Michael Sporn was an animator who produced and directed more than 30 television specials for HBO, Showtime, PBS and other networks, many of them acclaimed adaptations of children's stories. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for the short film Doctor DeSoto, and for a Primetime Emmy for the 1988 program Abel's Island, which aired on PBS.
Michael Sporn was an animator who produced and directed more than 30 television specials for HBO, Showtime, PBS and other networks, many of them acclaimed adaptations of children's stories. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for the short film Doctor DeSoto, and for a Primetime Emmy for the 1988 program Abel's Island, which aired on PBS.
The New York City native began making Super-8 movies at age seven and taught himself animation skills from books and dedicated viewing of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color and The Woody Woodpecker Show, created by Walter Lantz. He studied art the New York Institute of Technology from 1963-67, after which he served in the U.S. Navy as a Russian language decoder based in Alaska.
He began his animation career in 1972 under the mentorship of the noted husband-and-wife animation team of John and Faith Hubley. His early credits included the short film Cockaboody, the PBS series The Electric Company and the special Ride the Carousel. He also worked with renowed director Richard Williams on the feature film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, and helped to create commercials for The Ink Tank Studio, founded in the late 1970s by R.O. Blechman. In 1980 he formed his own production company, Michael Sporn Animation.
His other memorable productions included Lyle Lyle Crocodile, The Red Shoes, Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel, Ira Sleeps Over, Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales, Whitewash, The Amazing Bone, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers and I Can Be President.
Sporn also created animation for such live-action features films as Prince of the City and Desperately Seeking Susan, and he created interactive elements for the Broadway musicals Meet Me in St. Louis and Woman of the Year.
He launched a lively website in 2005, and in 2007 anexhibition of his work screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Sporn died January 19, 2014. He was 67.
At the time of his death, was producing and directing Poe, an animated feature based the life of Edgar Allan Poe.
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