View source for Alexander Williams (cartoonist)

{{Short description|English cartoonist and animator}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Alexander Williams
| image            = AlexB&W.jpg
| image_size       = 220
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|10|18}}
| birth_place      = London, England
| father = [[Richard Williams (animator)|Richard Williams]]
| field            = Animation, [[cartoon]]s
| movement         = 
| works            = [[Queen's Counsel (comic strip)|Queen's Counsel]]
| patrons          = 
| influenced by    = 
| influenced       = 
| awards           = 
| website          = [http://www.alex-williams.com/ Alex Williams Animation]
| education        = [[Westminster School]]
| alma_mater       = [[Merton College, Oxford]]
}}

'''Alexander Williams''' (born 18 October 1967 in London) is an English [[cartoonist]] and animator. He is the son of animator [[Richard Williams (animator)|Richard Williams]]. He has worked on many animated films, and is the author of the ''[[Queen's Counsel (comic strip)|Queen's Counsel]]'' cartoon strip in ''[[The Times]]'', for which he was awarded the [[Cartoon Art Trust Awards|Cartoon Art Trust Award]] for Strip Cartooning in October 2017.

==Early life==
Williams was born in London in 1967, the son of Canadian animator Richard Williams.<ref>Mazurkewitch, p.234</ref> He played the voice of [[Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)|Tiny Tim]] in his father's 1971 television adaptation of ''[[A Christmas Carol (1971 film)|A Christmas Carol]]''.<ref name="IMDB"/><ref name="Andersonp86">Anderson, Ross, ''Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat'', University Press of Mississippi (2019), p.86</ref> He was educated at [[Westminster School]], [[Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts]], and [[Merton College]], [[Oxford]].

==Career==
In 1987 Williams was 20 years old and in his first year of studies at the [[University of Oxford]] when he started work as an [[Inbetweening|in-betweener]] on ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'', working under animator [[Simon Wells]] and later as an assistant animator to Marc Gordon-Bates. Williams initially worked unpaid as an intern, and was later invited by producer Patsy de Lord to work on the film full-time.<ref name="Andersonp289">Anderson, Ross, ''Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat'', University Press of Mississippi (2019), p.289</ref> The university agreed to his taking a suspension of studies for a year.<ref name="Andersonp86"/> The following year, in 1988, he joined the [[Disney's Hollywood Studios|Disney-MGM Studio]] in Orlando, Florida, working on the short film [[Roger Rabbit short films|RollerCoaster Rabbit]].<ref name="Andersonp145">Anderson, Ross, ''Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat'', University Press of Mississippi (2019), p.145</ref>

===Cartoons===
[[File:Sir Geoffrey Bentwood QC.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sir Geoffrey Bentwood QC, one of the ''Queen's Counsel'' characters]] In 1993 Williams and [[Graham Francis Defries]] created the comic strip ''[[Queen's Counsel (comic strip)|Queen's Counsel]]'', a satire on law and lawyers, published in the law pages of ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper, under the pseudonyms Steuart and Francis.<ref>[http://www.qccartoon.com/ ''Queen's Counsel'' Official Website] Retrieved June 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.flipanimation.net/fliplissue12.htm Interview at Flip magazine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320170427/http://www.flipanimation.net/fliplissue12.htm |date=20 March 2012 }} Retrieved June 2011</ref> At the time, Williams and Defries were working as research assistants for [[Member of parliament|Members of Parliament]] at the [[House of Commons]].<ref>''The Jester'', Issue 463, p.17</ref><ref name="Andersonp289"/>

A number of collections of the cartoons have been published by [[Robson Books]] and [[HarperCollins]].<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alex-Steuart-Williams/e/B003CFSPUW ''Queen's Counsel'' at www.amazon.co.uk] Retrieved June 2011</ref>

Williams also drew ''[[Writer's Block (comic strip)|Writer's Block]]'', a cartoon strip published in the books section of ''[[The Times]]'' from 2005–6, and ''[[The Dealers (comic strip)|The Dealers]]'', published in ''[[Tatler (1901)|The Tatler]]'' from 1994–95.<ref>[http://www.alex-williams.com/index.php?page=showart&ID1=5&ID2=3 The Dealers at www.alex.williams.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725110549/http://www.alex-williams.com/index.php?page=showart&ID1=5&ID2=3 |date=25 July 2011 }} Retrieved June 2011</ref> He also illustrated the characters for the Baby Barista blog by fellow ex-barrister [[Tim Kevan]].<ref>[http://www.babybarista.com/ Baby Barista Blog] Retrieved June 2011</ref>

