Bruce Bickford (animator) facts for kids
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Bruce Charles Bickford (born February 11, 1947 – died April 28, 2019) was an American artist, animator, and filmmaker. He was best known for his amazing work with line and clay animation. From 1974 to 1980, he worked with musician Frank Zappa in Los Angeles. Bruce Bickford's animations were a big part of Frank Zappa's videos like Baby Snakes and The Dub Room Special. Zappa even released a video called The Amazing Mr. Bickford, which was all Bruce's animations set to Zappa's orchestral music.
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About Bruce Bickford
Bruce Bickford was born in Seattle in 1947. He was one of four sons. He served in the U.S. Marines.
His Unique Animation Style
Bruce Bickford's animations show unusual and dream-like scenes. These scenes came from his very own imagination. His work often featured fast-moving, fluid changes. Human figures and faces would transform into strange creatures. These changes happened in surreal settings. He used impressive camera tricks within his stop-motion animation.
His life and work were shown in a 2004 documentary film. It was called Monster Road. Brett Ingram directed this film.
Important Projects and Films
In 2008, a 28-minute short film called Prometheus' Garden was released. Bruce had finished this film back in 1988. The DVD also included a documentary. It was called Luck of a Foghorn. This film was about how Prometheus' Garden was made.
Bruce Bickford was the first guest on an internet radio show.
In 2010, he made some rare appearances in Europe. He was invited by the Brussels' Offscreen Film Festival. He also visited Nova Cinema.
In 2015, Bruce Bickford was working on a very long graphic novel. It was over 500 pages. He called it Vampire Picnic. He hoped to publish it with Fantagraphics.
On September 1, 2015, Bruce Bickford's new animated movie Cas'l came out on DVD. Most of the animation for this film was done from 1988 to 1997. Earlier versions of Cas'l had been shown at film festivals. They often had live music because a final soundtrack wasn't ready yet.
Bruce Bickford passed away on April 28, 2019. He was 72 years old.
List of His Works
- 1964/65 – Animated model cars and simple clay figures on 8mm film.
- 1969 – Tree clay animation.
- 1970 – Clay battle scene with more detailed figures.
- 1971 – Last Battle on Flat Earth clay animation.
- 1972 – Castle stuff and bar room scene. clay animation.
- 1973 – Start of the Quest clay animation short.
- 1974 – Little Boy in School (featuring Gus Reeves as a child) clay animation short.
- 1974 – A Token of His Extreme (Frank Zappa)
- 1979 – Baby Snakes (Frank Zappa)
- 1982 – The Dub Room Special (Frank Zappa)
- 1987 – Video From Hell and The Amazing Mr. Bickford (Frank Zappa)
- 1988 – Prometheus' Garden.
- 2004 – Monster Road
- 2008 – Prometheus' Garden DVD
- 2015 – Cas'l
