Tom Sito(born May 19, 1956) is an Americananimator,animation historianand teacher.[1]He is currently a professor atUSC's School of Cinematic Arts in the Animation Division.[1] In 1998, Sito was included byAnimation Magazinein their list of the One Hundred Most Important People in Animation.[2][1]
Tom Sito | |
|---|---|
 Sito at a September 16, 2013 lecture on the history of computer animation at the SVA Theatrein Manhattan | |
| Born | May 19, 1956 |
| Occupation(s) | Animator,writer, historian, educator |
| Board member of | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,ASIFA-Hollywood |
| Spouse | Pat Sito (m. 1980) |
| Awards | June Foray Award,2010 Dusty Award for Lifetime Achievement,2016 |
Early life
editTom Sito was born and raised inBrooklyn, New York,the son of a fireman.[3][4]Sito first began studying animation while attending cartooning classes at theHigh School of Art and Design.He continued his animation studies atThe School of Visual Arts(SVA) with Howard Beckerman, cartooning underHarvey Kurtzman,Gil Miret, Howard Beckerman and Robert Beverly Hale.[5][6] Sito graduated from SVA in 1977 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts.[7][8]He met his wife, Pat, at SVA and the two were married on January 4, 1980. Additionally, Sito studied life drawing atThe Art Students League of New YorkunderRobert Beverly Hale.[5]
Career
editSito's cartooning career began with him working on cartoons for Dixie Cups, as well as gag writing for Playboy magazine's comic series,Little Annie Fanny,under his instructor, Harvey Kurtzman.[5]Sito assisted retired Disney animatorShamus Culhaneon one of his final projects, a 1977 education short entitledProtection in the Nuclear Age.Sito's first big break came in 1976 when he was hired by legendary animation directorRichard Williamsto work on his filmRaggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure.There he met and worked with animation luminaries likeEric Goldberg,Art BabbittandJohn Canemaker.After several years doing commercial animation work in New York and Toronto, Sito relocated to Los Angeles and worked on TV projects likeSuper FriendsforHanna-Barbera(1978),He-Man and the Masters of the Universe[9]andFat Albert and the Cosby Kids(1983–1985).[5]
Tom Sito was summoned by his old mentor Richard Williams once more in 1987 (the same year he made theindependently animated shortPropagadance[10][11]) to animate on Disney/Amblin's Academy Award-winning hit filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit.Returning to Los Angeles in 1988, Sito became a mainstay of the Disney Feature Animation division, contributing to the classic filmsThe Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast,[12]Aladdin,The Lion King,Pocahontas,Fantasia 2000,andDinosaur.[5]
Sito left the Disney studio in 1995 to help set up the animation unit of DreamWorks SKG, laterDreamWorks Animation.He worked on the filmsAntz,The Prince of Egypt,PaulieandSpirit: The Stallion Cimarron.He was the storyboard director of the firstShrekfilm and he was president of the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonist's Local 839 (later renamedThe Animation Guild, I.A.T.S.E. Local 839) from 1992 to 2001,[13]where he was awarded the title President Emeritus. He co-directed the animation for theWarner Bros.2001 movieOsmosis Jonesand contributed to other animated films such asLooney Tunes: Back in Action(2003),Garfield(2004) andSon of the Mask(2005), the PBS TV seriesClick and Clack's As the Wrench Turns(2008) and the 2006 Taiwanese shortAdventures in the NPM,which won first prize at the 2006 Tokyo Anime Festival.[14]
Tom Sito has lectured about animation around the world and has taught animation and animation history atUCLA Film School,TheAmerican Film Institute,Woodbury College and Santa Monica College. He became an instructor at theUSC School of Cinematic Artsin 1994 and in December 2014 was named Chair of theJohn C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Artsat USC.[15]
Tom Sito was interviewed for the PBS American Experience documentary "Walt Disney" (2014) for WGBH Boston. In 2015 he appeared in the documentaryFloyd Norman: An Animated Life.In 2020 he was interviewed for theReelz Channeldocumentary seriesAutopsy: The Last Hours of Walt Disney.
He wrote the story for the short "Flash in the Pain", which appeared in the 2016 animated filmStorks.[16]
In July 2017, Tom Sito was elected by his peers to the Board of Governors of The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences to represent the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch 2017-2020.[17]Sito was vice-president ofASIFA-Hollywoodfrom 1992-2017.[18]
Books
edit
In 2006, Tom Sito wroteDrawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson,which has been hailed as a seminal work on the history of the labor movement in American animation. The London Review of Books said "Sito's book contains the best account yet of the 1941 Walt Disney Strike, with documentation from the union side".[19]Sito also contributed the animation chapter to Dr.Paul Buhle's anthology,Jews in American Popular Culture,and updated the classic animation how-to book,Timing for Animation,for Focal/Elsevier Press in 2009.
In 2013, Tom Sito publishedMoving Innovation, A History of Computer Animationthrough MIT Press. It was named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title in 2013 and selected as a Best of 2013 by Computing Reviews.[20] It was also a nominated finalist for the 2013 Kraszna-Krausz book award in London.
