Glenn McQueen

Glenn McQueen
Born
Glenn John McQueen

(1960-12-24)December 24, 1960
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedOctober 29, 2002(2002-10-29) (aged 41)
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Resting placeAlta Mesa Memorial Park, Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Alma materSheridan College
OccupationAnimator
Employer(s)Pacific Data Images (1991–1994)
Pixar (1994–2002)
Spouses
Audrey Fleisher
​
​
(m. 1987, divorced)​
  • Terry McQueen
Children1

Glenn John McQueen (December 24, 1960 – October 29, 2002) was a Canadian supervisor of digital animation and supervising character animator at Pixar and Pacific Data Images.

Personal life

McQueen graduated from Sheridan College in 1985. He was sent by Sheridan on a scholarship to the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab, where he worked as head of the 3D production department, which made film effects, television commercials, and scientific visuals.[citation needed]

In 1994, he moved from Pacific Data Images to Pixar, partly due to his interest in Toy Story and his respect for John Lasseter, where he supervised the animation on Pixar's early successes, including the aforementioned Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc.[1][2]

McQueen also served as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. He and his wife, Terry, had a daughter.[2]

Death

In December 2001, McQueen was diagnosed with melanoma, but he stated that he would continue working at Pixar. He died on October 29, 2002, at his home in Berkeley, California, at the age of 41, from complications of the disease. His death occurred during production of Finding Nemo, which was dedicated to him. His former colleagues also paid homage by naming the main character in Cars as Lightning McQueen.[3][4][5]

Legacy

McQueen has admirers all over the world for his work and has been hailed as one of the best animators in the field. Pixar co-founder John Lasseter called McQueen "a great animator, a great friend and a fantastic family man" and "the heart and soul of our animation department", and also said that "Glenn is not gone from us. He’s still alive in all of us."[3]

Pixar opened a new studio in 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, which would be named the Glenn McQueen Pixar Animation Center to honor McQueen. It was planned to be around 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) and be located in the downtown area of Vancouver. The studio focused on producing short films and television episodes based on Pixar characters.[6] Job qualifications were released in 2009[7] and the studio opened in spring 2010, producing many shorts including Small Fry (2011) and Partysaurus Rex (2012).

In October 2013, the studio was closed down in order to re-focus Pixar's efforts at its main headquarters.[8]

Filmography

Director

Animator

Supervising animator

Character animator

References

  1. ^ Plume, Kenneth (2000-02-10). "Interview with Glenn McQueen". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  2. ^ a b Obituary, latimes.com, November 19, 2002; accessed September 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Rizvi, Samad. "Remembering Glenn McQueen, 1960-2002". Pixar Times. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  4. ^ Nusair, David. "5 Things You Didn't Know About the Cars Series". About.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  5. ^ "Cars Easter Egg - Tribute to Dead Animator". husband and wife team of David and Annette Wolf. Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  6. ^ Marke Andrews (2009-05-08). "Pixar to open Vancouver studio". Archived from the original on 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  7. ^ Mike Valiquette (2009-11-15). "Jobby: Production Manager, Layout Artist, Pixar Vancouver!". Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  8. ^ "Pixar Canada shuts its doors in Vancouver". The Province. October 8, 2013. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.