Randy Fullmer Dies: Disney Animation Veteran On ‘Lion King’, ‘Beauty And The Beast’ & More Was 73
25.07.2023 - 19:43
/ deadline.com
Randy Fullmer, a Walt Disney Animation Studios effects animator, VFX supervisor and producer who worked on such classics as The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, has died. He was 73. The studio said he died July 10 at his home in Woodland Hills, CA, after a long cancer battle.
Fullmer worked at the Disney toon studio for nearly 20 years, racking up credits that also include effects animator on Oliver & Company (1988) and The Little Mermaid (1989), effects supervisor on The Rescuers Down Under (1990), artistic coordinator on The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and producer on The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and Chicken Little (2005). He served as artistic coordinator on 1994’s The Lion King and as VFX supervisor on 1991’s Beauty and the Beast.
“Most people are good at one thing in their lives. Randy was good at a lot of things,” said Don Hahn, producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. “He could draw and paint beautifully, but he had the mind of an engineer and the heart of an artisan. He was great at animation; great at producing movies, too. He was at the very center of the Disney renaissance in animation. … I miss him, but I carry his passion and joy with me every day. Always will.”
Born on April 27, 1950, in Richland, WA, Fullmer attended Washington State University from 1968-70 and during his second year took a film class that hooked him on animation. That led him to the toon program at CalArts, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1974.
Fullmer then spent about seven years running his own animation business, producing works such as medical, scientific and other educational films; segments for Sesame Street; TV commercials; and Saturday morning television programs. In 1983 and 1984, he worked for