Oscar-Winning NFB Animator Co Hoedeman Dies Age 84 [Video]

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has shared the news that animator and director Co Hoedeman died on May 26 in Montreal at the age of 84. Born in Amsterdam on August 1, 1940, Hoedeman was a master of stop-motion animation whose 1977 NFB production The Sand Castle received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

“Co Hoedeman was a master animator, whose long career at the NFB was distinguished by innovative filmmaking and powerful humanitarian themes,” said Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson. “He cared deeply for the well-being of children and was also a fierce defender of the importance of public filmmaking. The NFB and the Canadian animation community have lost a dear friend and colleague. Fortunately for us, we have his legacy of beloved works, which embody so much of his unique spirit.”

Shortly after directing his early films with the NFB, including his award-winning Oddball(1969), Hoedeman travelled to then-Czechoslovakia in 1970 to study puppet …