John Canemaker
Animator/animation historian

I got to know Lamb when he was working in NYC. He gave me one of my first animation jobs, a 1975 Sesame Street spot (“The Angry Goat”) that suggested to children that it is sometimes okay to express anger. He designed and directed it. I animated it and learned a hell of a lot working with him, especially his professional and meticulous approach to the staging of the action. I remember he always talked about “the theater of the piece” meaning the best way to present the imagery and the content of the film to the audience for maximum impact.

We worked in his sunny two-bedroom apartment on NY’s upper west side near Lincoln Center. When Derek was about to move to Canada to take the NFB job, he told me the apartment was available. I got it and my partner and I have lived there for 30 years.

There isn’t a day that I’m not reminded of Derek and his impact on my professional and personal life. He was a fine and creative gentleman, and very encouraging and inspiring to newcomers.

Caroline Leaf
Oscar-nominated director

I was a former student of his from Harvard. Derek was my animation teacher at Harvard long ago, and later one of my producers at the Film Board in Montreal. What was significant about Derek’s teaching was his energy and enthusiasm, which made things happen. He wasn’t a teacher in the ordinary sense of the word, imparting information or know how or being a role model. He created an environment that buzzed. He made it exciting to be active and try out new things. This was true when he was a producer at the National Film Board of Canada as well. And it was true when you just went out to have a coffee with him... somewhere I have a collection of napkins with Derek’s drawings, ideas flying about whatever we were discussing, usually in the form of a funny comment and drawing. He created a good environment to be your best self.

John Weldon
Oscar-winning animation director

Derek was my boss for almost five years, in the seventies. He ran the NFB animation studio in Montreal during a period of huge productivity and artistic heights. He was a strange sort of boss; he had too much fun, and, as a consequence, so did the rest of us. He loved anecdotes, jokes and outright pranks. On one occasion he left a memo, where he knew I would see it. It approved my transfer to cold, faraway Edmonton. I stewed for hours before I ran into him. He was chuckling fiendishly, and I knew I’d been had.

Derek and I ran into each other intermittently over the years. We were both people who could laugh uproariously and when we were together we usually did. I’ll miss him a lot.

Drawing by Derek from 1980s called “Sheared Lamb.” Courtesy of Janet Perlman.

Janet Perlman
Animator

Derek was a master storyteller. He was a writer who thought visually — he could draw as well as write, and so his talents were ideal for animation. He knew instinctively how to tell a story and play out the humor to best effect. He also had a keen eye for talent, and gathered the best people around him, getting them to produce their best work. And so, on a professional level, not only was it a privilege to work with Derek, but it was also a privilege to work with all the talented people he brought around him.”

Derek could address some of the most difficult issues in our world with humor and clarity. In his work with Street Kids International and with Unicef, he addressed the problem of AIDS and substance abuse in street children around the world. I don’t think this work of his was fully appreciated or understood in North America. Almost all animation is made for the richest children in the world, and here he was making films for the poorest children in the world.

A week before he died I spoke with him. He was still enthusiastic about various film and music projects despite being very weak.” Janet later wrote that Derek’s wife Tracie Smart was at his side when he died and that a memorial in Montreal is being planned. He was 69.

David Fine
Co-creator of Bob & Margaret

When I was just 17, Derek invited me to work at the NFB in Montreal where I met so many fantastic artists who shaped and influenced my career forever. For me, Derek’s stewardship of the NFB’s illustrious animation department was the most fertile and most exciting in its history. He was a true creative producer in the best sense. A real inspiring person with a passion for creativity and artistry and, above all else, great storytelling.

We stayed in touch periodically over the years. Derek gave us valued feedback on our short film, Bob’s Birthday. He suggested that my partner, Alison, should do the voice of Margaret and that was one of those little nubs of advice that meant so much.

I’m sure there are so many out there who would attest to his inspiration and his influence. I count myself amongst them, but most importantly, I remember Derek as one of the nicest people you could want to know and I can still hear his gentle laugh in my head when I think of him.

David Ehrlich
Animation Producer

Derek was the guiding spirit behind so many of the greatest works produced at the NFB, he pioneered the animation program at Harvard which brought forth Caroline Leaf and Eli Noyes, and he continued to work, himself, on the kinds of films that opened the developing world to animation. Even with all this behind him, I found him always modest and gracious to young beginning animators. This good man will be greatly missed.