Renowned animator Ryan Larkin, once a rising star with the National Film Board who fell on hard times in recent years, has died at age 63.In the 1960s, Ryan Larkin was a 19-year-old protégé of Norman McLaren. With McLaren's support, Larkin was given a rare carte blanche at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and made one of the most influential animation films of all time, Walking (1968).
But Larkin later succumbed to a combination of creative block and alcohol and cocaine problems. He took to the streets of Montreal as a panhandler.
Larkin was recently propelled back into the spotlight as the subject of "Ryan," a digitally animated tribute by Canadian animator Chris Landreth.
The 3-D short film garnered some 30 international awards and took home the Academy Award for best animated short in 2005. But as the glitter of Oscar glory faded from the headlines, it remained life as usual for Larkin - albeit with a little more notoriety.
Recently, Larkin had staged something of a comeback doing work for MTV Canada. He crafted three five-second bumpers - branded station identifications that run into or out of commercials on the cable channel.
He was also working with Gordon on an animation film titled "Spare Change" about his experience as a panhandler in Montreal.