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Michael Sporn
View on WikipediaMichael Victor Sporn (April 23, 1946 – January 19, 2014) was an American animator who founded his New York City-based company, Michael Sporn Animation,[1] in 1980, and produced and directed numerous animated TV specials and short spots.
Sporn was nominated for an Oscar in 1984 and an Emmy in 1988 for adaptations of two books by William Steig.[2] His adaptation of the children's book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2005) won the Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film at the 2005 Heartland Film Festival,[3] the award for Best Short Animation Made for Children at the 2006 Ottawa International Animation Festival, and was short-listed for an Oscar nomination.[4]
Early life and education
[edit]Sporn was born on April 23, 1946, in New York City, and had a sister Patricia (now Scherf). His father, William Sporn, abandoned the family when Michael was a toddler. His mother later remarried. His stepfather, Mario Rosco, wanted to legally adopt Michael. Although Michael considered Mario his father, he refused the adoption because he wanted his biological father to be able to find him. His mother and stepfather had three children together: Christine (now O'Neill), Jerry and John Rosco, his half-siblings. Sporn started drawing cartoons as a child.[2]
He studied fine arts at the New York Institute of Technology. While serving in the United States Navy for five years, he studied animation and drawing by mail. Afterward, in 1972 he started work with animator John Hubley. Next he moved to London to work with Richard Williams. After returning to New York, Sporn founded his own independent studio in 1980, named Michael Sporn Animation.[2]
Career
[edit]Sporn produced and directed more than 30 half-hour specials for broadcast outlets HBO, PBS, Showtime and CBS. He created spots & shorts for Sesame Street, PBS stations such as WGBH, Scholastic, syndicated public service announcements such as those featuring Sport Billy and for UNICEF, and also music videos, documentary and film titles and inserts, commercial logos for Random House, industrial spots for companies like Goodyear.
In creating animation, Sporn always drew by hand. His wife Heidi Stallings said, "He felt that the computer was once removed. To him, it was important that there was a transference direct from the artist to the paper."[2]
He produced and directed more than 15 short films, including many for Weston Woods Studios, a company which produces animated shorts of children's books. In 2005 he produced an animated adaptation of Mordicai Gerstein's The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, about Philippe Petit and his 1974 walk between the Twin Towers in New York City. It won the Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film at the 2005 Heartland Film Festival[3] and the award for Best Short Animation Made for Children at the 2006 Ottawa International Animation Festival. It is included as an extra on the DVD of the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire (2008), directed by James Marsh, about this exploit.
Also notable is Sporn's 1984 animation of Doctor De Soto by William Steig. The film was nominated in 1984 for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[5] Also in 1984, Sporn received the CINE Golden Eagle Award in Education for his direction of this animated film.[6] In 1988 Sporn was nominated for an Emmy Award for his TV film adapted from William Steig's Abel's Island.[2]
Sporn worked with many actors and musicians, including Billy Crystal, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Madonna, Prudence Plummer, Christopher Reeve, Susan Sarandon, Eli Wallach, James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Tim Curry and many others.
Sporn produced, animated or directed many films with messages of social commitment including the TV special Whitewash and entertaining short films such as Champagne and Morris's Disappearing Bag[7] alongside HBO Storybook Musicals such as Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, The Story of the Dancing Frog, Ira Sleeps Over, The Marzipan Pig, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale, The Red Shoes (1990), the animated adaptation of the beloved 1939 Virginia Lee Burton book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel[8] and Santa Bear's First Christmas.
In 2011 Sporn created a program for HBO entitled, I Can Be President. Related to the election in 2008 of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States, it explored the dreams and ambitions of children who aspire to that office. I Can Be President was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Children's Program in 2011.
Awards and honors
[edit]His company's productions received numerous awards, including an Academy Award nomination for his short, Doctor DeSoto,[9][10] and several Cable ACE Awards for The Story of the Dancing Frog and Ira Sleeps Over. His short film, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers won the 2005 Audience Choice award for Short Film at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, and "Best Short Animation Made for Children" at the 2006 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York City honored Sporn with a four-day retrospective of his work in 2007.
Splog
[edit]Death
[edit]Sporn died on January 19, 2014, from pancreatic cancer at his birthplace in New York City, aged 67.[2] He was survived by his wife Heidi Stallings, an actress. At the time of his death, Sporn was producing and directing Poe, an animated feature based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Michael Sporn Tribute Film on Buzzco Associates Vimeo channel
- ^ a b c d e f David Colker, "Obituary: Michael Sporn", Los Angeles Times, 22 January 2014
- ^ a b "Heartland Film Festival Concludes Another Record Breaking Year". 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
- ^ Cech, John (2009). Imagination and Innovation: The Story of Weston Woods. Scholastic Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0545089227.
- ^ Short Film Oscar® Winners in 1985 - Oscars on YouTube
- ^ "cine.org" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
- ^ "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1983 -". cartoonresearch.com.
- ^ Cartoons of a Different Kind|Current|The Criterion Channel
- ^ 1985|Oscars.org
- ^ "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1984 -". cartoonresearch.com.
