A few days before his death, Pierre invited us to dinner in a restaurant situated not far from his village of Puget on the Durance. Mireille, his wife, Philippe Hervieux and I never doubted that he had gotten us there to deliver one of his last messages of friendship. Over the course of this dinner, the laughter and wine flowed, Pierre threw himself into one of his favorite sports, which consisted of merrily pulling my leg to the greatest delight of the other guests. Then, the tone got serious and Pierre said to us, speaking of the apprentices, "Take good care of them. I've seen in their sparkling eyes how much they love this profession..." Finally, during dessert, he told us the dream of his life: to create a space that would be like the Villa Medicis for Animation, where all filmmakers could come and shoot their films without any constraints, financial or aesthetic. Then he took us home to his house, we drank a glass for friendship, and then with a certain pride he showed us his new office with a superb bay window that opens on this Provence which he loved so much. And there, once again, he spoke of unheard projects with an enthusiasm and a force that wouldn't let us suppose that this would be the last time he would flash his boyish smile at us. Of course, we all knew that recently Pierre had serious medical problems, but his courage and his discretion about his private life didn't have the time to tell us that his health wouldn't permit him to animate anymore, and that he was about to make us orphans, that devil of a man...

Jean-Louis Bompoint
Director and Musician

Translated from French by William Moritz and Nancy Gilmour.

Drawing by the students from his last class. Courtesy of Jean-Louis Bompoint.