Will Vinton, 1947–2018
October 6, 2018 9:10 AM Subscribe
Innovative animator Will Vinton, who coined the word "Claymation," has died at the age of 70, following a long illness. Vinton animated popular and toyetic advertising mascots, such as the California Raisins and the Noid, but he was also capable of eerie, dark work, as with the stones in Return to Oz and the appearance of Satan in The Adventures of Mark Twain. Children of the '80s will remember his work vividly for its rich, uncanny, lifelike qualities.
The Adventures of Mark Twain was a big favorite of mine growing up. In a way, I think it might have been one of the stepping stones between Disney/Saturday morning animation and the less mainstream anime and stop-motion stuff I got into in high school and college. I think the work of Laika (which he founded) is carrying on his legacy in a wonderful way.
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posted by Strange Interlude at 9:36 AM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by Strange Interlude at 9:36 AM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
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I have the little California Raisin toys. They sit on a shelf over the sink in my spare bath. I still smile at them every time I see them.
posted by Gadgetenvy at 10:25 AM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have the little California Raisin toys. They sit on a shelf over the sink in my spare bath. I still smile at them every time I see them.
posted by Gadgetenvy at 10:25 AM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Watch Return to Oz if you haven't yet. It's incredibly creepy and weird.
posted by loquacious at 10:35 AM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 10:35 AM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
All Claymation is creepy.
I still will admire the invention of a new form of art and craft involved. But my horror-film-loving self is out with 30 seconds of it.
posted by cobaltnine at 11:05 AM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
I still will admire the invention of a new form of art and craft involved. But my horror-film-loving self is out with 30 seconds of it.
posted by cobaltnine at 11:05 AM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
[dot that looks like a lump of clay and then moves just a little, or did it?]
posted by sammyo at 11:16 AM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 11:16 AM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
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Sigh - his work made me want to be a stop-motion animator when I was a kid - even attempted things with my Lego... (Digital photography would have been so much better)
... the work of Laika (which he founded)
Unfortunately, the real story is a little sadder - he was ousted in a very nasty way.
posted by jkaczor at 1:16 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sigh - his work made me want to be a stop-motion animator when I was a kid - even attempted things with my Lego... (Digital photography would have been so much better)
... the work of Laika (which he founded)
Unfortunately, the real story is a little sadder - he was ousted in a very nasty way.
posted by jkaczor at 1:16 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Vinton previously on the blue. Here's the FPP on Vinton losing his studio, which has a comment from a MeFite who worked there. (The Vinton Studios also did The PJs.)
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posted by Halloween Jack at 1:29 PM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by Halloween Jack at 1:29 PM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:32 PM on October 6, 2018
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:32 PM on October 6, 2018
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posted by Faintdreams at 4:04 PM on October 6, 2018
posted by Faintdreams at 4:04 PM on October 6, 2018
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posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 4:47 PM on October 6, 2018
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 4:47 PM on October 6, 2018
Oh yes, cobaltnine, I totally agree. It is creepy. When I was little, Will Vinton's stuff scared me, but I couldn't look away from it. Stopmotion has this tactile, juddering quality that isn't just animated but somehow animate. One of my most vivid childhood nightmares was about a stopmotion creature destroying a city, and I'm still not sure if it's something I saw on Nickelodeon or not. This spooky quality inspired me to try it for my long-lost high school senior art project, which involved clay viscera.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:17 PM on October 6, 2018
posted by Countess Elena at 6:17 PM on October 6, 2018
Am saddened. Met him at the Portland Creative Conference about two decades back. He was pretty rad.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 6:32 PM on October 6, 2018
posted by chainlinkspiral at 6:32 PM on October 6, 2018
He established stop-motion as a legit art-form capable of capturing mass-media attention, through an advertisement no less! And he was a brilliant film-maker, that Mark Twain movie was bonkers in all the right ways, beginning to end.
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posted by Slap*Happy at 4:35 AM on October 7, 2018
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posted by Slap*Happy at 4:35 AM on October 7, 2018
Oh, no! Claymation Christmas is one of my fondest memories!
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 2:42 PM on October 7, 2018
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 2:42 PM on October 7, 2018
Unfortunately, the real story is a little sadder - he was ousted in a very nasty way.
Oh wow, I just read the article and realized that I'd read about all of this over a decade ago and had forgotten all about it. Not to take away from what Laika has achieved in the past several years, but it sounds like the Knights did him dirty.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:26 AM on October 8, 2018
Oh wow, I just read the article and realized that I'd read about all of this over a decade ago and had forgotten all about it. Not to take away from what Laika has achieved in the past several years, but it sounds like the Knights did him dirty.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:26 AM on October 8, 2018
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Closed Mondays and Mountain Music both made huge impacts on me as a kid.
posted by hanov3r at 8:51 AM on October 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Closed Mondays and Mountain Music both made huge impacts on me as a kid.
posted by hanov3r at 8:51 AM on October 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
closed mondays! checked out from the library as 16mm film and played on a bell and howell projector in my basement!
godspeed to a gifted artist
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posted by hearthpig at 8:44 PM on October 8, 2018
godspeed to a gifted artist
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posted by hearthpig at 8:44 PM on October 8, 2018
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My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
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posted by hippybear at 9:20 AM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]