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Quickdraw Animation Society
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Will Walton

Remembering Will Walton, and his over 2 decades of filmmaking at the Quickdraw Animation Society.

All of us at QAS are saddened and grieving. Two weeks ago we were made aware that our long-time member, Will Walton, had passed away.

On Sunday, March 19 Will's Mom, Kim Walton, held a celebration of life for Will in the QAS classroom which was filled with friends and family + QAS staff members as well as Will's former animation instructors. Kim addressed the attendees saying: "Things moved so fast in the last week that we just sort of landed here; Will Loved this place."

Former and current QAS staff knew this about Will; he moved box after box after box during our big move from the 11 Ave location to the new Sunalta Studio location. Ultra-Volunteer-Will, painted, drywalled, cleaned, prepped, and did whatever it took (including eating pizza) to make sure the studios were set up for animation artists to return to making their art with as little disruption as possible.

Before the studio move, Will participated in the 2011 AYAP Program where he made his short filmSeñor Mosquito Strikes Once Moreunder the guidance of Brian Batista.Señor Mosquitois packed with classic animated slapstick humour and amazingly fluid movement considering the short timeline of the AYAP program. The narrative structure flows from gag to gag, with animation absurdityplus'ingevery character move and shot - a signature of Will's. Also a signature of Will's is the raised eyebrow as seen in almost every picture taken of him at QAS. ICONIC.

An image of a front desk at a movie theatre. There are two people behind the desk, one of which is Will Walton. Will has long hair tied back into a pony tail, has a short mustache and beard, and is comically raising just one eyebrow. He is sitting, wearing a grey tshirt and a GIRAF11 pass around his neck.
Will Walton and another animator sitting at a desk with an iMac and an animation stand. Will has long hair that is tied into a pony tail at the base of his neck. He has a moustache and beard, and is wearing a striped black and white shirt. He is looking at the camera with a raised eyebrow. Next to him the other animator is looking studiously at the computer while wearing headphones

Will also participated in many of the QAS Annual Animation Lockdowns, adding credits to his name with the films: ILLUSION OF MOVEMENT (2021), QUIT BUGGING ME (2020),and A LITTLE BIT PERSONAL (2019).

"People don't know just how meaningful QAS was for Will," says Kim Walton. This word rang clear and hit hard. We love that QAS is for everyone: Professionals, newcomers, fans, as well as those aspiring to engage with the artform. QAS is a physical space, but it is the special individuals in our community that make it so meaningful. Thanks Will and the Walton family, we don't think we could ever express just how grateful we are to you and how much you have impacted our society.

QAS' Heart is big, red, and raw as we remember Will and laugh along to his cartoons.

Feel free to read and pay your respects to Will at his obituary here: https://www.heartlandfuneralservices.com/memorials/william-walton/5157644/index.php#wall

Please reminisce with us and take a look at some of the work that Will made throughout the years: