Paul Boyd (animator)
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Paul G. Boyd (September 30, 1967 – August 13, 2007) was an American-born Canadian animator. He was a member of
a.k.a. Cartoon a.k.a. Cartoon is a Canadian animation studio located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded on April 1, 1994, by Danny Antonucci. The company's motto is "Dedicated to producing animation for everyone, whether they want it or not!" a.k. ...
, the production team for
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
's ''
Ed, Edd n Eddy '' Ed, Edd n Eddy'' is an animated television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network. The series revolves around three friends named Ed, Edd (nicknamed "Double D" to avoid confusion with Ed), and Eddy—collectively known as "th ...
'', as a
title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...
animator and director. He began his career working for International Rocketship on two
Gary Larson Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist who created ''The Far Side'', a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended on January 1, 1995, ...
specials. During his career he taught at
Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouve ...
and worked at many animation studios in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. His work directing for '' Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show!'', along with co-director Moose Pagen, was nominated for an
Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...
in 2001.


Early history

Boyd was born September 30, 1967, in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
. He grew up in the west side of
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, and attended
Lord Byng Secondary School Lord Byng Secondary School is a Public education, public secondary school located in the West Point Grey neighbourhood on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It opened in 1925 and was named in honour of the then Governor Gener ...
. He attended
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
and
Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...
in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Before joining
a.k.a. Cartoon a.k.a. Cartoon is a Canadian animation studio located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded on April 1, 1994, by Danny Antonucci. The company's motto is "Dedicated to producing animation for everyone, whether they want it or not!" a.k. ...
, he showed an unusual gift for expression in the visual arts in his youth. For the last 15 years of his life, he had a successful career as an animator and was employed by a number of animation studios in Vancouver.


Career

According to the animation industry website
Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched on 15 March 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created '' Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ' ...
, other than ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'', Boyd also worked for '' Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show!'' and provided animation for '' Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side'' and the
Flash animation Adobe Flash animation (formerly Macromedia Flash animation and FutureSplash animation) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) platform or similar animation software and often distributed in the SW ...
television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
¡Mucha Lucha! ''¡Mucha Lucha!'' (subtitled ''Gigante'' during its third and final season) is an American animated television series that aired on the Kids' WB block on The WB from August 17, 2002, to February 26, 2005. It was created by Eddie Mort and Lili C ...
'' During the 1990s he taught many young animators at the
Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouve ...
. A prize in his honour for the top student in Classical Animation at the Vancouver Film School is funded by his family and presented three times per year. At the time of Boyd's death he was working at the
Global Mechanic Global Mechanic Media is an interdisciplinary creative studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is known for creating various digital and traditional media, feature and short films, television series, commercials, games, in ...
studio. His last completed work was on two animated advertisements for the Alberta Government.


Illness and killing

While in his 20s, Boyd was diagnosed with
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...
, an illness for which he received constant and usually effective treatment. He lived with this illness for almost 20 years. He was shot and killed on August 13, 2007, by a police officer, Lee Chipperfield, in Vancouver. A video recorded by tourists showed Boyd being shot nine times after wielding what was believed to be a bicycle chain, but other witnesses state it was a chain of paperclips, at officers who came to respond to a disturbance involving him. The ninth shot that struck Boyd was fired as he was on the ground. Chipperfield was allowed to return to work the next day. The use of force was criticized by many of Boyd's colleagues and relatives.


