Richard Williams

The son of commercial artists, 'Richard Williams' (qv) studied at the Ontario College of Art and first worked in animation for Disney Studios in Burbank. His tenure there had a strong influence on his later work but proved somewhat stifling to his own creative flair. In 1955, aged 22, Williams moved to England and joined fellow Canadian 'George Dunning' (qv)'s company T.V. Cartoons Ltd., working primarily on television commercials. At the same time, Williams created his first animated short feature, _The Little Island (1958)_ (qv), which won him the 1959 BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film. Though a critical success it received a mixed response at the box office. Consequently, his next venture was aimed at the mainstream market. _Love Me, Love Me, Love Me (1962)_ (qv) turned out to be a commercial success and generated enough revenue for Williams to set up his own animation studio. In addition to producing commercials, Williams went on to create memorable title sequences for motion pictures, including _What's New Pussycat (1965)_ (qv), _The Liquidator (1965)_ (qv), _The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966)_ (qv), _The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)_ (qv) and _The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)_ (qv). He also produced several animated features, notably _A Christmas Carol (1971)_ (qv) and _The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)_ (qv). The latter project underwent numerous rewrites and re-edits and took 31 years to complete. In 1995, it was eventually released by Miramax in the U.S. as Arabian Knight.Possibly the high point of his career was as animation director on _Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)_ (qv), for which Williams won two Academy 'Awards' (qv): one for Best Visual Effects and the other for animation direction and (CGI) creation of cartoon characters. An occasional voice-over actor, he also provided the voice for the 'Tex Avery' (qv) character Droopy Dog. In 2001, Williams published a text book, entitled The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators.::I.S.Mowis