For those who may not know, Toronto native Richard Williams, who passed away in August 2019 at the age of 86, is a legend in the world of animation, and indeed cinema as a whole.
Williams is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking work on the 1988 Robert Zemeckis film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which seamlessly blended live-action and animation in a manner that had never before been seen at the time. In fact, Williams’ work was so significant for that period that he not only shared the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1989, but was also the sole recipient of the ceremony’s Special Achievement Award, which has only been conferred three times since then.
This was not the first time the Academy recognised Williams’ talents either, as he had previously won Best Animated Short Film in 1972 for his direction on the made-for-television rendition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Williams’ career in animation spanned seven decades, beginning with the BAFTA-winning animated short The Little Island in 1958. From there, Williams would design numerous commercials, most famously for Guinness, as well as film title sequences that includes two entries in Blake Edwards’ Pink Panther film series.
Despite his copious achievements, perhaps Williams’ greatest artistic accomplishment was an audacious animated feature that he was never able to finish on his own terms. The Thief and the Cobbler was initially conceived by Williams in the 1960s, which began a 31-year production cycle from the beginning of production in 1964 to its release in 1995, a world record that stands to this very day. Williams’ dedication to his vision was painstaking, with one particularly famous scene involving the film’s villain shuffling a deck of cards taking years to complete. It was only with the promise of helping to distribute The Thief and the Cobbler that Williams agreed to work with Disney on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as he possessed a palpable contempt for the Mouse House’s bureaucratic practices.
What followed next is a complicated series of events that led to The Thief and the Cobbler being stripped from Williams before he could finish it, resulting in two different bastardised versions called The Princess and the Cobbler and Arabian Knights. Neither version was particularly well-received, and the film understandably became a sensitive subject for Williams.
Nonetheless, recognition of his immense work on the project prevails to this very day. His vision for the Thief and the Cobbler, and animation as a whole, is best distilled in a comment he made many decades ago: “I want to make animation grow up. It doesn’t always have to be Mickey Mouse, beaded up movement and slapstick humour. Animation ought to be able to carry serious content. It should be able to move slowly, and with dignity. And it can be beautiful and lyrical.” The creative genius that he was, Williams stayed true to his words to the very end, with his final film, the Academy Award-nominated short Prologue, being an emotional, unflinchingly brutal dissection of the follies of war that showcased the animation style he had been refining nearly his entire life.
In the final decades of his career, Williams published a how-to book called The Animator’s Survival Kit, which 19-years on is still considered an essential read for any aspiring animators, while in 2008 he began working at Aardman Animations, best known for producing the likes of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.
Noted for his intense work ethic and signature technique of dimensional panning, which imparted in his work a distinct sense of freedom that was matched only by his seemingly boundless creativity, Williams was truly a singular talent who will be missed.
For those who may not know, Toronto native Richard Williams, who passed away in August 2019 at the age of 86, is a legend in the world of animation, and indeed cinema as a whole.
Williams is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking work on the 1988 Robert Zemeckis film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which seamlessly blended live-action and animation in a manner that had never before been seen at the time. In fact, Williams’ work was so significant for that period that he not only shared the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1989, but was also the sole recipient of the ceremony’s Special Achievement Award, which has only been conferred three times since then.
This was not the first time the Academy recognised Williams’ talents either, as he had previously won Best Animated Short Film in 1972 for his direction on the made-for-television rendition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Williams’ career in animation spanned seven decades, beginning with the BAFTA-winning animated short The Little Island in 1958. From there, Williams would design numerous commercials, most famously for Guinness, as well as film title sequences that includes two entries in Blake Edwards’ Pink Panther film series.
Despite his copious achievements, perhaps Williams’ greatest artistic accomplishment was an audacious animated feature that he was never able to finish on his own terms. The Thief and the Cobbler was initially conceived by Williams in the 1960s, which began a 31-year production cycle from the beginning of production in 1964 to its release in 1995, a world record that stands to this very day. Williams’ dedication to his vision was painstaking, with one particularly famous scene involving the film’s villain shuffling a deck of cards taking years to complete. It was only with the promise of helping to distribute The Thief and the Cobbler that Williams agreed to work with Disney on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as he possessed a palpable contempt for the Mouse House’s bureaucratic practices.
What followed next is a complicated series of events that led to The Thief and the Cobbler being stripped from Williams before he could finish it, resulting in two different bastardised versions called The Princess and the Cobbler and Arabian Knights. Neither version was particularly well-received, and the film understandably became a sensitive subject for Williams.
Nonetheless, recognition of his immense work on the project prevails to this very day. His vision for the Thief and the Cobbler, and animation as a whole, is best distilled in a comment he made many decades ago: “I want to make animation grow up. It doesn’t always have to be Mickey Mouse, beaded up movement and slapstick humour. Animation ought to be able to carry serious content. It should be able to move slowly, and with dignity. And it can be beautiful and lyrical.” The creative genius that he was, Williams stayed true to his words to the very end, with his final film, the Academy Award-nominated short Prologue, being an emotional, unflinchingly brutal dissection of the follies of war that showcased the animation style he had been refining nearly his entire life.
In the final decades of his career, Williams published a how-to book called The Animator’s Survival Kit, which 19-years on is still considered an essential read for any aspiring animators, while in 2008 he began working at Aardman Animations, best known for producing the likes of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.
Noted for his intense work ethic and signature technique of dimensional panning, which imparted in his work a distinct sense of freedom that was matched only by his seemingly boundless creativity, Williams was truly a singular talent who will be missed.
Image Courtesy of Alexander Williams (Asteuartw) on Wikimedia Commons.