RIP Robert Stanton, Prominent Background Artist Of The Disney Renaissance

When the Florida studio where he was based was wound down in 2003, Stanton left Disney, and joined other alumni of the unit at the newly formed Project Firefly Animation Studios. He spent three years there as an art director, background lead, and staff artist. Other animation roles followed, including creating color keys at Blue Sky Studios and art-directing the 2014 home-release movie Henry & Me.

But the last 15 years of his career saw Stanton work chiefly in the video games industry. He did art direction, production design, and concept artwork for developers including Zeegee Games and Jam City, as well as Disney’s own Interactive Media Group unit, where his credits include the games Toy Story 3 and Tron: Evolution.

Upon Stanton’s death, his Waysun colleague Hannah O’Brien shared the following memory on Facebook:

Bob Stanton was an intuitive creative and had such a big heart. At work, I remember a few weeks prior, he was showing me some art he was creating for a project we were working on.

I said “Wow, Bob, that’s so good!”

He said, “If you could see my progression over the years, it would give you hope.”

Stanton’s wife of 17 years, Mindy, died last year. The couple are survived by their two teenage sons, Jude and Everest. The family has set up a fundraiser to assist Stanton’s sons. Stanton is also survived by an adult son from an earlier marriage, Tyrus, as well as a step-daughter, Raina.