In Memoriam Ralph Eggleston by Greg Manwaring

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It is with heavy heart that I have to acknowledge the passing of a great friend, amazing storyteller and production designer, Ralph Eggleston.

From our first day at CalArts I knew Ralph was going to make a huge impression in the animation industry – he was so damn talented! I remember seeing his first animation tests and wondering how he was so advanced and skilled, whereas I didn’t know the first thing about animating. It turns out that he had been playing with the artform since he was about 8 years of age! His skill level gave me an incentive to learn as quickly as possible, as I thought I was too far behind – even from the start. At school Ralph was a wiry, high strung, bundle of energy, and always with a can of Pepsi in his hands.

For the better part of his life Ralph had an eye condition wherein his eyes looked in different directions – which further amazed me about his talent. Later on Ralph had surgery to correct this condition, normalizing the focus of his pupils. Ralph was a talented animator but found his fame and passion in Art Direction. Many modern day classics have Ralph’s incredible sense of color and design in their DNA. Ralph was a loving and caring friend to us all – all the way to the end.

I’ll miss him and will keep his memory alive.

(btw that is Ralph between Dennis Venizelos and myself, in the picture above)

by

Greg Manwarig

Here is a link to Ralph winning the Windsor McCay award: https://youtu.be/9bS0RCyzkSU