The famed Latino animation industry icon, along with family, friends, and City councilmember Adrin Nazarian, gathered last Monday to honor his 95th birthday with the renaming of a city intersection in Toluca Lake.
Friends and family of animation industry icon Phil Roman gathered together with him last Monday, along with City councilmember Adrin Nazarian, as the City of Los Angeles honored the legendary Latino animator on his 95th birthday with the renaming of a Toluca Lake intersection as “Phil Roman Square.”
The event took place at 10000 Riverside Drive – the Southwest corner of Riverside Drive and Ponca Ave. – with a Mariachi band playing to honor Roman’s Mexican heritage, a display of a selection of his legendary work, and the street sign unveiling.
The six-time Emmy Award-winner is a pioneering Mexican American animator, director and producer who helped shape TV and feature animation for more than five decades, while opening doors for Latinos in the entertainment industry.
He worked with Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Chuck Jones, Jay Ward, and Bill Melendez, as an animator, director or producer of animated classics such as Sleeping Beauty, The Peanuts specials, The Lord of the Rings, and Garfield. Among his accomplishments, he directed all 12 Garfield TV specials between 1982 and 1991.
In 1984, Roman founded Film Roman, Inc., which became one of the most influential animation studios in television history, producing and/or directing celebrated series including The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Garfield and Friends, Bobby’s World, The Critic, and numerous Emmy-winning animated specials.
Source: The Office of Adrin Nazarian
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
