Gene Moss, co-writer
of the classic '60s cartoon ROGER RAMJET, has died at age 75. REUTERS
reports that Moss died of cancer on July 15, 2002 at the Eisenhower
Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. After a career in
journalism and as an advertising copywriter, Moss and his partner Jim
Thurman teamed to co-write all 156 episodes of ROGER RAMJET, the
short-lived 1965 series that featured Gary Owens as the voice of the
titular hero who, with the American Eagle Squadron, battled Noodles

Ward Kimball, one of Disney's legendary Nine Old Men, passed away on July 8, 2002 from natural causes at Arcadia Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, California. He was 88 years old. Ward Kimball's work at Disney began in 1934, when he joined the animation staff at the age of twenty.

Bill Peet, author and illustrator of 35 children's books and the legendary Disney storyman who is credited with writing 101 DALMATIANS, passed away on Saturday, May 11, 2002 at the age of 87. He died at his home in Studio City due to complications from several long-term illnesses. Peet joined Disney Studios in 1937 at the age of 22. He went to work immediately as an apprentice animator on SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.

Animation World Network is saddened to report that legendary animator/director Chuck Jones passed away on Friday, February 22, 2002 of congestive heart failure. He was 89 years old. Jones’ animation career, which spanned 60 years, took off in 1932 when Ub Iwerks hired him as a cel washer. In 1936 Jones became an animator for the Leon Schlesinger Studio (later sold to Warner Bros.), and in 1938 directed his first film, THE NIGHT WATCHMAN. Heading his own unit, Jones remained at Warner Bros. Animation Dept. until it closed in 1962.

Storyboard artist and former Local 839 IATSE president Tom Yakutis died January 25, 2002 after a long illness. Yakutis began his career at Disney in 1956 and worked for Larry Harmon, Art Scott, UPA, TV Spots, DePatie-Freleng, Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Warner Bros., Marvel and Universal before retiring in 1994. He was elected to several Local 839 Executive Boards in the '60s and '70s, and served as president from 1982 to 1983. There will be a memorial service and traditional Catholic High Mass (in Lithuanian) held February 6, 2002 at 11 am at St. Casimir Church, 2718 St.

Oscar-winning animator Ernest Pintoff died Saturday, January 12, 2002 from complications related to a stroke. He was 70. Pintoff helped to define a new look for animation in the 1950's through his work at UPA and Terrytoons. While at UPA he worked on THE GERALD MCBOING BOING SHOW, the first animated program made especially for network television. Gene Deitch brought him to Terrytoons in 1957, where Pintoff created FLEBUS.

Oscar-winning, independent animator Faith Hubley passed away in New Haven, Connecticut on Friday, December 7, 2001 of cancer. She was 77 years old. Hubley was a native of New York, where she and her husband John established Hubley Studio in 1955. Prior to John’s death in 1977, the Hubleys created 21 animated films together, including the Academy Award winners, HOLE, MOONBIRD and HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS DOUBLE FEATURE. Faith Hubley collected many awards over her long career.

Illustrator and cartoonist Gray Morrow (born Dwight Graydon Morrow, 1934) passed away at his home in central Pennsylvania on Tuesday, November 6, 2001. Although he had suffered with health problems the last few years, his death was unexpected. "Gray was both a participant in and a witness to comics history," said Insight Studios Group's Mark Wheatley, who edited GRAY MORROW VISIONARY, published last summer. "He was a master illustrator who had the respect and friendship of his peers.

After battling a lengthy illness, the legendary Polish animator and artist, Jan Lenica died on October 5, 2001 in Berlin. He was 73 years old. Jan Lenica was born in 1928 in Poznan, Poland. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Warsaw. After leaving Poland, he moved to Paris and later to the U.S., where in 1974 he became a professor at Harvard University in Cambridge. In 1979 Lenica became the head of the animated films department at the University of Kassel in Germany.

After an illustrious career in visual effects spanning more than 30 years, computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel passed away on Sunday, September 23, 2001. A legend in the visual effects community, Robert Abel was responsible for early innovations in computer graphics and special effects. In 1971 he founded Robert Abel and Associates with friend and collaborator Con Pederson. He began his early groundbreaking work in vector graphics and created the first motion-capture system in 1984. Bob later worked extensively in raster graphics that birthed 3D computer graphics as we know them today.