- ^ Michael Sporn Animation — Splog » Hi (first post)
- ^ Koch, Dave (20 January 2014). "Animator Michael Sporn Passes Away". Big Cartoon News. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Splog
- Michael Sporn at IMDb
- Michael Sporn Animation Inc. at Internet Movie Database
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Michael Sporn
View on GrokipediaEarly life
Early life and education
Michael Victor Sporn was born on April 23, 1946, in New York City.[3][4] His biological father, William Sporn, abandoned the family when Sporn was a toddler.[3] His mother, Amelia Young Sporn, later remarried Mario Rosco, whom Sporn regarded as his father while retaining the Sporn surname.[3] He had one full sister, Patricia (later Scherf), and three half-siblings from his mother's second marriage.[4] Sporn grew up in Jackson Heights and began drawing cartoons as a child.[5][4] He studied fine arts at the New York Institute of Technology. Sporn served five years in the United States Navy, during which he studied animation and drawing through correspondence courses.[5]Career
Early career
Michael Sporn began his professional career in animation in 1972, when he went to work for famed animator John Hubley.[6] He subsequently moved to London to work with animator Richard Williams.[6] Returning to New York, Sporn produced and directed early short films and animated segments for a range of clients, including contributions to Sesame Street, WGBH, Scholastic, and UNICEF, as well as commercial and industrial work such as logos for Goodyear and Random House. He worked on more than 15 short films during this period, many of which were adaptations of children's books for Weston Woods Studios, where he served in roles including animator, director, and producer. These diverse early experiences across television, educational, nonprofit, and commercial animation laid the foundation for his later independent work.Founding of Michael Sporn Animation
Michael Sporn founded Michael Sporn Animation in New York City in 1980 as an independent animation studio. [7] [8] This move allowed him to produce and direct projects outside the constraints of major studios, focusing on personal artistic choices even when facing challenging schedules and budgets. [7] Over more than three decades of operation, the studio produced and directed more than 30 half-hour animated television specials for networks including HBO, PBS, Showtime, and CBS. [9] [8] These specials were primarily acclaimed adaptations of children's literature and picture books. [8] The studio also created numerous additional animated segments, including long-running contributions to Sesame Street, as well as short film adaptations for Weston Woods/Scholastic. [7] Sporn's independent approach emphasized selecting projects he believed were worthwhile, prioritizing quality and storytelling over commercial pressures. [7]Productions and collaborations
Michael Sporn's studio, Michael Sporn Animation, produced numerous animated shorts and TV specials, frequently through collaborations with Weston Woods Studios on adaptations of children's books. These partnerships yielded a variety of family-oriented animated works, including Morris's Disappearing Bag, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Ira Sleeps Over, The Story of the Dancing Frog, and The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale. [8] [3] A particular highlight of the Weston Woods collaboration was The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2005), co-produced with Paul Gagne and Melissa Reilly of Weston Woods Studios. [10] Sporn also created content for the HBO Storybook Musicals series, including Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, and produced other productions such as The Red Shoes (1990) and Champagne (1997). [8] Additional notable productions from his studio included The Marzipan Pig, Whitewash (a special addressing racism), and I Can Be President (2011), the latter created following the 2008 U.S. presidential election. [2] These works reflected his commitment to hand-drawn animation. [11] At the time of his death in 2014, Sporn was developing an unfinished feature film titled Poe, centered on the life of Edgar Allan Poe. [12]Animation style and philosophy
Michael Sporn was committed to traditional hand-drawn animation, emphasizing direct transference from the artist to paper without computer mediation. He rejected CGI, arguing that it caused films to look visually similar and that 2D animation's potential had barely been explored.[1] [13] At Michael Sporn Animation, he encouraged animators to retain their unique styles and personal expression. By providing loose layouts and granting substantial creative control over scenes, he treated animators as directors of their sequences, fostering improvisation and individual touches that added warmth and humanity to characters.[14] Sporn valued economy and minimalism in animation as an artistic principle, believing that fewer, precisely chosen drawings could convey deeper meaning and that natural limitations promoted discipline and acceptance of necessary imperfection. He saw unlimited digital revisions as a potential hindrance to finalizing work with focus and purity.[15] [16] His films adapted the visual style of source illustrations—such as using watercolor and marker techniques for expressive, loose lines—while prioritizing storytelling, emotional depth, and craftsmanship within low budgets.[14] [1]Notable works
Awards and nominations
Michael Sporn and his studio received numerous awards and nominations for their animated films, particularly for adaptations of children's literature. Notable recognitions include:- Nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Doctor DeSoto (1984) at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985.[17]
- Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program for Abel's Island (1988).[18]
- Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (Ruby Dee) for Whitewash (1994).[18]
- Multiple Primetime Emmy Awards, including for Best Children's Program for Goodnight Moon & Other Tales (2000) and other HBO specials.[18]
- Peabody Award for Excellence in Children's Programming for Goodnight Moon & Other Tales (2000).[18]
- Carnegie Medal for Best Children's Video for Whitewash (1995) and The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2006).[18]
- Various festival awards, such as the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival for several films and Best Children's Film at international animation festivals.[18]