In a career that’s seen him bring everything from the California Raisins to the Fantastic Mr. Fox to life, stop-motion animator/director Mark Gustafson’s legacy is nothing short of magic. Most recently, the co-director of Guillermo del Toro‘s Pinocchio became one of the 2023 Oscar winners with Mr. del Toro himself. Sadly, Gustafson has been reported dead at the age of 64, which prompted his collaborator to pen a heartfelt tribute on social media.
Sharing his feelings through a Twitter post, complete with a picture of himself and Gustafson on the Pinocchio set, del Toro honored his friend and collaborator thusly:
I admired Mark Gustafson, even before I met him. A pillar of stop motion animation- a true artist. A compassionate, sensitive and mordantly witty man. A Legend- and a friend that inspired and gave hope to all around him. He passed away yesterday. Today we honor and miss him. He leaves behind a Titanic legacy of animation that goes back to the very origins of Claymation and that shaped the career and craft of countless animators. He leaves friends and colleagues and a historic filmography. Prayers and thoughts go to his beloved wife, Jennifer. They say- “Never meet your heroes…” I disagree. You cannot be disappointed by someone being human… We all are. Burning the midnight oil during postproduction, or doing daily animation turnovers via Zoom during COVID or being trapped in an elevator in a Cinema in London. I am as glad to have met Mark, the human as I was honored to have met the artist. As I said, I admired him before I met him. I loved having had the chance to share time and space with him during the highs and the lows. Always and forever.
Mark Gustafson’s passing was confirmed through further reporting from Deadline, which also mentioned that his cause of death was allegedly due to a heart attack. Mark is survived by his wife Jennifer, as referred to in Guillermo del Toro’s fitting tribute above.
We here at CinemaBlend send our deepest condolences to Mark Gustafson’s friends and family, as they navigate this time of sorrow and remembrance.
More to come…
