Raymond Briggs, creator of "The Snowman", has died at the age of 88

British author-illustrator Raymond Briggs, who has created numerous works that have inspired animated classics such as The Snowman e Ethel and Ernesthe died on Tuesday 9 August of pneumonia at the age of 88. "We know that Raymond's books have been loved and touched by millions of people around the world, who will be sad to hear this news," his family shared today in a statement, in which they also thanked the staff of the 'Overton Ward at the Royal Sussex County Hopsital, where Briggs spent his final weeks.

Lupus Films, who adapted Briggs' work to animation, shared condolences on Twitter:

We are very sad to know that Raymond Briggs died yesterday. He was such a wonderful inspiration to us and so encouraging when we produced The Snowman and The Snowdog and Ethel & Ernest. He was a kind and generous person with a playful sense of humor. RIP Raimondo. pic.twitter.com/s6JeFzQ2xY

- Lupus Films (@LupusFilms) August 10th, 2022

Born January 18, 1934 in Wimbledon, Briggs began drawing comics at an early age and went on to study painting at the Wimbledon School of Art and typography at London's Central School of Art and Design. Enlisted in the national service as a signal body designer in the early 50s, Briggs continued his painting studies at University College London's Slade School of Fine Art, graduating in 1957.

He soon worked as a children's book illustrator, most notably in the 1958 Cornish fairy tale anthology Pietro and the Piskies (by Ruth Manning-Sanders), and gained notoriety with a second-place commendation for the 1964 Kate Greenway Medal (for the collection of nursery rhymes Fi Fo Fum rate) and a win in 1966 for Mother Goose's treasure, which included over 800 color illustrations by Briggs. During this time, she also began teaching illustration part-time at the Brighton School of Art, where she taught until 1986.

Briggs' first big break as an author-illustrator were two holiday titles released by Hamish Hamilton with a grumpy St. Nick released in 1973 and '75, which were later combined into the 4 Channel 1991 animated special Santa Claus, produced by John Coates. Another of Briggs Hamilton's picture books, Mushroom the Black Man (1977) about a working-class monster, it was adapted into two different special three-part hybrids; the first in 2004 (BBC) and the last for Sky1 in 2015, narrated by Andy Serkis and produced by his mo-cap studio The Imaginarium.

Perhaps the artist's best known work, The Snowman was published in 1978 (Hamilton / Random House in the US) Briggs claimed that after working "through mud, slime and words" for Mushroom, he wanted something "clean, nice, fresh and speechless and fast". The books' distinctive pencil crayon illustrations have been faithfully adapted into a BAFTA-winning, Academy Award-nominated half-hour TV movie in 1982. The film was produced by Coates for TVC and directed by Dianne Jackson, under the supervision of by Jimmy T. Murakami.

The Snowman remains a beloved holiday classic in both its print and animated form, and made the BFI's list of 100 Best British TV Shows in 2000. Channel 25's 4-minute special The snowman and the snow dogproduced by Lupus Films, was released in 2012 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original film and was dedicated to the memory of Coates, who deceased a few months before its premiere.

In the 80s, Briggs began expanding his work to more adult themes, as seen in Gentleman Jim (1980) and its sequel, When the wind blows (1982), which imagines a Soviet nuclear attack through the eyes of a retired couple in rural England and was made into an animated film in 1986, directed by Murakami, produced by Coates and starring Peggy Ashcroft and John Mills .

In 1998 he released Briggs Ethel & Ernest: a true story through Cape Jomnathan. The touching graphic novel tells the life story of Briggs' parents - Ernest, a milkman, and Ethel, a former maid of a lady - collecting memorable moments from their years together from their first meeting in 1928 until their death in 1971. The illustrated biography won a British Book Award and was made into a hand-drawn animated film Ethel and Ernest in 2016, produced by Lupus Films, Melusine and Cloth Cat, directed by Roger Mainwood and starring Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent.

Briggs Children's Books The bear e Ivor the Invisible were also adapted as animated television specials in 1998 and 2001 respectively. His latest book published, Notes from the sofa, was released by the crowdfunding label Unbound in 2015. Over the course of his career, Briggs has won two Kate Greenaway Medals (plus two runners-up), two British Book Awards and many other accolades. He was inducted into the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2012 and named Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2017.

The late author was premorted by his wife, Jean (1973), and his longtime partner, Liz (2015). At the time of his death, he was residing in Westmeston, Sussex.

[Source: with the BBC, The New York Times]