Speaking of animation legends who have left us: George Singer, whose career in animation spanned nearly 50 years, passed away Feb. 10 at the Motion Picture Hospital in Calabasas, California. He was 78 years old and may have held the record for working for the greatest number of major animation studios. His résumé included lengthy stints at Famous Studios in New York, Halas-Bachelor in England and then, in Hollywood, tours of duty at (among others) Warner Brothers, Format Films, Hanna-Barbera, U.P.A., Marvel Productions, San Rio Films, Steve Krantz, DePatie-Freleng and Film Roman.
It was at the last of these that I worked with him. He was the first producer of the Garfield and Friends series discussed elsewhere on this site and a fine job he did in that post, indeed. George was an old-timer who never acted like one. He'd directed, he'd animated, he'd designed, he'd cut film…and even just before his retirement, he still loved everything about the form. We didn't always agree on everything but I never doubted for a second that he was a first-rate talent who knew more about making cartoons than anyone else I'll ever have the honor to work with.