Share
PORTLAND, Ore. — Will Vinton, an Oscar-winning animator who invented Claymation, a style of stop-motion animation, and brought the cultural phenomenon California Raisins to TV, has died in Oregon. He was 70.
Citing a family statement, The Oregonian reported that Vinton died Oct. 4 following a lengthy battle with multiple myeloma.
He won an Oscar in 1975 for the animated short film “Closed Mondays” then founded Vinton Studios in Portland the next year and went on to win three Emmys as a producer.
Dancing Raisins Named America’s Most Popular Ads
Vinton Studios was best known for the 1986 California Raisins ad campaign featuring Claymation raisins dancing to “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”
“He revolutionized the raisin industry for that era when we started the Dancing Raisins in 1984,” said Kalem Barserian, CEO of the Fresno-based Raisin Bargaining Association. “That ad was one of the top ads of the century. He’s my hero!”
In fact, the California raisin commercials led Video Storyboard Tests Inc.’s annual list of most popular ad campaigns in 1987 and 1988.
And, in 1988, the Dancing Raisins beat out some heavyweight competition: campaigns for Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, including a four-part ad starring singer Michael Jackson and an ad with actor Michael J. Fox trying to avoid a watchdog blocking the way to the soda machine, placed second.
Ads for McDonald’s restaurants ranked third. McDonald’s spent an estimated $386 million airing its ads, compared to $6.8 million for California raisins and $106.4 million for Pepsi, the second-biggest spender in the top 10.
Seeing the World as an Imaginative Playground
“He saw the world as an imaginative playground full of fantasy, joy, and character,” Vinton’s children wrote on his Facebook page.
Rose Bond, a professor at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, said Vinton single-handedly established the city’s animation community.
“He put the city on the map as far as stop-motion in America,” Bond said.
Vinton, with his distinctive handlebar mustache, was among the city’s best-known artists.
Vinton Studios at its peak in the late 1990s employed 400 people with annual revenue of $28 million.
Vinton, however, acknowledged that the business was a financial mess and he sought out Oregon’s richest man, Nike founder Phil Knight, for financial assistance.
The Company’s Financial Woes
Knight purchased a stake in the company for $5 million in 1998. He asked for monthly financial statements from Vinton and suggested the studio hire his son, Travis Knight, as an animator, the newspaper reported.
The company’s financial woes continued, and Knight eventually seized control. In 2003, the studio laid off Vinton without severance. Knight renamed the studio and put his son in charge.
Vinton remained active after leaving the studio and taught at the Art Institute of Portland.
He is survived by his wife, three children and two sisters.
Watch the California Raisins
RELATED TOPICS:
Egypt Sends Delegation to Israel, Its Latest Effort to Broker a Cease-Fire Between Israel and Hamas
2 hours ago
Antony Blinken Meets With China’s President Xi as US, China Spar Over Bilateral and Global Issues
2 hours ago
Key Questions About CA Budget Deficit Unanswered as Deadlines Loom
5 hours ago
Is This Your Next BFF? Meet Girlfriend, a Professionally Trained Adventure Dog!
6 hours ago
Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Bill Criminalizing Adults Assisting Minors in Gender-Affirming Care
19 hours ago
Did Arias ‘Weaponize’ City Attorney’s Office by Requesting Documents from Smittcamp?
20 hours ago
Google Parent Reports Another Quarter of Robust Growth, Rolls Out First-Ever Quarterly Dividend
20 hours ago
LA Judge Deals a Blow to Law Allowing Duplexes in Single-Family Tracts