A familiar page from Richard Williams’ pioneering book The Animator’s Survival Kit. There’s not an animator out there today who has not referred to (and benefitted from) the pages of this bible of animation.
There are and have been many excellent artists in the field of animation. And then there are geniuses. What sets a genius apart from other great artists? Incomparable devotion to the craft, absolute mastery of skill and technique, and most importantly, the courage and innovation required to break new ground. The late Richard Williams had all of that and more. The world’s recent loss of one of the last living legends of this art form is a stark reminder to us again that art is a way of life and not just mere occupation because this is where we make our mark. Williams’ commitment to his craft and his community went beyond delivering brilliant moments on screen; he had a huge impact thru his teachings and generosity. His famous book, The Animator’s Survival Kit, is a wealth of invaluable knowledge that could have only been produced by him and him alone. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for inspiring us and showing us what art is and what art could be.
“Good drawing is not copying the surface. It has to do with understanding and expression. We don’t want to learn to draw just to end up being imprisoned in showing off our knowledge of joints and muscles. We want to get the kind of reality that a camera can’t get. We want to accentuate and suppress aspects of the model’s character to make it more vivid.” ― Richard Williams, Animator
Here are a few brief samples of my favorite works of his — The Pink Panther, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and The Thief And The Cobbler — work that was ahead of its time and stands the test of time. In my opinion, they represent the kind of artistry and innovation yet to be duplicated in terms of originality or sheer brilliance in execution. Williams, who had the best of teachers, namely Milt Kahl from Disney and Ken Harris from Warner Bros, most surely lived up to his mentors’ trust and belief in him.
These opening (and closing) titles of The Return of The Pink Panther is a small but great example of what you can do when you’re creative. It’s just a short guy and a ridiculously-colored anthropomorphic panther — there’s no fancy effects, complicated backgrounds or preachy plot lines — but it charms and excites our imagination. For Richard Williams, animating to this iconic Henry Mancini score and doing it alongside his mentor and master animator Ken Harris must’ve been a blast.
In this interview with Richard Williams and director Robert Zemeckis, we get a sense of the absolute brilliance of vision they had in mind when they were making Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This was made over 30 years ago and it’s still stunning. Williams made the impossible possible way ahead of everyone else. The carefully calculated vision and complex concerted effort, as well as daily commitment required must’ve been unfathomable at the time. Aside from Space Jam (1996), it wasn’t until the advent of powerful computers and a long advancement in 3D animation software before we saw anywhere near as successful an implementation of animation with live action.
Considered by many as Richard Williams’ finest work, his ambitious almost 20 year long project The Thief and The Cobbler — which clearly inspired many of the ideas in Disney’s later animated success Aladdin — did things in animation that’s rarely attempted even now. The level of imagination in movement and (abstract) design and sheer magnitude of technical acrobatics (all done with a pencil!) continue to bewilder the mind. The animation is so inventive, playful and beautiful that the graphics alone almost carry the film. (Note: The project was ultimately taken out of Williams’ hands and terribly compromised by the producers/distributors for the re-editing and adding of unplanned voiceovers to the final product).
In this clip, also from The Thief And The Cobbler, we witness the marvel of the character Zig Zag. He’s another a example of Williams’ brilliance of what can be done in terms of pure character work and my hope is that animated filmmaker’s today take serious note of our current lack of innovation, imagination and courage to let the craft develop in ways that’s about more than just fancy polish, pretty lighting and photorealism.
Richard Williams’ work will live on, in our hearts and minds, as well as in our own work whether we know it or not. He has educated all of us and was the foremost example of passion and discipline. In closing, I’d like to extend my deepest condolences to my good friend Alex and the rest of the Williams family for their great loss, a loss felt by all in the global art and film community.
