Today the animation world mourns the loss of a great man. Director, animator, teacher and friend Richard Williams. Richard passed away at his home in Bristol on Friday, his family announced. Richard Williams was born on March 19, 1933 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as Richard Edmund Williams. He is known for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), A Lecture on Man (1962) and The Thief and the Cobbler (1993) to name a few. Williams also animated the title sequences for the 1970s comedy classics The Return Of The Pink Panther and The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and worked on Casino Royale.

Photograph of Richard Williams animating a scene from "The Thief and the Cobbler," early 1992
Photograph of Richard Williams animating a scene from “The Thief and the Cobbler,” early 1992

We pay our respects to his legacy and will forever be in his debt for the joy and excitement he brought us. Your films and teachings will live on forever. You will be missed Mr. Williams. Rest in Peace.

Roger Rabbit and Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Roger Rabbit and Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Richard Williams Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/rwanimator
Richard Williams Animation Teachings: http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/
Richard Williams IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0931530/

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The Author

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.

5 Comments

  1. Les Carpenter
    August 17, 2019 at 10:57 am —

    A sad day for animation fans around the world. RIP Mr. Williams.

  2. August 17, 2019 at 11:17 am —

    Felt Sad and Great Loss! 🙁 Rest in Peace Mr. Richard Williams.

  3. August 18, 2019 at 3:03 am —

    My Dad worked on the music on this film, groundbreaking at the time! RIP.

  4. Dennis Tamayo
    August 20, 2019 at 12:16 am —

    Eric Goldberg misses him too.

  5. Naomi
    October 31, 2019 at 8:29 pm —

    Omg, I has the biggest sad right now! The man who wrote the definitive animation book I live by like a personal bible and keep recommending to new traditional animators who are trying to figure it all out! I just wish he could have seen the full resurgence of traditional that all signs point to happening.

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