Friday, October 05, 2018

Animation loses Claymation king Will Vinton

I have to admit, I wasn't a huge Will Vinton fan, but I was struck by some of his work. "Closed Mondays" was the first Vinton film I ever saw that didn't revolve around singing raisins, or other commercial characters.
 There were some various TV specials, and the series I remember was the "PJ's" created by Eddie Murphy. Vinton was listed as Executive Producer on a few episodes.

 (original copyright Touchstone Television)

(Street Poster I found years ago in L.A. Haven't seen anything else like it.)

I was saddened to learn later that his studio was bought out by Phil Knight of Nike shoes, and Vinton was forced out. Vinton Studios eventually became Laika.

 https://priceonomics.com/how-the-father-of-claymation-lost-his-company/


 
Correction: Vinton Studios were taken over by Travis Knight after they continued to lose money after his initial investment.

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