Adam Burke, who served as an animator on an array of Disney/Pixar properties, has passed away.
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News of Burke’s death was shared by Brad Bird, who worked with Burke on all four of his animated films. In a tweet, which you can check out below, Bird calls Burke “a great man and talent” who was always “upbeat and giving”.
Adam Burke did stellar work on every animated feature I’ve made (including the scene below). A great man & talent, aways upbeat, giving. He shepherded Pixar’s Children’s Hospital visits that happen with each film’s release. He passed last night from cancer. We’ll miss you, Adam. pic.twitter.com/LRUV7cgzGm
— Brad Bird (@BradBirdA113) October 8, 2018
Burke’s filmography stretches as far back to the 1990s, with work for Don Bluth (Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park), Richard Rich (The Swan Princess), Warner Bros. (Space Jam, The Iron Giant), Dreamworks (The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron), and various animated video games.
He began to work with Pixar in 2003, proceeding to do animation work on The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Mater and the Ghost Light, Monsters University, and The Incredibles 2.
“From day one, even though the story continued to evolve and progress as animated features do … you knew immediately that this was going to be something special.” Burke said of his time working on Iron Giant. “It completely balanced out or even tipped the scales the other way. Any pressure that you might have felt with time constraints or the hectic energy of a production under pressure was completely alleviated by the fact that you were working for this wonderful noble cause.”
Burke passed away of cancer on Sunday, October 7th.