In 2019, Tom Sito published "Eat, Drink, Animate: An Animator's Cookbook" through CRC Press. It is the first ever collection of the food recipes of famous animators like Chuck Jones, Frank Thomas and Mary Blair. In 2019 Eat, Drink, Animate was given a Best In World by International Gourmand world cookbook awards.
Awards
editIn 2010, Tom Sito was awarded theJune Foray AwardatASIFA-Hollywood'sAnnie Awards[21][22]for "significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation".[23]In 2016 he was awarded the Dusty Award for Alumni Lifetime Achievement from TheSchool of Visual Arts.[24]
Bibliography
edit- Walt's People Vol 18 Talking Disney with the Artists Who Knew Him. Foreword. Edited by Didier Ghez, Theme Park Press, 2016
- Walt's People Vol 9 Talking Disney with the Artists who Knew Him. Edited by Didier Ghez, Theme Park Press 2010
- The London Review of Books
- The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle. Abrams/Comic Arts 2009
- Making'Toons, Inside the Most Popular Animation TV Shows and Movies, by Allan Neuwirth, Allworth Press New York 2004
- Disney's Art of Animation From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast, byBob Thomas,Hyperion Press, 1991
- Talking Animals and Other Funny People by Shamus Culhane, St Martin's Press, NYC, 1986
- Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson, by Tom Sito University of Kentucky Press, Le xing ton 2006
- Moving Innovation
- Eat, Drink, Animate
References
edit- ^abc"Animation Division Faculty".School of Cinematic Arts Directory Profile.USC.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-12-07.Retrieved2022-12-07.
- ^Animation Magazine,November 1998.
- ^Cosgrove, Laura (August 23, 2015)."Artists Interviews: Tom Sito".Animation Insider.Archivedfrom the original on May 17, 2017.RetrievedApril 17,2017.
- ^"About Tom Sito".Amazon.Archivedfrom the original on April 18, 2017.RetrievedApril 17,2017.
- ^abcde"Biography: About Tom".TomSito.Archivedfrom the original on March 31, 2017.RetrievedApril 17,2017.
- ^Kitchen, Denis;Buhle, Paul (2009).The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics.Abrams/Comic Arts.
- ^Schaller, Rhonda (Fall 2011). "Howard Beckerman & Tom Sito".Visual Arts Journal.School of Visual Arts:18.
- ^Cruz, Cristian."Tom Sito - Net Worth, Age, Height, Family, Biography 2022".Archivedfrom the original on 2022-12-04.Retrieved2022-12-04.
- ^"He-Man.org - Interview with Tom Sito".Archivedfrom the original on 3 March 2016.Retrieved18 January2017.
- ^"Reeling Back: Everything Old is New Again".Archivedfrom the original on 2022-07-01.Retrieved2022-05-19.
- ^"AN ANIMATED CELEBRATION PLENTY OF HUMOR PROMISED AT KU FEST".The Morning Call.24 March 1990.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-05-19.Retrieved2022-05-19.
- ^Disney's Art of Animation, by Bob Thomas, Hyperion Press 1991, Page 190-191
- ^"Tom Sito, M.P.S.C. 839 President, Answers The Tough Questions".Archivedfrom the original on 3 October 2016.Retrieved18 January2017.
- ^Museum, National Palace (2 July 2008)."Adventures In The NPM_Film Summary".Archivedfrom the original on 3 March 2016.Retrieved18 January2017.
- ^"Faculty/Staff Archive - John C. Hench Animation & Digital Arts".John C. Hench Animation & Digital Arts.Archivedfrom the original on 2016-07-05.Retrieved2016-06-07.
- ^"Tom Sito Beats Out Ed Catmull In Academy Board of Governors Election|Cartoon Brew".30 June 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-07-03.Retrieved2022-05-19.
- ^Milligan, Mercedes (July 3, 2017)."Tom Sito Joins Academy Board; Edlund Returns to VFX Branch"Archived2019-05-27 at theWayback Machine.Animation Magazine.Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^"History".Archivedfrom the original on 2019-04-23.Retrieved2019-05-29.
- ^Greif, Mark (7 June 2007)."Tinkering".London Review of Books.29(11): 11–14.Archivedfrom the original on 8 September 2016.Retrieved18 January2017.
- ^"Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation - Computer Graphics World".Archivedfrom the original on 21 April 2017.Retrieved18 January2017.
- ^Giardina, Carolyn (February 6, 2010)."'Up' wins best feature at Annie Awards"Archived2017-09-25 at theWayback Machine.The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^"37th Annual Annie Nominations and Awards Recipients"Archived2014-02-14 at theWayback Machine.Annie Awards.Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ^Kapko, Matt (December 1, 2009)."37th Annual Annie Award Nominations Announced"Archived2017-04-18 at theWayback Machine.Animation World Network.
- ^Milligan, Mercedes (5 May 2016)."Animator-Historian Tom Sito to Receive Dusty Alumni Award".Animation Magazine.Archivedfrom the original on 29 May 2019.Retrieved29 May2019.
External links
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