Disney animator Dale Baer has died at the age of 70

We are sorry to report the passing of beloved animator Dale Baer at the age of 70. A collaborator of many beloved Disney Animation films and co-founder of his studio, The Baer Animation Company, Baer won an Annie for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation for his work on The follies of the emperor (The Emperor's New Groove) in 2001 and the Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

He began his career in animation working on productions such as Brass knobs and broomsticks, Robin Hood, Le avventure di Bianca e Bernie (The Rescuers), The invisible dragon (Pete's Dragon) is The Lord of the Rings. In the 80s he worked as an animator in Tigger and Winny-Puh face to face (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too) Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Mickey's Christmas Carol (Mickey's Christmas Carol), Taron and the magic pot (The Black Cauldron), Basil the detective (The Great Mouse Detective) to Chi ha incastrato Roger Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) (as chief executive and animation supervisor).

Among his many other credits over the past 30 years were Rover and Daisy (Rover Dangerfield: The Dog Who Gets No Respect), Tom and Jerry: the movie, The Lion King, In search of Camelot, Tarzan, The Treasure planet,Home on the Range and Chicken Little, The Robinsons, The Princess and the Frog, Pippo and the home theater (How to Hook Up Your Home Theater), Winnie the Pooh e Get a Horse! He also worked on films The Simpsons, Pups of Liberty and Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory His latest merit is to have worked as the animator of the next feature film scheduled for this summer Bob's Burger: The Movie.

Walt Disney Animation Studios shared the news on their Facebook page with a reminder statement, noting: “Having worked directly with six of Disney's legendary Nine Old Men (Walt Disney's trusty and pioneering team of animation giants), [Baer] has carried on their legacy in his work and, through the many aspiring animators, has been so generously mentored at the Studio and through his courses at CalArts and other institutions. He was a great friend and we will miss him deeply “.

Our condolences to your friends, family and colleagues.

In this video you can see Baer receiving his 2017 Winsor McCay Annie Award here: