Bob Lambert (c. 1957 – September 7, 2012) was an American media executive with

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

for more than twenty-five years. Lambert is widely credited with championing the transition to

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

( CGI) within Disney and the larger

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

. Lambert was born and raised in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

. He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. Lambert, who was with

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

at the time, developed the plan to transition Disney animated film production from hand-drawn,

cel animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there was a shif ...

with CGI. Along with leaders at

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

, Lambert spearheaded the development of Disney's

Computer Animation Production System The Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) was a proprietary collection of software, scanning camera systems, servers, networked computer workstations, and custom desks developed by Disney and Pixar in the late 1980s. Although outmoded by the ...

(CAPS), which earned an

Academy Award for Technical Achievement The Technical Achievement Award is one of three Scientific and Technical Awards given from time to time by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (The other two awards are the Scientific and Engineering Award and the Academy Award of M ...

in 1992. In addition to his work with Disney, Lambert founded and chaired

Digital Cinema Initiatives Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) is a consortium of major motion picture studios, formed to establish specifications for a common systems architecture for digital cinema systems. The organization was formed in March 2002 by Metro-Goldwyn- ...

(DCI), a consortium encompassing six major film studios. Under Lambert, DCI aided movie theaters' transition to digital exhibition, including

digital cinema Digital cinema is the digital technology used within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to mo ...

. DCI established industry quality guidelines for theaters for digital content and film projection. Lambert held more than thirty

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s in media technologies. He was honored as a digital industry pioneer by ShoWest, which is now known as

CinemaCon Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the operators of worldwide major theater chains are members, as are ...

. In 2013,

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

Entertainment Technology Center established the annual Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award, and Chuck Dages (former executive vice president of emerging technologies at

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

) was the first recipient. Bob Lambert died at his home in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, on September 7, 2012, at the age of 55. He was survived by his wife, Cheryl Murphy; his brother Paul Lambert; and nephew Nathaniel Lambert.

References

2012 deaths Walt Disney Animation Studios people American film studio executives Virginia Tech alumni People from Glendale, California People from Roanoke, Virginia 1950s births Disney executives 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from California Businesspeople from Virginia {{Disney-stub