By Dr. Evelyn Reed | January 01, 0001 | 7 min read
This [[link]] Wednesday, animator Yoshinori Kanada passed away after [[link]] suffering a sudden heart attack. He was 57 years old. A “Superanimator” since the 1970s, Kanada left [[link]] his mark on Square Enix as well. After working at Toei, he moved on to become the Key Animator on a number of Studio Ghibli’s biggest titles: Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbour Totoro, Porco Rosso, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); He later went on to work for Square Enix as a layout

artist on movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and also was an animation director for Final Fantasy XI and did story boards for Final Fantasy IV on the DS. The Spirits Within was a commercial failure; however, it was the first photorealistic 3D animated

feature film. Critic Roger Ebert called the film a “technical

milestone”. Kanda’s style was exciting and he always found new ways to thrill audiences — making him of the most influential animators of his generation. He will be missed. Kanada [AniPages Daily via Moon Chase]