In Memoriam: Remembering The Animation Figures Who Died In 2022
Director of Heavy Metal an the “Liverpool” sequence of Yellow Submarine
Legendary art director and a cornerstone of Pixar’s visual style
Gil Alkabetz
Lead character technical director on Kamp Koral
Jules Bass
Many of these artists and craftspeople, who laid the foundation on which so many artists work today, are unknown or underappreciated, a fact that became clear as we researched their lives for these stories. That’s perhaps inevitable in an art form that often requires dozens – or even hundreds – of people to create just a few minutes of animation. These obituaries are therefore one small way to help set the record straight and give these people the due they deserve.
Carl Bell
Designer of timeless Rankin/Bass holiday special characters; one of Mad magazine’s “usual gang of idiots”
Anne D. Bernstein
Founder of Oscar-winning vfx company Pixomondo
Claudio Biern Boyd
BAFTA-winning co-founder of vfx/animation studio Factory Fifteen
Borivoj Dovniković-Bordo
Longtime Batman voice actor
Raymond Briggs
Nuclear physicist and Blue Sky Studios co-founder
Mike Camarillo
Writer on MTV’s Daria and Downtown
Paul Coker Jr.
Icon of the golden age of Czech puppet animation
Kevin Conroy
2022 saw the animation community lose key figures whose influence will live on long after their passing. As we do each year, we’ve collected the tributes and obituaries we published over the last 12 months to honor those who are no longer with us.
Ralph Eggleston
Voice actor for Akira, Leisure Suit Larry, and Pixar films
Jonathan Gales
Veteran animator and director of Cloud
Lina Gagnon
A founding father of computer art and animation
Gilbert Gottfried
Colombian stop motion Pioneer
Norma Swank-Haviland
Iconic Croatian filmmaker and part of the Zagreb school of animation
Dylan Hoffman
School House Rock! and Drawing Power co-creator
Ken Knowlton
Original voice of Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Shichiro Kobayashi
Industry artist who worked on The Powerpuff Girls, The Road to El Dorado, and The Simpsons
John Korty
Prolific art director of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, Berserk
Thilo Kuther
Illustrator and cartoonist; co-creator of Little Nicholas
Fernando Laverde
Aladdin and Cyberchase voice actor
Tony Mines
Canadian animator and champion of the art form
George R. Newall
Celebrated Israeli filmmaker behind shorts like Rubicon and Morir De Amor
Manabu Ohashi
Canadian animator and educator who worked on The Man Who Planted Trees
Everett Peck
Pioneer of “brickfilm” animation technique
Vlasta Pospíšilová
Author and illustrator of The Snowman, When the Wind Blows
Gerald Potterton
We’ve linked through to our coverage below. In putting together this collection, we were impressed by the incredible diversity of backgrounds for many of these influential figures. We lost artists, technicians, writers, and studio founders from around the world and from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, each of whom made incredible impacts on the industry and art form. Many lived and worked in multiple countries throughout their career, demonstrating the universal appeal of the animation art form.
Jan Rabson
Yu-Gi-Oh! creator
Peter Robbins
Disney ink-&-paint artist and early Chip voice actor
Jan Rogowski
Co-founder of Rankin/Bass Productions
Jean-Jacques Sempé
Duckman and Squirrel Boy creator; award-winning illustrator; educator
Kazuki Takahashi
Renegade indie filmmaker; Twice Upon A Time and Sesame Street director
Eugene Troubetzkoy
Spanish creator of David The Gnome, Dogtanian
