Bruce Bickford (animator)

Bickford died on April 28, 2019 from cardiac arrest. He was 72 years old.

In 2015, Bickford was working on a 500-plus-page graphic novel titled Vampire Picnic. It was stated at the time he was hoping to publish it with Fantagraphics.

On September 1, 2015, Bickford's new animated feature Cas'l was released on DVD. Most of the original animating had been done from 1988 to 1997. The film (or earlier versions of it) had previously been shown at various film festivals from 2008 onwards with live musical accompaniment, as a final soundtrack was not yet made.

In 2010, he made rare appearances in several European cities following an invitation of the Brussels' Offscreen Film Festival and Nova Cinema.

In 2008, Prometheus' Garden was released, a 28-minute short originally completed in 1988. The DVD also features Luck of a Foghorn, a documentary about the making of the film.

In 2006, he was working on Boar's Head/Whore's Bed (line animation, 4,500+ frames and counting), Tales of the Green River and Castle 2001, a feature-length film which is animated using 3D shapes made out of bits of paper.

His life and work were featured in the 2004 biographical documentary film Monster Road, directed by Brett Ingram.

Bruce Charles Bickford (February 11, 1947 – April 28, 2019) was an American artist, animator, and filmmaker, who worked primarily in line and clay animation. From 1974 to 1980, he collaborated with Frank Zappa in Los Angeles. Bickford's animation was featured extensively in the Frank Zappa videos Baby Snakes and The Dub Room Special. Zappa also released a video titled The Amazing Mr. Bickford, which was entirely composed of Bickford animations set to a soundtrack of Zappa's orchestral music.

Bickford was born in Seattle in 1947, one of four sons to George Edward Bickford and Audrey Ione Bickford (nee Spencer). He served with the U.S. Marines and fought during the Vietnam War.