutch Schultz, Frieze Frame, Pas à deux and I move, so I am. In 1978, she founded distribution company Animated People, the forerunner of the Netherlands Institute for Animated Film. In 1986, van Dijk won the Oscar for best short animation film as producer of Anna & Bella, and she received two Golden Bears from the Berlinale for Pas à deux and I move, so I am. Died April 26, age 81.
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John Warnock. Computer scientist and inventor best known for co-founding Adobe Systems Inc. He was the creative driving force behind Adobe’s initial software products — PostScript, Adobe Illustrator and the PDF — and had 20 patents to his name. He met future Adobe co-founder Charles Geschke as a principal scientist at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. President Obama awarded the duo the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2009, and Warnock remained a member of Adobe’s board of directors until his death. Adobe’s Creative Suite of programs — including Photoshop, Premiere and After Effects — have become indispensable tools to the animation industry. Died Aug. 19, age 82.
Jimmy Weldon. Ventriloquist, radio/TV host and actor who was creator of the popular midcentury puppet character Webster Webfoot and the original voice of Hanna-Barbera’s perennially imperiled duckling Yakky Doodle. Weldon became a popular children’s TV host on and began performing voice-over roles for Hanna-Barbera, using his well-honed quacking to voice Yakky Doodle, who first appeared in Slumber Party Smarty in 1958 and went on to be a recurring character in The Yogi Bear Show, Fred Flintstone and Friends and other Yogi-centric toons.. Weldon’s other cartoon credits include Challenge of the Superfriends, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Little Rascals, Richie Rich, Shirt Tales, Challenge of the GoBots, Popeye and Son, Tom & Jerry Kids Show and, most recently, Disney’s The 7D in 2015. Died July 6, age 99.
Full Obit Here
Nizô Yamamoto. Acclaimed animation art director and background artist whose warmly realistic work can be seen in many Studio Ghibli films. His first projects as art director were the series Attack on Tomorrow and Future Boy Conan, where he worked alongside directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who went on to enlist Yamamoto’s talents as art director on Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies and Princess Mononoke and as background artist on Only Yesterday, Whisper of the Heart and Spirited Away at Ghibli. Yamamoto’s many credits also include projects helmed by Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue), Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and Makoto Shinkai (Yamamoto painted the Weather Shrine for Weathering With You). Died Aug. 19, age 70.
Full Obit Here
— Compiled by Gillian Glover, Mercedes Milligan and Ramin Zahed
Our In Memoriam list includes names of animation and vfx luminaries who died Dec. 2022 thru Dec. 15, 2023. We will update this list online to reflect all of those who passed away in 2023 after our print deadline.
