Luis de la Rosa, a Mexican animator whose credits include “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” died Wednesday evening after being struck by a train near the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. He was 34.
Annecy festival organizers confirmed his death to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, two days after the incident. French regional newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré, which first reported the death, said de la Rosa was walking along railroad tracks near Avenue Aristide-Briand, in a fenced-off area closed to the public, when he was hit by a Léman Express train around 8 p.m. Emergency crews could not save him, and police have opened an investigation into the circumstances.
De la Rosa had written about the unconventional path that led him into 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,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post describing his career.
Born in Mexico in 1991, de la Rosa moved to Vancouver and trained at Vancouver Film School before building a decade-long career as a 2D animator. He worked at studios including Titmouse, WildBrain, Atomic Cartoons and Chaos Emporium, contributing to “Carmen Sandiego,” “Animaniacs,” “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” and, according to several outlets, “My Little Pony: The Movie.” He had come to Annecy this year to present an original project, “Ash Raider World,” at the festival’s industry marketplace, Mifa, according to an Instagram post tied to the project.
News of his death spread through the festival and across social media this week, with animators and colleagues who had met him at this year’s event posting tributes online.
Annecy is set to close Saturday, and organizers plan to honor de la Rosa during the closing ceremony, with artistic director Marcel Jean expected to speak and show clips from his career. The festival, marking its 50th edition, opened June 21 with the premiere of “Minions & Monsters” and runs through the weekend at venues across the French town, including the newly opened Cité internationale du cinéma d’animation.