Investigation

The fatal shooting incident was investigated by the Vancouver Police Department and their findings passed on to the Criminal Justice Branch of BC which decided not to prosecute Chipperfield. After a Coroner's Inquest in December 2010 revealed many details which did not figure in the Criminal Justice Branch report, a complaint was filed by the
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is an autonomous, non-partisan charitable society that seeks to "promote, defend, sustain, and extend civil liberties and human rights." It works towards achieving this purpose through La ...
to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner alleging that excessive force had been used. In March 2012, the British Columbia Police Complaint Commissioner issued a report concluding that there was not "clear, convincing and cogent evidence ... that Chipperfield used unnecessary force or excessive force during this incident." He based his conclusion partly on an opinion provided by a use-of-force expert, Bill Lewinski, who suggested that Chipperfield could have been experiencing
inattentional blindness Inattentional blindness or perceptual blindness (rarely called ''inattentive blindness'') occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight, purely as a result of a lack of attention rather than any vision defects o ...
due to his heightened emotional state, thereby failing to notice that Boyd had already been disarmed. In May 2012, a video captured by a tourist's video camera surfaced. In the video, which starts just as a burst of two shots was fired (the 7th and 8th shots), Boyd is seen crawling on the road, unarmed. In the time between the eighth and ninth (fatal) shot, an officer is seen standing near Boyd handling an object that analysis of the video showed to be a chain and throwing it to one side thus providing evidence that Boyd was unarmed at the time the fatal shot was fired. David Eby, executive director of the B. C. Civil Liberties Association, said that the video made it clear that Boyd did not pose a threat to anyone at the time the fatal bullet was fired. In light of the new evidence, an independent investigative agency, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), was asked by the
Attorney General of British Columbia The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney gener ...
to review the case with the new video in consideration. In a June 25, 2013, media statement, the Criminal Justice Branch announced that ASIRT had completed its investigation and on June 24, 2013, the Assistant Deputy Attorney General, M. Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten, had appointed a prominent Vancouver lawyer, Mark Jetté, as special prosecutor to decide on the basis of ASIRT's report and further investigation, if necessary, if charges would be laid against any of the officers involved in the incident. If a decision were made to prosecute then Mr. Jetté would conduct the prosecution. Ms DeWitt-Van Oosten concluded that it was necessary to appoint a Special Prosecutor to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of criminal justice in reviewing the ASIRT report. The BCCLA applauded the B.C. government for their June 2013 decision to appoint a Special Prosecutor to reconsider laying charges in the Boyd case. (In December 2010, following the conclusion of the Coroner's Inquest, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association had called for a Special Prosecutor to be appointed but this request was rejected at that time). On October 28, 2013, the Criminal Justice Branch announced that the special prosecutor had decided that no charges would be laid against Chipperfield in this case. Because the intent of Chipperfield's actions, i.e. to shoot and kill Boyd, was not in dispute the only charge that would have been appropriate was one of
second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, ...
. However, the prosecutor reasoned that the defence of self-defence would likely succeed because of the requirement that the prosecution establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Chipperfield knew he was shooting an unarmed and severely wounded man who did not pose a threat of death or serious injury to Chipperfield or others. Some of the police officers and civilian witnesses present at the time of the fatal shot testified that Boyd was crawling at the time he was killed and did not present a threat to any other person. Others testified that although he was crawling he did present a threat, and still others said that he was walking and upright up until the final shot. There was similar differing testimony regarding whether or not he was armed. While the video may support some of these testimonies more than others, as a whole they could be used by the defence to attempt to establish that a
reasonable person In law, a reasonable person or reasonable man is a hypothetical person whose character and care conduct, under any ''common set of facts,'' is decided through reasoning of good practice or policy. It is a legal fiction crafted by the courts an ...
could believe that Boyd posed a threat at the time of his death.


Memorial

The ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' episode "May I Have This Ed? / Look Before You Ed!" is dedicated in Boyd's memory and features a memorial at the end of the episode stating, "Paul Boyd 1967-2007. We miss you, you big lug!".


See also

*
Reasonable doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of ...
*
List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada This is a list of people whose deaths were caused by, or in relation to an interaction with non-military law enforcement officers in Canada. The list includes deaths caused by officers both on and off duty, and does not discriminate by method or ...


References


External links

*
Interview with Boyd's sister, Deborah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Paul 1967 births 2007 deaths Artists from Pasadena, California Artists from Vancouver Animators from California American emigrants to Canada Canadian animators Concordia University alumni People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Canada People with bipolar disorder University of British Columbia alumni Academic staff of the Vancouver Film School Filmed killings by law enforcement