Harold Jackson Whitaker (5 June 1920 – 26 December 2013) was a British

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

, whose credits included ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'' in 1954 and '' Heavy Metal'' in 1981. He first worked for Anson Dyer, before spending thirty years as an animator for Halas and Batchelor. He made a comic strip adaptation of ''Animal Farm'' in 1954. Whitaker was born on 5 June 1920 in Cottingham, East Yorkshire. He was raised in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and studied drawing at Macclesfield art school. In 1981, Whitaker published a book, ''Timing for Animation''. ''Timing for Animation'' was republished in 2002 to include an introduction written by

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...

, the President of Pixar Studios. Whitaker later worked as an animator and storyboard artist on several films such as '' The Magic Voyage'', '' Stowaways on the Ark'', '' The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'', ''Doctor in the Sky'', '' When the Wind Blows'', ' and the television series '' The Dreamstone'' and '' Poddington Peas''. Whitaker died on 26 December 2013 at the age of 93.

References

External links

*https://www.lambiek.net/artists/w/whitaker_harold.htm *
BBC Gloucestershire article about Halas & Batchelor animator Harold Whitaker
1920 births 2013 deaths British animators British comics artists British storyboard artists People from Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire {{animator-stub