Robert F. Enrietto, Jr., former production manager, assistant director, producer and, most recently, administrator of Columbia College Chicago’s “Semester in L.A.” program, died of a heart attack during the holiday break (Dec. 27, 2003) while vacationing in Chicago. He was 62.

Guy Hudson, who worked on the visual effects for such notable projects as ALIEN, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, JURASSIC PARK and the DINOTOPIA TV series, passed away suddenly on Dec. 24, 2003 from a brain hemorrhage. He was 45 years old.

Hudson first came to Northern California in 1987 to work for Chris Walas Inc. Since then he has worked for such facilities as Disney, Henson Prods., Industrial Light & Magic and Western Images.

Wah Ming Chang, an Academy Award-winning animator and artist, died Dec. 22, 2003 in Carmel, California at the age of 86.

Some of his more notable works include a stop-motion animation production of THE THREE BEARS. Chang created posable wooden models of PINOCCHIO and BAMBI so that Disney animators could study body movements. He also contributed to BOZO THE CLOWN, TOM THUMB, THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM and THE SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO, reported Associated Press.

G.A. Menon, chairman of Toonz Animation India (Technopark, Trivandrum, India), died on Dec. 2, 2003 at the age of 72 of a heart attack he suffered on a Los Angeles–bound flight from Singapore.

A native of Kerala, Menon’s career spanned more than 40 years in the global electronics business. He began his career at a statistician in the Thackersey Mooljee Group of textile mills in Bombay. Upon receiving his M.B.A. from Harvard, he held various managerial positions at IBM for 15 years.

TV Industry vet Linda Mancuso, svp, head of programming, ABC Family Channel, died Dec. 7, 2003 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles after a seven-year battle with cancer at the age of 44.

“Linda made so many contributions to our industry. Her love of the creative process, talent and her team, were inspiring to everyone who came in contact with her,” said Anne Sweeney, president, ABC Cable Networks Group and Disney Channel Worldwide. “We will remember her warmth, humor and generosity of spirit forever.”

Stage and voice actor Harry Goz passed away Sept. 6, 2003 at the age of 71 of cancer at a hospital in Manhasset, New York. Goz was the voice of Captain Murphy in the popular Adult Swim series SEALAB 2021, which airs on Cartoon Network

The co-creators of SEALAB 2021, Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, said in a statement, “We are devastated by the loss of our good friend, Harry Goz. Working with him was always sheer joy, and his talent was beyond compare. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, and we shall all miss him dearly.”

Jonathan Brandis, who landed numerous roles as a child actor in television, commercials and film, including THE NEVERENDING STORY 2: THE NEXT CHAPTER, SEAQUEST DSV and was the voice of Mozenrath on DISNEY’S ALADDIN TV series (1993), took his own life at the age of 27 and died Nov. 12, 2003 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Penny Singleton, the voice of Jane Jetson and the actress who brought the popular comic strip character Blondie to life in films, died Nov. 12, 2003 at Sherman Oaks Hospital, two weeks after suffering a stroke, at the age of 95.

Singleton was best known on camera for her role as the wife to bumbling husband, Dagwood Bumstead (played by Arthur Lake) in THE BLONDIE series, which had 28 films from 1938 to 1950. The films were based on the cartoon strip, created by Chic Young in 1930, about the misadventures of a small town family.

Veteran animator and director Carl Urbano died on October 16, 2003 at the age of 94. Starting in 1931, he worked for Winklers, Van Beuren, Harman-Ising, MGM, Hugh Harman, John Sutherland and Hanna-Barbera. He was awarded the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Golden Award in 1981.

In the second half of his career, Urbano, along with Ray Patterson and a few others, formed the directing backbone at the Hanna-Barbera studios for nearly three decades, working on such programs as CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS, POPEYE, SCOOBY-DOO, POPEYE and CASPER specials.

Animation pioneer Jules Engel, who passed away Sept. 6, 2003 at the age of 94, was loved by many and inspired many generations of animators by way of his teaching, art and animation career. ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE will pay tribute to this inspirational man in a collection of thoughts and pictures from those who knew and admired him. We have been receiving many e-mails already from people who were touched by him. Please add your remembrances, anecdotes, express your feelings about him as well as any photos or drawings you would like to share in this online memorial to Jules Engel.