Victor
Romero, 80; Leader in Animation, Enemy of Censorship in Film
-From
Associated Press
Los
Angeles – Victor Romero, director and lead animator of the
controversial film, How
It Is,
among others, has died. He was 80.
Romero
died in his sleep Tuesday. The cause of death was a heart attack.
Gary
Garcia, lead singer of the old rock band The
Newcomers
and good friend of Romero’s, said “He was a good friend, always
had constructive criticism.” “He revolutionized the way
animation was utilized in film, hell, he revolutionized the film
industry in general,” said Garcia on Wednesday.
“I
will always remember how Victor was always trying to keep his work
real. He represented where he came from and was proud to do so,”
said Garcia.
A
representative of mayor Duncan’s office said the LA mayor was “deeply
saddened” at the news of Romero’s death. Romero and the mayor
were good friends from college.
In
its obituary, the LA Times said Romero “proved himself one of
the outstanding producers and animators of the digital film age,
transforming his production company… from a small independent
animation studio to the leader in digital computer film making in
Hollywood.”
After
the release of his first major animated film, It
All Ends,
Romero came under much scrutiny for the vivid and rather brutal view
of LA’s suburban life. He stood by his artistic convictions, quoted
as saying,“Let them say what they want about me, but leave my
film alone.”
Jacob
Esther, former editor of Animatron,
an animation newspaper, wrote that Romero “became recognized as
a poster boy of liberal opinion in films,” and was “a
foremost critic of Hollywood’s ridiculous obsession with
censorship.”
A
famous SubSanity Inc.(Romero’s production company) short film from
Romero’s student days denounced the many of the major film companies
for digitally erasing scenes that involved the old Twin Towers.
Although the companies did not correct the erasures, the film gained
popularity and opened many people’s eyes to “the absurdity of
censorship”, as Romero himself used to say.
Victor
Hugo Romero Franco was born December 14, 1982, son of Jose Romero–an
immigrant from the state of Jalisco, Mexico who went on to own a
small meat distributor in California–and Juana Franco, who remained
a house wife until she opened up her own deli, Comida Mundial.
In
his childhood, Victor Romero had many influences that lead him to
animation. Many of his friends at the time were aspiring artists, one
of which is Rene Aldrete, producer of the comic Stryfe.
He was also influenced by a field trip to Film Roman Inc., the
company that animated The
Simpsons
until the show’s cancellation in 2005.
After
his education at Cal State Long Beach and the LA Art Institute, he
entered website design briefly before taking an animator job at Pixar
Inc., makers of such hits as Toy
Story and
A
Bug’s Life.
He
became lead animator at Pixar in 2009, but eventually left to start
his own animation company, a company where he had the freedom to do
whatever he wished. Thus, SubSanity Inc. began.
He
hired many of his friends, such as Rene Aldrete and Adam Gardner, and
carefully assembled a staff of animators and computer graphics
experts that he knew were ready to do things differently from other
companies.
In
its obituary, The Times called Romero “an inspired and creative
conductor of an unusually talented animated orchestra….” Not
only did Romero have an instinct for finding good animators; good
animators were happy to work for SubSanity Inc.
“The
films he created were one of a kind, comparable to Kubrick or even
Lynch,” the Times said.
The
animation company was not very successful at first, but began major
projects after How
It Is was
released. SubSanity Inc. went on to create animated wonders such as
MegaMan,
Forever/Never,
and the film that started actress Amy Acker’s career, Rock.
Romero
stepped down as head of SubSanity Inc. in 2050, and his partner Julia
Riese took over. She was president until her death in 2059, and Adam
Gardner chose to leave his lead animator position and lead the
company. Romero went into retirement in Anchourage, Alaska where he
continued writing ideas and sending them to Riese and Gardner.
He
is survived by his wife, Michelle; his son Michael and his daughter
Sherry; and two grandchildren.