Dan Lee, the Canadian animator who designed several characters for the 2003 blockbuster hit “Finding Nemo,” died on Jan. 15 of cancer. He was 35.
The Montreal native became interested in animation as a teenager. He graduated from the classical animation program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, and won the Board of Governors Silver Medal for Academic Excellence.
Lee worked on TV cartoons and commercials at Kennedy Cartoons in Toronto and Colossal Pictures in San Francisco. Then in 1996, he joined Pixar Animation Studios as a sketch artist, character designer and animator. Over the next eight years, Lee designed characters for the animated films “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo.”
“Dan was a longtime member of our Pixar family. He single-handedly designed Nemo and has been a major influence at Pixar. Dan was a wonderful, irreplaceable, talented human being, and we miss him terribly,” Andrew Stanton, the director of “Finding Nemo,” said.
Although he was a non-smoker who lived a healthy and active lifestyle, Lee was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2003. While undergoing two types of radiation and chemotherapy, he continued working on future Pixar projects.
February 5, 2005 by
Dan was a dear friend as well as a co-worker of mine. After his death, couple of friends of Dna’s and me have gathered his personal artwork and published a book. The opening/book launch party will be at Canvas Gallery Cafe in San Francisco on August 25, 2005. His work will also be shown in the gallery until Sept. 25, 2005.
His book will be available for sale that night as well as on Amazon.com. All proceeds will be donated to a charity.
So much time you spend to search something and when you find it..you know its there no more..
Before even knowing Dan lee,I was a great fan of his designs…and I was searching for a way to find who this great genius was…
Its a shock ..on this august evening of 2006,that I realize ..my favourite artist is no more…
All my prayers for his soul ..may he be reincarnated back with all his talents…back..Imiss you so much..Dan..
Bonjour,
j’ai lu dans le générique du film dessin animé “Ratatouille” qu’on rendait hommage à Dan Lee.
Je voulais savoir de qui il s’agissait.
J’ai trouvé et je comprends mieux ce message.
Mourrir aussi jeune avec autant de talent…
Que ton âme repose en paix Dan !
Paris le 12/08/2007
Grand cheval Blanc :
J’ai aussi vu cet hommage dans le générique de Ratatouille. Passionée de cinéma d’animation, j’ai voulu savoir qui était cette personne.Je comprend enfin.
Un grand hommage à Dan Lee et à tout ce q’il à apporté.
Nice, le 20/08/2007 , France.
Ratatouille is a great movie. As an animator and character designer myself, i really admire Dan’s work and style. Esp so for the chars tt he has designed for ratatouille. His contribution will always be remembered by all of us.