Leo D. Sullivan obit

Leo D. Sullivan, Pioneering Black Animator, Dies at 82

He worked on the opening for 'Soul Train' and on lots of cartoons, including those featuring Fat Albert, Flash Gordon, the Hulk and the Transformers.

 

 He was not on the list.

Leo D. Sullivan, the groundbreaking Black animator who contributed to the iconic opening for Soul Train and to cartoons featuring Fat Albert, Transformers and My Little Pony during his 50-year-plus career, has died. He was 82.

Sullivan died Saturday of heart failure at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center, his wife, Ethelyn, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Emmy-winning Sullivan also was a writer, producer, director, layout artist and storyboard artist at studios including Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros., Filmation, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, DIC Entertainment and Marvel Productions.

He and onetime Disney animator Floyd Norman were among the co-founders of Vignette Films in the 1960s. Their company produced educational films about such Black heroes as George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington and was behind a 1969 Bill Cosby special, Hey! Hey! Hey! It’s Fat Albert, for NBC.

The duo also teamed on AfroKids.com, whose mission it is to build self-esteem and reconnect children to their cultural heritage by teaching life lessons, family values, respect and responsibility. (Sullivan was featured prominently in the 2016 documentary Floyd Norman: An Animated Life.)

A native of Lockhart, Texas, Leo Dan Sullivan settled in Los Angeles in 1952. His father was in the military, and his family moved around a lot. He began his career running errands for Bob Clampett in the ’50s before becoming an animation cel polisher on the producer’s Beany and Cecil cartoons.

Sullivan helped animate the original locomotive and graphics that were used to open each episode of the Don Cornelius-hosted music show Soul Train, which premiered in syndication in 1971.

Sullivan also worked on I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle, BraveStarr, The Flintstones, Flash Gordon, Pac-Man, Scooby-Doo, SuperFriends, The Incredible Hulk and Tiny Toons.

Twice honored by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Sullivan produced commercials for Jamaican ad agencies; managed supervisors for animation studios in Asia; published a video game that honored the heroic Tuskegee Airmen; developed and animated a character named Walt for the California Science Center exhibit BodyWorks; and taught classes in 2D and digital animation at the Art Institute of California-Orange County in Santa Ana.

He recently launched a multimedia foundation to train underserved youth in new media technology, with an emphasis on animation and games.

In addition to his wife, survivors include son Leo Jr. and daughter Tina.

Animation Department

 

Bodyworks

 

    key animator

 

    Short

 

    1998

 

Extreme Dinosaurs (1997)

Extreme Dinosaurs

 

    exposure sheet timer (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1997

 

The Incredible Hulk (1996)

The Incredible Hulk

 

    timing director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1996

 

Robert Hays and Jim Cummings in Iron Man (1994)

Iron Man

 

    timing director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1996

 

Dumb and Dumber (1995)

Dumb and Dumber

 

    animation director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1995–1996

 

Fantastic Four: The Animated Series (1994)

Fantastic Four: The Animated Series

 

    timing director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1996

 

Taz-Mania (1991)

Taz-Mania

 

    timing director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1993–1995

 

Animaniacs (1993)

Animaniacs

 

    sheet timersheet timingslugging (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1993

 

Tiny Toon Adventures (1990)

Tiny Toon Adventures

 

    timing director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1992

 

BraveStarr (1987)

BraveStarr

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1987–1988

 

Lana Beeson, Scott Grimes, Jonathan Harris, Rickie Lee Jones, Don Knotts, and William Windom in Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)

Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    1987

 

Pac-Man (1982)

Pac-Man

 

    layout artist (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1982

 

Diane Pershing in Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase (1982)

Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    1982

 

Flash Gordon (1979)

Flash Gordon

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1979–1982

 

The Little Rascals (1982)

The Little Rascals

 

    layout artist (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1982

 

Stanley, the Ugly Duckling (1982)

Stanley, the Ugly Duckling

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Movie

 

    1982

 

The Ri¢hie Ri¢h/Scooby-Doo Show (1980)

The Ri¢hie Ri¢h/Scooby-Doo Show

 

    layout artist (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1981

 

The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980)

The Flintstone Comedy Show

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1980

 

Ri¢hie Ri¢h (1982)

Ri¢hie Ri¢h

 

    layout artist (as Leo Sullivan, 1982)

 

    TV Series

 

    1982

 

The World's Greatest SuperFriends (1979)

The World's Greatest SuperFriends

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1979

 

The New Shmoo (1979)

The New Shmoo

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan, 1979)

 

    TV Series

 

    1979

 

Casper and the Angels (1979)

Casper and the Angels

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan, 1979)

 

    TV Series

 

    1979

 

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979)

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan, 1979)

 

    TV Series

 

    1979

 

The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle (1979)

The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan, 1979)

 

    TV Series

 

    1979

 

Challenge of the Superfriends (1978)

Challenge of the Superfriends

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1978

 

Shake, Rattle and Roll (1977)

Shake, Rattle and Roll

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

Blast-Off Buzzard (1977)

Blast-Off Buzzard

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

C B Bears (1977)

C B Bears

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

Undercover Elephant (1977)

Undercover Elephant

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

Posse Impossible (1977)

Posse Impossible

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali (1977)

I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

Scooby's Laff-A Lympics (1977)

Scooby's Laff-A Lympics

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan, 1978)

 

    TV Series

 

    1977

 

Jabberjaw (1976)

Jabberjaw

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1976

 

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972)

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1972

 

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972)

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan, 1979)

 

    TV Series

 

    1972

 

Soul Train (1971)

Soul Train

 

    animator (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1971

 

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert (1969)

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert

 

    animatorlayout artist (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Movie

 

    1969

 

Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil (1959)

Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil

 

    assistant animator

 

    TV Series

 

    1959

 

Art Department

 

    Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1990)

    Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures

        storyboard artist (as Leo Sullivan)

        TV Series

        1991

 

My Little Pony (1986)

My Little Pony

 

    storyboard director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1986–1987

 

The Transformers (1984)

The Transformers

 

    storyboard artist (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1986–1987

 

Moon Dreamers (1986)

Moon Dreamers

 

    storyboard director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1986

 

My Little Pony (1984)

My Little Pony

 

    storyboard director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1986

 

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert (1969)

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert

 

    designer (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Movie

 

    1969

 

Director

 

    C-Bear and Jamal (1996)

    C-Bear and Jamal

        Director

        TV Series

        1996–1997

 

The Incredible Hulk (1996)

The Incredible Hulk

 

    Director (as Leo Sullivan)

 

    TV Series

 

    1996