Michael Sporn (1946-2014)

Sad news indeed. One of the strongest voices of the independent animation scene has become silent last sunday. If, like me, you had made it a daily ritual to read Michael Sporn's Splog, you may have noticed in his writing over the course of the last few months that something was seriously wrong. But still it came as a shock to hear that Michael has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last sunday.

"And time went on without him..."

I have never met him in person, just had a few e-mail conversations. The last one about his current POE-project I was eagerly looking forward to. I am grateful for the vast amount of artwork and insight he so generously shared on his blog. And most of all, I am indebted to him for putting me on the map when he spread the word about this site even before I wrote about Walt Peregoy's color design.

"The thing to do is simply hold on..."

Michael Barrier and John Canemaker as well as Mark Mayerson have already put together obituaries. May he rest in peace.

Thanks for the inspiration!

All screenshots and quotes are from Michael Sporn's poetic animated HBO-special THE MARZIPAN PIG (1990), featuring soothing voice-over narration by Tim Curry.