Animator Steven E. Gordon reports that animator, producer, and director Boyd Kirkland passed away on January 27, 2011, while waiting for a lung transplant at UCLA Medical Center. Kirkland's career in animation began in 1979, running a studio in Salt Lake City, UT, that sub-contracted work from many different Los Angeles studios. After moving to Los Angeles in 1984, Kirkland worked as a storyboard artist on productions like G.I. Joe: The Movie, My Little Pony: The Movie, Dungeons & Dragons, Robocop, Conan, and Gargoyles. He was one of the earliest directors on Batman the Animated Series, going on to co-direct the Batman: Mask of the Phantasm feature film and direct the Batman: Sub-Zero direct-to-video feature. In 2000, Kirkland developed and produced X-Men: Evolution for Marvel Entertainment, writing and directing several episodes for the series, as well providing the screen story for the Ultimate Avengers direct-to-video movies and writing and directing episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men.
Services have been scheduled for February 1, 2011.