===Animation===
[[File:TheGreatEggscape 0005 LoRez.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Design by Williams for [[The Big Egg Hunt]].]]
Williams was a [[barrister]] at 12 King's Bench Walk Chambers in London before leaving in 1996 to pursue a full-time career in film animation,<ref>[http://www.leavinglaw.com//136UserExp83.aspx Interview with Williams at www.leavinglaw.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325185951/http://www.leavinglaw.com//136UserExp83.aspx |date=25 March 2012 }} Retrieved June 2011</ref> joining [[Warner Bros. Animation|Warner Bros Feature Animation]], where he was lead animator on the villain "Ruber", voiced by [[Gary Oldman]], in ''[[Quest for Camelot]]''. Williams gave the character a "nervous twitch", a "wrestler's strut" and "big hands with broken nails that look creepy on close-ups".<ref>Mazurkewitch, p.255-6</ref>

His work as an animator includes ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' (1988), ''[[The Princess and the Cobbler]]'' (1993), ''[[The Lion King]]'' (1994), ''Quest for Camelot'' (1998), ''[[The Iron Giant]]'' (1999), ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]'' (2000), ''[[Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron]]'' (2002), ''[[Piglet's Big Movie]]'', ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]'' (2003), ''[[Robots (2005 film)|Robots]]'' (2005) and ''[[Open Season (2006 film)|Open Season]]'' (2006).<ref name="IMDB">[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0929989/ Williams at IMDB.com] Retrieved June 2011</ref>

Williams has also worked on [[visual effects]] in ''[[Racing Stripes]]'' (2005), ''[[Monster House (film)|Monster House]]'' (2006), ''[[Underdog (2007 film)|Underdog]]'' (2007), ''[[Beverly Hills Chihuahua]]'', ''[[Inkheart (film)|Inkheart]]'' (2008), ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' (2009), ''[[Marmaduke (2010 film)|Marmaduke]]'' (2010) and ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'' (2010)<ref name="IMDB"/>

He has contributed designs to Deckchair Dreams, a fundraising event organised by the [[Royal Parks Foundation]] in support of the London [[Royal Parks]].<ref>[http://www.deckchairdreams.org/alex_williams.htm Deckchair Dreams] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330160937/http://www.deckchairdreams.org/alex_williams.htm |date=30 March 2012 }} Retrieved September 2011</ref> In 2012 he contributed a design for [[The Big Egg Hunt]], a charity fundraiser billed as the world's largest ever [[Easter egg hunt]].<ref>[http://auction.thebigegghunt.co.uk/lots/the-great-eggscape-by-alex-williams The Big Egg Hunt Official Website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306103755/http://auction.thebigegghunt.co.uk/lots/the-great-eggscape-by-alex-williams |date=6 March 2012 }} Retrieved March 2012</ref>

===Teaching===
He lives in London and teaches at various academies and studios including [[Escape Studios]], however now tutors animation at Bucks New University in High Wycombe as a senior lecturer.<ref>[http://www.escapestudios.co.uk/alex-williams/ Escape Studios website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709200445/http://www.escapestudios.co.uk/alex-williams |date=9 July 2011 }} Retrieved June 2011</ref><ref>[https://bucks.ac.uk/whoswho/profile/alexander_williams Bucks new Uni Website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518093551/https://bucks.ac.uk/whoswho/profile/alexander_williams |date=18 May 2015 }} Retrieved May 2015</ref>

Williams has also founded the world's first online based MA in animation at Buckinghamshire New University, beginning in September 2015.<ref>[http://bucks.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/MT13DA9/ Bucks Online MA in Animation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420082611/http://bucks.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/MT13DA9/ |date=20 April 2015 }} Retrieved May 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.alex-williams.com/blog/worlds-first-online-ma-animation.html Worlds first online MA in Animation] Retrieved May 2015</ref>

