Adam Burke–a man who worked on everything from the films of Don Bluth to the blockbusters of Pixar–has passed away. Director Brad Bird posted about the news on Twitter, saying that Burke did “exceptional” work on all of his movies. “A great man and talent, always upbeat, giving…we’ll miss you, Adam.”



Burke had quite an impressive resume, doing animation on Bluth’s Thumbelina and A Troll in Central Park before working for Warner Bros. on Space Jam, Quest for Camelot and Bird’s own The Iron Giant. Burke also did character animation on several DreamWorks features, including Spirit in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Miguel in The Road to El Dorado. But the majority of Burke’s career may have been most notable at Pixar, where he did animation for The Incredibles, Cars, Up and most recently Incredibles 2. Burke died of cancer according to Bird’s tweet.

Below, a sampling of the animated films Burke contributed to…


Monsters University (2013)

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

Quest for Camelot (1998)

Up (2009)

The Iron Giant (1999)