Rest in paradise, Loyd Price 🕊️ Every blink, stumble, smile and perfectly timed reaction in stop-motion exists because an animator patiently moved a character into life one frame at a time. Loyd Price spent decades mastering that invisible magic. 🕊️ The beloved animator and longtime Aardman creative has passed away at 64, leaving behind work that became part of childhoods around the world. Aardman remembered Price as a gifted artist, mentor and friend who dedicated more than 30 years to the studio and helped generations of animators grow alongside him. His career touched an extraordinary collection of films and characters, from Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Flushed Away, The Pirates! Band of Misfits and Early Man to earlier work on The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even smaller projects like Purple and Brown and So You Want to Be a Pirate! carried the same craft that made his animation feel full of personality. What audiences saw were clay chickens escaping a farm, Gromit thinking without saying a word, Shaun causing chaos and pirates stumbling through adventures. What they rarely saw was the artist behind those moments. Loyd Price spent a lifetime making tiny movements feel enormous. The characters will keep moving, and a piece of him will move with them. Thanks for the memories, Loyd. 🤍

The legendary singer behind "Stay With Me” Miki Matsubara passed away 22 years ago today at just 44 years old 😔🎶 Remembering a true true legend 🕊️ Miki Matsubara never lived to see one of the most extraordinary second lives a song could have. She debuted in 1979 with “Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me,” a sophisticated city-pop track that became a Japanese favorite. More than 40 years later, a new generation around the world discovered it through streaming, DJs, covers, and social media. By late 2020, the song had entered Apple Music’s J-Pop rankings in 92 countries and reached No. 2 on Spotify’s Global Viral chart. Her memorable music included: “Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me” “Neat na Gogo 3-ji” “Cupid” “See-Saw Love” “Wash” “Safari Eyes” Matsubara passed away from complications of cervical cancer on October 7, 2004, at only 44 years old. Twenty-two years later, millions of listeners who were not even born during her original career know her voice, and “Stay With Me” has become one of the songs most closely associated with the worldwide rediscovery of Japanese city pop. There is something bittersweet about an artist becoming an international sensation decades after she was gone. Miki Matsubara never got to witness how far her music would travel, but every new listener pressing play keeps that voice moving forward. 🕊️ Remembering Miki Matsubara, 1959–2004 ♥️

Anime just lost a legend whose work quietly connected generations of fans. 🕊️ Veteran animator, character designer and animation director Kenichiro Katsura has passed away at 59 while undergoing treatment for an illness. Across more than four decades, Katsura worked on everything from classic anime to modern hits, sometimes designing entire casts and other times helping bring individual scenes to life. Some of his notable works included: - Macross 7 — character design / animation direction - Knight’s & Magic — character design / chief animation director - That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime — chief animation director - SYNDUALITY Noir — character design / chief animation director - Ranma ½ — key animation - Magic Knight Rayearth — key animation - Date A Live II — key animation - Blue Lock Season 2 — key animation - Gintama: The Movie 2026 – Yoshiwara in Flames — animation director - The Fruit of Grisaia — chief animation director Anime and many more! From Ranma ½ and Macross 7 to Blue Lock and Slime, Katsura’s career became a bridge between different eras of anime. His family’s final request was beautifully fitting: remember the characters and drawings you loved, and someday watch his work again. The animator is gone, but thousands of frames carrying his hand will keep moving. Rest in peace, Kenichiro Katsura. 🤍

Again, we say goodbye to a legendary voice actor today 😔 Veteran actress and VA Seela Sella has passed away at 89, leaving behind an extraordinary body of work across film, television, theatre, radio, and voice acting in Finland. Over the course of her career, she became one of the most respected performers of her generation, continuing to work well into her later years. The Finnish actress also became a familiar voice to generations of animation fans through her extensive Finnish-language dubbing work, including several unforgettable Disney characters. Some of her most memorable voice roles included: • Yzma — The Emperor’s New Groove • Lady Tremaine — Cinderella • The Witch — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • Magica De Spell — DuckTales • Grandma Fa — Mulan • Dowager Empress Marie — Anastasia • Mad Madam Mim — The Sword in the Stone • Tanana — Brother Bear • The Queen — A Bug’s Life • Madame Adelaide Bonfamille — The Aristocats • Mama Gunda — Tarzan II • Agnes Peenman — The Mask: Animated Series From commanding the stage and screen to becoming the voice behind some of animation’s most memorable women, Sella built the kind of career that quietly became part of several generations’ lives. Rest in peace, Seela Sella. Nearly seven decades of performances, and a voice that will continue living through the characters she brought to life. 🎙️❤️