Will Vinton, Oscar-Winning Legend of Claymation, Dies at 70

Hollywood Reporter ^ | 10/4/18 | Pete Levin

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Will Vinton, the Oscar-winning visionary with the distinctive waxed mustache who coined the term "Claymation" and founded the studio that created the California Raisins, has died. He was 70.

Vinton died Thursday after a 12-year battle with multiple myeloma, his children Billy, Jesse and Alex announced in a Facebook post.

"He brightened any room with his signature mustache and continued to make jokes and laugh until the very end," they wrote. "His work will live on in animation history and will continue to inspire creative thinkers and makers."

The Oregon native saw himself as a filmmaker first and an animator second. With an eye for movement and design, he was a natural when it came to editing and camera work as well.

But one of Vinton's greatest talents was being able to spot talent and bring together groups of energized artists. (A young James Mangold was a writer on Vinton's Claymation Easter special in 1992. And Gus Van Sant shot reference footage for the animators to study poses and expressions of human actors.)

Vinton won his Oscar (shared with Bob Gardiner) in 1975 for the animated short film Closed Mondays. He later was nominated for other animated shorts Rip Van Winkle (1978), The Creation (1981) and The Great Cognito (1983) and for his visual effects work on Walter Murch's Return to Oz (1985).

He also won outstanding animated program Primetime Emmys for A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987) and for his Easter special and was nominated three other times.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I've been a huge fan of claymation for years, probably starting with "The California Rasins" which was created by the California Raisin Advisory Board and first shown June 19, 1986. That commercial series is one of the most genius ads ever produced and it lasted TEN years. (Funny personal aside - in my marketing classes in 1980, we had to create a marketing campaign for PRUNES. Not one of us came up with a campaign concept like The California Raisins.)

The California Raisins released four studio albums on Priority Records between 1987 and 1988, and their signature song, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," landed on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the Raisins would continue to make their strongest impression through animated endeavors, and the characters proved popular enough that they were used to endorse Post's Raisin Bran cereal.

On November 4, 1988, CBS aired a primetime special entitled Meet the Raisins!. The musical mockumentary was again created by Vinton Studios and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Mr. Vinton probably never received the acclaim he deserved for creating that wonderful ad series.

The Brits did a fantastic job of claymation with two of my favorites, "Wallace and Gromit" and "Shaun the Sheep."

RIP, Mr. Vinton...you brought joy to millions of people!

Related:
  History of the California Raisins
  The California Raisins: How A Bunch of Dried Grapes Became A Hit Band

[CharlesOConnell]

Oscar Winning Short "Closed Mondays"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoBmlbQApJE

[lee martell]

12 years is a long time to live with Myeloma, a blood cancer.
It sounds as though he had a full life.
I do recall the raisin ad campaign. I’m not familiar with his other efforts.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[COBOL2Java]

I loved Will Vinton's 1985 film "The Adventures of Mark Twain"

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks...I hadn’t seen that before. The computer / robot part was amazing.

[CharlesOConnell]

The History of Will Vinton - Animation Lookback: The Best of Stop Motion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfqVk8fiy1o

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

This makes it sound as if Will Vinton invented Claymation. I still remember various claymations from before this time, many by George Pal.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

You are correct. I think Vinton was the breakthrough artist with The California Raisins. He popularized the genre.

[Fhios]

As Gumby wept, David and goliath looked for the meaning of life through their lutheran church. “But Davie ......

Menwhile Mr Bill was heard lamenting with his famous “Oooooo Noooooo”.

[Jack Hammer]

Jack Hammer LOVED Gumby back in the day...

[Henchster]

"..coined the term "Claymation"...

Ahhh, "coined" - but not invented. I'm sure there were others even earlier, bu Art Clokey of "Gumby and Pokey" fame comes to mind immediately.

[dfwgator]

John Fogerty - Vanz Can’t Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjpAYfCFmJ4

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Very nicely played!!

I totally forgot about those favorites. I was a huge fan of “Gumby” and “Davey and Goliath” when I was little.

I just read on Wiki that “Davey and Goliath” was produced first by the United Lutheran Church in America and later by the Lutheran Church in America. First I’ve heard of that.

[CivilWarBrewing]

The entire point of Davey & Goliath was to teach Christian morals and values to children. The big Christian Cross at the beginning and end of the program that served as part of the church's logo was quite prominent. Note the name 'Davey & Goliath' as well.

I watched this show every day before school when I was a kid.

[Army Air Corps]

That was a good flick.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I knew about the Christian morals in the show. Hard to miss that even as a little kid. The name “Dave and Goliath” was rather obvious, too. I didn’t know it was produced by the Lutheran Church.

[fella]

Bump

[Mister Da]

“Oh no, Mr. Bill!”

[Lockbar]

That would be a fun job, until all clay starts to look a-like.