"Once described as “the Frank Zappa or George Harrison of animation films,” Ryan Larkin is a gifted animator with a unique style whose tragic life trajectory has become well know due to the incredible success of Ryan (2004), Chris Landreth’s highly acclaimed, Academy Award-winning mix of animation and documentary that delves into Larkin’s personal experiences with animation and addiction.
A talented painter and sculptor, Larkin was making oil paintings by the age of ten and at thirteen was accepted into Montreal’s prestigious School of Fine Arts, where his teacher was Group of Seven painter Arthur Lismer. Tragedy befell young Ryan when, at the age of fifteen, he watched helplessly as his older brother drowned in a boating accident – a traumatic experience that would haunt him throughout his life. Though he began drinking as a child, he still excelled at his schoolwork and at nineteen began working at the National Film Board as an animator on educational films for the army and navy.
After a couple of years at the Board, he began attending workshops for young animators held by Norman McLaren, who recognized Larkin’s talent and became his mentor. Using a unique technique he developed that involved combining stop-frame action with charcoal drawings, Larkin made the dark, nightmarish Citérama (1966). This test film so impressed McLaren that he urged Board management to give Larkin carte blanche on his next animated short, Syrinx (1966), which garnered great acclaim and won awards at festivals around the world."
From mubi.com
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