Mark Gustafson (September 19, 1959 – February 1, 2024) was an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing ''

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio ''Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio'' is a 2022 stop-motion animated dark fantasy musical film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, from a story by Matthew Robbins and del Toro, and a screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale. It ...

'' (2022), which won Best Animated Feature at the

95th Academy Awards The 95th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

Life and career

Gustafson began his

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animation career at

Will Vinton Studios William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his wor ...

in the 1980s, working on projects including ''

A Claymation Christmas Celebration Will Vinton's ''Claymation Christmas Celebration'' is an animated Christmas television special originally broadcast on the American CBS TV network on December 21, 1987. The special featured stop motion clay animation and was produced and dire ...

'', '' Meet the Raisins!'', and ''

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult stop motion-animated black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins for Fox. It portrays life in an urban public housing project. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and it was produced by ...

''. He was the animation director of '' Fantastic Mr. Fox''. Gustafson died of a heart attack on February 1, 2024, at the age of 64.

Accolades

He won Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards for co-directing ''Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio'', sharing the award with

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

, Gary Ungar, and

Alex Bulkley Alex Bulkley is an American film and television producer and director. He is the co-founder of the animation studio ShadowMachine. He also directed '' The Zodiac'' (2005), a psychological thriller he co-wrote with his brother Kelly. Career Bulk ...

.2023, Oscars.org
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Filmography

*'' The Adventures of Mark Twain'' (1985) *'' Claymation Easter'' (1992) *''

'' (1999) *'' Fantastic Mr. Fox'' (2009) *''

'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafson, Mark 1959 births 2024 deaths People from Portland, Oregon American animated film directors Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners American stop motion animators