Mexican Animator Luis De La Rosa Dies In Annecy Train Tracks Accident
Rising Mexican animator Luis de la Rosa, who took credits on works such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and My Little Pony: The Movie, has died in an accident while attending the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France
Local newspaper Le Dauphine Libéré reported on Friday that a young man in his 30s was struck by a train on Wednesday, June 24 when he strayed close to train tracks running alongside a ring-road on the outskirts of Annecy.
The newspaper said emergency services were called by the conductor of the local Leman Express service at around 8pm local time but had been unable to the man’s life. It added that the victim had been wearing a festival accreditation.
It later emerged on social media posts and animation specialized blog sites that the victim was 34-year-old animator Luis de la Rosa, who is also credited as Luis de la Rosa Obregón.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival confirmed the “tragic” death to Deadline and said Artistic Director Marcel Jean would give his condolences at the closing ceremony on Saturday.
According to an Instagram post, de la Rosa was attending Annecy’s MIFA market with his original project Ash Raider World.
Born and raised in Mexico, de la Rosa was based in Vancouver where he graduated with honors from Vancouver Film School.
According to his LinkedIn account, he had worked for numerous animation and games studios following his graduation in 2015, including Titmouse Inc., Petty Karma and Deluxe Animation.
“I was told animation wasn’t a viable career, but an existential crisis during college led me to drop out and pursue my true passion. Every success in animation is a testament to that choice,” he wrote in the intro to the account.
“Now, I focus on action projects, always pushing my skills further. Each step reminds me of how far I’ve come and how worth it it was to follow my dream.”
As news of de la Rosa’s death trickled into the festival, Annecy attendees who had crossed paths with the animator this year, posted messages of shock and sadness on the social networks.
