“He gave a lot to culture without asking anything, just for free, just because it was worth it.”

John Canemaker and Giannalberto Bendazzi both cite William Mortiz as an important film historian and writer. All photos courtesy of William Moritz, unless otherwise noted.

Film historian, professor and author Dr. William Moritz has spent his lifetime in animation. Although his significant contributions are not easily summarized, as he would say, the external facts are simple enough.

Moritz is a world-renowned expert on animation, experimental film and visual music, and has authored more than100 articles, chapters and program notes. His upcoming definitive biography of Oskar Fischinger is the culmination of more than 30 years’ work with the Fischinger Estate. Moritz has curated dozens of film shows, preserved historical animation and amassed an impressive research collection, as well as lectured at film festivals, conferences and institutions worldwide. He’s taught film and animation for almost 30 years, and is teaching at CalArts. He was past president of the Society for Animation Studies, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to visual music by the Royal Academy of the Netherlands in 1993.

"Bill Moritz is one of our greatest film historians and writers. His dedication to preserving the work and documenting the lives of film artists — such as Oskar Fischinger, James Whitney, Berthold Bartosch, Hans Fischerkoesen, among others — is an inspiration to his colleagues…. His clear, compassionate, factually-accurate writing has an added twinkle of sly humor that always make his essays a delight to read." (John Canemaker, 2003).

Prelude
Bill Moritz was born in 1941, and raised in desert towns of California and Arizona. His father Edward was well-read, fluent in several languages, loved opera, and had been a pianist in Germany. Edward had traveled throughout Europe, emigrating from Germany to Canada in 1929, then to the U.S. several years later. Bill listened to radio broadcasts of opera as a child, while studying his father’s librettos in several languages. Bill and his father took the train to Los Angeles or Phoenix to see operas (Edward worked for the Santa Fe Railroad, so they could take the train for free). Bill also went to the movies often with his older brother. He remembers,

I saw a lot of animation in movie theatres, while growing up (there was no television then), like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker cartoons, character animation made by studios. This was a vital part of everyday life. The big transformation for me was seeing interesting animation — the UPA cartoons in particular were really a completely different change. I saw things that were actually art, and not just cartoons.

In 1958, as a student at USC’s School of Cinema, Bill recalls, “I saw my first Fischinger film, and it popped all my buttons!” Moritz earned his Ph.D. at USC in Comparative Literature, with a minor in Cinema. He began teaching at Occidental College in 1965, and continued teaching film and humanities at institutions including Otis Art Institute, Pitzer College, American University Center (Calcutta, India), UCLA, Art Center College of Design, and CalArts. He also worked at the Creative Film Society distributing animation, and at radio station KPFK as a film and music critic. He promoted experimental film and animation through venues like Los Angeles Filmmaker’s Cooperative, Theatre Vanguard and Los Angeles Film Oasis; and was a member of the Visual Music Alliance in the '80s. In his spare time, he toured giving poetry readings. Two of his plays were produced, and his numerous poems were published.