Peter Orton, founder and chairman of HIT Ent., whose properties include BOB THE BUILDER and THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE, has died following a long battle with throat cancer, reports THIS IS WILTSHIRE and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. He was 64.

Ken Southworth, an industry veteran who animated at Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Walter Lantz, MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Clokey Prods. and Filmation, has died after suffering several strokes on Dec. 5th at his home in Anaheim. He was 89.

Southworth was born in Lancashire, England, but moved to the U.S. after receiving a scholarship to attend the Chicago Art Institute. In 1944, he started work at Disney. His credits include ALICE IN WONDERLAND, CINDERELLA and SLEEPY HOLLOW.

Cartoon Network SVP of Programming and Scheduling, Jennifer Davidson, unexpectedly died early Saturday morning, Dec. 1, 2007. The 38-year-old wife and mother died of a sudden illness. She is survived by her husband, John Davidson, and three young children, Mitchell (7), Oliver (5) and Harper (2).

In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a 30-year-old man died of exhaustion following a three-day Internet gaming marathon, the state media reported. Paramedics, after they were called to a cyber cafe after the man fainted, were unable to revive him. No mention was made of the game the man was playing. After the incident, nearly 100 frightened gamers left the cyber cafe.

China has one of the biggest markets for online gaming. Each year, clinics across the country treat children and teenagers for "Internet addiction."

A man shot by police in Vancouver was identified by friends as animator Paul Boyd, according to the CBC. On Monday, Aug. 13, 2007, Vancouver police responded to a 911 call at Granville and 16th Ave., where Boyd was shot after allegedly threatening officers with a potentially lethal weapon.

Aleksandr Tatarskiy, co-founder of Moscow-based Pilot Studio, passed away in his sleep of an apparent stroke over the weekend of July 21, 2007. He was 57 years old.

James Street, a voice actor for DIC's STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE series since 2004, died on July 4, 2007, after suffering injuries in a skateboarding accident close to home in Thousand Oaks, California, reports THE BIG CARTOON DATABASE. He was 13 years old.

Street's most recent voice work could be heard on TV as Pepito in MADELINE and on home video as Huckleberry Pie in STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: BERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL. Street took over the role of Huckleberry in 2004's STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: ADVENTURES ON ICE CREAM ISLAND.

David Hilberman, one of the co-founders of UPA, passed away on July 5, 2007, at Stanford Hospital in Stanford, California, due to complications from an infection, reports his son Mark. He was 96 years old.

Will Schaefer, the composer on many Hanna-Barbara series, such as THE FLINTSTONES, THE YOGI BEAR SHOW and SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU!, passed away from cancer on Saturday, June 30, 2007, in Palm Desert, California. He was 78 years old.

Schaefer also composed music for Walt Disney Studios, working on TV shows like THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY and the 1970 feature, THE ARISTOCATS, which he teamed with George Bruns.

Veteran Disney animator/filmmaker Art Stevens, who co-produced and co-directed THE FOX AND THE HOUND, and co-directed THE RESCUERS during his illustrious 44-year career at the Disney studio, passed away at the age of 92 on May 22, 2007, at his home in Studio City, California, after suffering a heart attack in his rose garden.