British actor Bob Hoskins passed away April 29th at age 71. He died after a bout of pneumonia, according to a statement released by his agent. Hoskins had retired from acting in 2012 after announcing that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Tributes to Hoskins are pouring in all over online today. Many mention his gentlemanly nature and his wonderful mastery of the craft of acting. He is credited with acting in 114 films and television shows.
Long before I knew it was him, Nik Ranieri has been entertaining and inspiring me with his character animation. Nik is a talented artist whose bold personality has translated into Lumiere, Hades, Kuzco, Buck Cluck, Lewis Robinson, Charlotte La Bouff and my dad’s favorite animated character, Meeko—all characters he supervised. I first heard Nik on Clay Kaytis’ Animation Podcast and I have been an ardent fan of this passionate animator ever since. I asked him if he may be game for an informal interview over Facebook about various topics related to the state of animation today and he very kindly agreed. Nik is such a kind person, yet he will not sidestep the truth to appease popular sentiment. It was an absolute pleasure getting to interview one of my heroes.
Step right up and come on in, here’s where the fun begins!
In this episode there’s so much to do, getting ready just for you, everybody’s busy, bringing you a Disney afternoon! In case you haven’t guessed yet Marc and Matt are joined by Justin Vactor to discuss the early 90s era of Disney animation on TV.
From Darkwing Duck, to Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Gargoyles, and Gummi Bears, all the favorites are discussed as well as much, much more..
So what to do? Just grab onto some duck tails and let’s get dangerous.
It’s hard to believe it has been 25 years since the world was introduced to a rabbit named Roger and his crazy world in which we learned that Weasels die from laughing, “Patty Cake” is far from child’s play and sexy cartoon vixens aren’t bad, they’re just drawn that way.
Animation Fascination 