Bob Gardiner (animator)

Bob Gardiner
Gardiner, c. 1978
Born
James Robbins Gardiner

(1951-03-19)March 19, 1951
Torrance, California, US
DiedApril 21, 2005(2005-04-21) (aged 54)
Grass Valley, California, US

James Robbins "Bob" Gardiner (March 19, 1951 – April 21, 2005) was an American artist, painter, cartoonist, animator, holographer, musician, storyteller, and comedy writer.[1][2] He invented the stop-motion 3-D clay animation technique which his collaborator Will Vinton would later market as Claymation, although Bob preferred the term Sculptimation for his frame-by-frame method of sculpting plasticine clay characters and sets.

He and Vinton shared the 1974 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Closed Mondays.[3] The film was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.[4]

Gardiner committed suicide on April 21, 2005, while living at the Everhart Hotel in downtown Grass Valley.[5]

  1. ^ James Gardiner Obituary -CA|San Francisco Chronicle
  2. ^ James Robbins 'Bob' Gardiner -- Oscar winner - SFGate
  3. ^ Nordheimer, Jon (April 9, 1975). "'Godfather, Part II' Wins 7 Oscars". The New York Times. p. 28.
  4. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  5. ^ "An artist's life and sudden death". 28 April 2005.