Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Apr 15, 2008, 12:19 AM
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Canadian animator, director Andy Knight dead at 46
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Veteran animator and director Andy Knight, the co-founder of Toronto-based animation studio Red Rover, died Thursday evening after suffering a massive stroke while on a trip to France. He was 46.
Knight had a long animation career in Europe and Canada. According to former colleague Nancy Beiman, he was on the verge of signing contracts in France with a variety of producers for a number of original productions that he had created.
Sometimes credited as Andrew Knight or Andrew D. Knight, he was a producer, storyboard artist and layout man as well.
He was long associated with Walt Disney Studios. In 1998, he was nominated for an Annie for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production for the direct-to-video Beauty And The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. His work on the feature (he was also a storyboard artist, character designer and assistant animator of "Belle") led to a win at the World Animation Celebration that year for Best Director of Home Video.
For Disney, Knight was the lead assistant in Toronto for the direct-to-video Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World (1998). He was an assistant animator on the 1999 TV special Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You, the 1999 video Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas (segments "A Very Goofy Christmas" and "Mickey & Minnie's Gift of the Magi"), the video The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea (2000) and the 2002 theatrical sequel Return To Never Land.
In 1998, Knight shared a nomination for a Gemini Award (the Canadian equivalent of an Emmy) for Best Animated Program or Series in connection with his work as executive producer of the Nelvana show Ned's Newt.
Plumber, the first short produced by Red Rover Studios, earned Knight a shared BAFTA Film Award nomination in 2004 for Best Short Animation. He was both the director and writer of the five-minute film, which had a crew of approximately 28 and took six months to produce.
Launching his career as an animator at Gaumont in Paris, Knight worked on many feature films, TV shows and commercials across Europe and the United States. His abilities were quickly noticed, and he was asked to join passion pictures in London as creative director in 1989.
In 1984, Knight and partner Linzi -- a live-action commercial director -- founded Red Rover, a boutique-style animation studio. With roots in 2D animation, Red Rover expanded in becoming a leading influence in 3D animation and mind-altering VFX work.
"Andy's talents are best recognized for his expressive creative character design and innovative eye for sleek directions in visual storytelling," said his studio's Web site, www.redrover.net. "As an internationally recognized creative director, Andy inspires creative ingenuity while utilizing his technical savvy to drive his team towards crafting brilliant concept to completion animation and VFX for clients worldwide."
On TV, he was a storyboard artist for Inspector Gadget (1983-84), series storyboard artist for Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats (1984) and animation supervisor for A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988). He directed several episodes of Get Ed (2005).
He was an animator and layout artist on the 1984 TV special The Get-Along Gang, layout artist on Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name (1984), and storyboard artist on The Teddy Bears' Picnic (1989).
In theatrical films, he was a storyboard artist on Asterix Versus Caesar (1985), Asterix in Britain (1986) and Asterix in America (1994), as well as the 1996 MGM sequel All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. For Red Rover Studios, he was animation director on DreamWorks' Joseph: King Of Dreams (2000).
Supervising animator on the otherwise live-action Tank Girl (1995), he was an animator on the international co-production P3K: Pinocchio 3000 (2004).
"I worked with Andy at [German studio] Hahnfilm in 1988 on Werner - Beinhart! and Benjamin Blümchen," recalled Beiman. "I was amazed at how fast this young Canadian artist could turn out background and character layouts -- it was almost as if he was animating."
"I worked at Andy’s studio, when we worked on episodes of Spumco's Ripping Friends," artist Rich Dannys said on the Cartoon Brew site.
"I sat next to Andy. He could be a little shy and quiet, which sometimes got confused with aloof and arrogant," Dannys said. "But he was an unbelievable artist. And I really respected him a lot. For the most part, (he) enjoyed working right in amongst the rest of us."
"My family and I are shocked and terribly saddened by the premature passing of Andy Knight," said Emmy-winning National Film Board of Canada director Kaj Pindal. "I remember him as a student at Sheridan and has since followed his remarkable career."
Recalled Ian Hastings, a colleague at Red Rover. "His confidence and creative talent was truly inspiring. His warm, generous quick-witted and fun-loving personality is what I'll miss the most, though.
"I keep expecting him to come around the corner and head over to my desk to check things out. His presence and energy in the studio was very strong, and it's going to take a long time to get used to him not being there."
Andy Knight is survived by his wife Linzi and their three children.
A Facebook page has been set up to collect memories of Knight from his friends and family.
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Apr 15, 2008, 12:21 AM)
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