Richard Williams, ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ Animator, Dead at 86
Written by SOURCE on August 17, 2019
Richard Williams, the celebrated animator behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has died at the of 86.
His family announced he died Friday at his home in Bristol, England, following a battle with cancer.
Williams began his career in the 1950s, working on shorts and features like The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, A Lecture on Man, The Thief and the Cobbler, and the Academy Award-winning A Christmas Carol (1971), which he directed. He is best known, however, for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit starring Bob Hoskins. The 1988 movie became the first live-action/animation hybrid to win multiple Oscars since Mary Poppins in 1964; two out of the three trophies went to Williams.
His last project was the 2015’s Prologue, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film.
During a 2008 interview with the BBC, Williams credited Disney’s Snow White (1937) for sparking his interest in animation.
“I’d seen Snow White when I was 5 years old, so it made a tremendous impression on me,” he said. “I always wanted, when I was a kid, to get to Disney. I was a clever little fellow so I took my drawings and I eventually got in. They did a story on me, and I was in there for two days, which you can imagine what it was like for a kid.”
Williams also worked as a teacher and author. His best-selling book The Animator’s Survival Kit has translated into multiple languages and is considered a must-read for those working in animation.
Williams is survived by his wife, Imogen Sutton, and their two children, as well as four other children from previous marriages.
You can read some of the tributes to Williams below.
