Python Vladimir Anghelo (January 1, 1954 – April 9, 2014) was a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published me ...

best known for his work on

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...

and

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

machines. Anghelo was born in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

, and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

when he was 17.

Career

After studying art and animation in Romania and the US, he worked as an animator for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

until 1979. He then moved to

Williams Electronics WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams ...

to create the artwork for ''

Joust Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponent ...

'', taking a 50% pay cut in the process because he believed video games had more potential than traditional animation. He continued to work for Williams (and, later,

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included '' Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage'', '' Spy Hunter'' ...

after it merged with Williams) for 15 years until 1994, when his most ambitious project, ''

The Pinball Circus The Pinball Hall of Fame is a museum for pinball machines that opened in Las Vegas, Nevada in November 2009. It is located at 4925 S. Las Vegas Boulevard. The museum is a project of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club, and it features pinball m ...

'', was discontinued. In April of 1994, Anghelo released his first project with

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

; Goofy Hoops. While sold under the Romstar name, a co-financier of Capcom Coin-Op, it used Capcom's hardware. He then designed ''Flipper Football'', his first pinball machine with Capcom. He was in the process of designing the erotic pinball game ''Zingy Bingy'', when Capcom closed its pinball division. After pinball, Anghelo worked for several companies including Bay Tek Games to design novelty games such as ''Chameleon Paradize''. Many fundraisers were started to pay medical bills from cancer. Anghelo died on April 9, 2014.

Pinball

*''

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

'' (1985, artwork) *'' High Speed'' (1986, backglass artwork) *''Grand Lizard'' (1986, design and artwork) *''

Pin*Bot ''Pin-Bot'' (styled ''PIN•BOT'') is a pinball machine released by Williams in October 1986. It was designed by Python Anghelo and Barry Oursler. Rules The main objective of ''Pin-Bot'' is to advance through the planets of the Solar System, ...

'' (1986, concept, design, and artwork) *'' Big Guns'' (1987, design and artwork) *'' Cyclone'' (1988, artwork) *''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

'' (1988, design and artwork) *''Jokerz!'' (1988, design) *''

Police Force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

'' (1989, artwork) *''

Bad Cats ''Bad Cats'' is a pinball machine released in November 1989 by Williams. It was designed by Barry Oursler and Python Anghelo. Gameplay The game is themed around the life of a cat and the things they tend to do that annoy people. The object ...

'' (1989, artwork) *''

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball ''Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball'' is a 1990 pinball game designed by John Trudeau and Python Anghelo and released by Midway (under the '' Bally'' name). It is based on Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. This ...

'' (1991, concept and artwork) *'' The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot'' (1991, concept and design) *''

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...

'' (1991, artwork) *'' Fish Tales'' (1992, concept) *''

Popeye Saves the Earth ''Popeye Saves The Earth'' is a 1994 widebody pinball game designed by Python Anghelo and Barry Oursler and released by WMS Industries under the '' Bally'' label. It is based on the ''Popeye'' comic/cartoon characters licensed from King Features ...

'' (1994, concept, design and artwork) *''

'' (1994, design) *''Goofy Hoops'' (1994, artwork) *''Flipper Football'' (1996, design) *''Zingy Bingy'' (1997, design, unreleased)

Video games

*''

'' (Cabinet art, sprite art, animations) *'' Bubbles'' (Co-designer, cabinet art) *''

Sinistar ''Sinistar'' is a 1983 multidirectional shooter arcade game developed and manufactured by Williams Electronics. It was created by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical, Python Anghelo, and Richard Witt. Players control a spacecraft p ...

'' (sound engineer) *''

Star Rider ''Star Rider'' is a racing LaserDisc video game developed by Computer Creations and Williams Electronics, and released for arcades in 1983. The object of the game is to win a futuristic motorcycle race that takes place in surrealistic settings. ...

'' (Co-designer, concept, and artwork) *''

Mystic Marathon ''Mystic Marathon'' is a horizontally scrolling arcade video game released by Williams Electronics in 1984. The game presents a race between horned, shoe-wearing, fantasy creatures called "Benkins" on a course covering small islands and the wate ...

'' (Enemy designer)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anghelo, Python Pinball game designers 2014 deaths 1954 births People from Transylvania Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian animators Walt Disney Animation Studios people