Børge Ring

Børge Ring
Black and white image of a man with a grey beard smoking a pipe
Børge Ring in 1988
Born(1921-02-17)17 February 1921
Ribe, Denmark
Died27 December 2018(2018-12-27) (aged 97)
Ravenstein, Netherlands
NationalityDanish
Occupation(s)Animated short film writer, director and animator
Years active1947 – c. 1999
Notable work

Børge Ring (17 February 1921 – 27 December 2018) was a Danish animated short film writer, director and animator. His 1978 short film Oh My Darling won the Best Short Film award at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, and his 1984 short film Anna & Bella won the Best Animated Short Film award at that year's Academy Awards.

Personal life and death

Børge Ring was the son of composer Oluf Ring.[1] He was born in Ribe, Denmark, and his family later moved to Funen.[1] He married his first wife, concert pianist Nanny Elisabeth Wegener in 1944 - she died in Amsterdam in 1957 of heart failure. In 1971 he married his second wife Joanika Zwart,[2] who worked as a sculptor,[1] and they had two children.[2]

Ring died on 27 December 2018 at the age of 97.[2][3]

Career

Early in his career Ring was active as a jazz contrabassist and guitarist, performing in several bands.[4] Ring worked on an adaption of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Tinderbox, which was the first Danish animated feature.[5] In 1947, Ring and his friend Arne Rønde Christensen opened up a cartoon studio in Copenhagen.[3][6] The studio started by doing commercials.[3] In 1952, Ring moved to the Netherlands to work for Toonder Studios.[3] He worked for them until 1973, when he moved to London to work for Walt Disney Animation Studios.[2]

His 1978 short film Oh My Darling won the Best Short Film award at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival,[7] and was nominated for the Best Animated Short Film award at the 1979 Academy Awards.[6][8][9] The short was redubbed and aired on television in the United States as part of the short-lived series Jokebook.[citation needed] He worked on the introduction to the 1983 film Curse of the Pink Panther.[6] Ring directed the 1984 short film Anna & Bella, which won the Best Animated Short Film award at the 1985 Academy Awards.[7][10][11] In 1986, Ring composed a flute song for the Danish cartoon Valhalla.[11] His 1999 short film Run of the Mill, which focused on the effects of taking drugs, won a UNICEF Children's Award in 2000.[7] Ring also worked on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), Heavy Metal (1981), and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993).[7]

Later years

In 2003, Ring became a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.[2] In 2012, the main award of the Danish Animation Society was renamed The Børge Ring Award.[7] In the same year, he won the Winsor McCay Award.[7][12] In 2014, his autobiography was published.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Ripenser skriver mindeord om Børge Ring: Han var en ener". JydskeVestkysten (in Danish). 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Vos, Tom (28 December 2018). "Oscarwinaar Børge Ring (97) uit Overlangel overleden". BK.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Oscar-vinderen Børge Ring er død" (in Danish). Ekko Film. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Børge Ring". lambiek.net. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  5. ^ Vinterberg, Søren (September 2005). "From The Tinder Box To The Ugly Duckling". Danish Film Institute. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Clausen, Nicklas Skyum (28 December 2018). "En af de helt store er væk: Dansk Oscar-vinder død". Newsbreak (in Danish). Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Sarto, Dan (28 December 2018). "Academy Award-Winning Animator Børge Ring Dies at 97". Animation World Network. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1978". cartoonresearch.com.
  9. ^ Robby Benson and Carol Lynley present Short Film Oscars® on YouTube
  10. ^ Jim Henson, Kermit and Scooter: 1986 Oscars on YouTube
  11. ^ a b "Den oscarvindende danske animator Børge Ring er død". Politiken (in Danish). 29 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Børge Ring R.I.P. – Animation Scoop". www.animationscoop.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019.