Barry Caldwell, the animator and director known for Animaniacs (1993-’98) and Osmosis Jones (2001), has died. He was 68.
The graphic artist’s longtime friend and colleague, animator Paul Dini, shared a heartfelt statement about the “funny, kind, a genial giant of a guy that you liked from the moment you met him” after Dan Haskett informed him of Caldwell’s death.
“Barry Caldwell was one of the first animation artists I met when I started my career fresh out of school way back around 1980. He was also one of the finest artists I ever met, and easily one of the best people. The man’s talent as a cartoonist, designer and director was revered throughout the industry and I’ll get to that,” he prefaced in the Facebook post.
Dini added, “When Dan Haskett told me today Barry had passed, it was like a silent cannonball blowing away a piece of my world. A lot of people’s worlds, actually. Barry was admired, celebrated and loved by just about everyone, myself included, for many more reasons than I can list here. Gonna miss you, pally.”
Caldwell’s peer wrote of him, “He knew more about cartoons than you or I ever will (trust me on this) yet he was incredibly generous with his time and his talent. And my God, could he make you laugh! When it comes to humor, it takes a special kind of genuis to be both dry and warm. Barry was both. No artist ever mocked the insanity of the Hollywood cartoon stystem with such devastating incisiveness, and yet loved its creative output so much. At least, I believe he did. You don’t last too long in the cartoon business unless you have some true affection for the characters and the people you work with to bring them to life. That spirit was on display for as long as I knew him, and in all the places we worked together, Filmation, Ruby-Spears, Warner Bros, Disney, so many others. Barry knew how to make a blah assignment sing and turn a good one into something wonderful.”
Drix and Osmosis Jones in ‘Osmosis Jones’ (2001) (Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)
Born June 19, 1957 in New York City, Caldwell trained at the School of Visual Arts. He worked for Warner Bros. Animation, Walt Disney Television Studios and DreamWorks during his storied career, which began with an episode of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids in 1980.
Throughout the ’80s, Caldwell was a regular storyboard artist on The New Adventures of Zorro, The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, He Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Smurfs and Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers.
Caldwell was also known for his work on Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, The Tigger Movie (2000), Osmosis Jones (2001), Kim Possible and DreamWorks Dragons.