Richard Williams is someone who until recently I had never heard of. Although I knew some of his work, it was the below video that informed me of who he was and what he achieved. Born in Canada in 1933, Williams built his reputation through a unique approach and complete dedication to animation.
Williams was remarkably humble and was dedicated to keep learning and improving his work. Despite running Europe’s leading animation studio and winning over a hundred international awards by his 40s, Williams took the extraordinary step of “demoting himself” within his own company to learn from the greats. He hired retiring Disney and Warner Bros legends like Ken Harris (the animator behind Bugs Bunny), Milt Kahl (creator of Shere Khan), and Grim Natwick (who animated Snow White).
He created the distinctive opening sequences for the Pink Panther films and won two Academy Awards for his groundbreaking work on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988), a film credited with revitalising animation when the art form had fallen from fashion.
Perhaps his most enduring contribution came after his greatest disappointment. When his passion project “The Thief and the Cobbler” was taken from him after decades of work, Williams channelled his immense knowledge into “The Animator’s Survival Kit” – now considered the definitive teaching resource for animators worldwide.
Williams’ career exemplifies both artistic excellence and the relentless pursuit of mastery. As he once said of his mentors, “You never know what you don’t know” – a philosophy that drove him to continue learning and innovating throughout his eight-decade career.
