A modern day Walt Disney, Will Vinton picked up a ball of clay and saw a world of potential. Known as the “Father of Claymation,” Vinton revolutionized the animation business during the 80s and 90s. But after 30 years of being the unheralded king of clay, Will Vinton’s carefully sculpted American dream came crumbling down. Structured around interviews with this charismatic pioneer and his close collaborators, the film charts the rise and fall of the Academy Award and Emmy winning Will Vinton Studios.
The gathered memories and warm recollections of the cast and crew of the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures film, RETURN TO OZ. For the first time, we get intimate details about the production of the cult classic fantasy, from such names as director Walter Murch, producers Paul Maslansky and Colin Michael Kitchens, the late Gary Kurtz, and actors Fairuza Balk, Emma Ridley, Justin Case, Pons Marr, Deep Roy and Sophie Ward.
The gathered memories and warm recollections of the cast and crew of the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures film, RETURN TO OZ. For the first time, we get intimate details about the production of the cult classic fantasy, from such names as director Walter Murch, producers Paul Maslansky and Colin Michael Kitchens, the late Gary Kurtz, and actors Fairuza Balk, Emma Ridley, Justin Case, Pons Marr, Deep Roy and Sophie Ward.
Award-winning co-director of "Closed Mondays", the first Claymation (tm) film. Will Vinton was born on November 17, 1947 in McMinnville, Oregon, USA as William Gale Vinton. He was a producer and director, known for Claymation Easter (1992), Martin the Cobbler (1977) and Moonwalker (1988). He was married to Gillian Allred and Susan Shadburne. He was a Claymation artist who coined the term. His studio created numerous Claymation characters for ads, most notably the California Raisins, which gained fame in an ad set to the Motown hit "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". He died on October 4, 2018 in Portland, Oregon.