In 2012 he founded an online animation school, [[Animation Apprentice]].<ref>[http://www.animationapprentice.org Animation Apprentice Official Site] Retrieved August 2012</ref>

==Published work==
* ''Queen's Counsel – A Libellous Look at The law'', Robson Books, 1995
* ''Queen's Counsel – Judgment Day'', Robson Books, 1996
* ''Queen's Counsel – Laying Down the Law'', Times Books, 1997
* ''The Times – Best of Queen's Counsel'', Times Books, 1999
* ''Lawyers Uncovered – Everything you always wanted to know but didn't want to pay £500 an hour to find out'', JR Books, 2007
* ''101 Ways to Leave the Law'', JR Books, September 2009<ref>[https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/analysis/101-ways-to-leave-the-law/52725.article Review of 101 Ways to Leave the Law at The Law Society Gazette] Retrieved 14 August 2019</ref>
* ''101 Uses for a Useless Banker''. JR books, September 2009<ref>[http://www.cityam.com/the-capitalist/exbarrister-finds-raft-uses-citys-useless-bankers Review of ''101 Uses of a Useless Banker'' at City AM] Retrieved June 2011</ref>
* ''The Queen's Counsel Official Lawyers' Handbook'', Robson Press October 2011<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1849541701 The ''Queen's Counsel Official Lawyers' Handbook'' at www.amazon.co.uk] Retrieved September 2011</ref>
* ''The Queen's Counsel Lawyer's Omnibus'', Law Brief Publishing, 1 October 2013<ref>[http://www.lawbriefpublishing.com/2013/10/introducing-the-queens-counsel-lawyers-omnibus-the-most-entertaining-legal-book-of-the-year/ Law Brief Publishing] Retrieved 5 October 2013</ref>
* ''For a Few Guineas More - The Legal Year in Cartoons'', Law Brief Publishing, 13 December 2019<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Few-Guineas-More-Legal-Cartoons/dp/1912687569/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=for+a+few+guineas+more&qid=1575381740&sr=8-1 Retrieved 3 December 2019]</ref>

==References==
* Nelker, Gladys P, The Clan Steuart, Genealogical publishing, 1970
* Mazurkewitch, Karen, ''Cartoon Capers, The Adventures of Canadian Animators'', MacArthur & Co, Toronto (1999) {{ISBN|1-55278-093-7}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0929989|name=Alexander Williams}} Retrieved June 2011
* ''The Jester'' Monthly Magazine of The [[Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain]], Issue 463, March 2013
* [https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117963634?refCatId=13 News item at Variety.com] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003575507/ News item at Hollywood Reporter]{{dead link|date=August 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Retrieved June 2011
* [http://www.awn.com/news/films/animation-lab-produce-first-cgi-feature-israel News item at AWN.com] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://www.standard.co.uk/business/secrets-of-my-success-hollywood-animator-alex-williams-a3576291.html Interview at the Evening Standard] Retrieved July 2017

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.alex-williams.com/ Williams' Official Website] Retrieved June 2011
* [http://www.qccartoon.com/ ''Queen's Counsel'' Official Website] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110306153356/http://www.escapestudios.co.uk/find-a-3d-character-animation-course/ Escape Studios animation course] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1906217084/ Lawyers Uncovered – a collection of Queen's Counsel cartoons at Amazon.com] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070208015635/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/ ''Queen's Counsel'' at The Times Online] (subscription only) Retrieved June 2011
* [http://www.skwigly.co.uk/an-interview-with-alex-williams/ Interview with Williams] at [[Skwigly (magazine)|Skwigly]] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320170421/http://www.flipanimation.net/fliplissue29.htm Interview with Williams at Flip magazine] Retrieved June 2011
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110715040813/http://www.imagineanimation.net/features/financing-independents/12023 transcript of lecture by Williams at Imagine Magazine website] Retrieved June 2011
* [http://www.animationapprentice.org Online Animation School] Retrieved September 2012

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Alexander}}
[[Category:English animators]]
[[Category:British animators]]
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Artists from London]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:English cartoonists]]
[[Category:British comic strip cartoonists]]
[[Category:Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts]]
[[Category:English comics artists]]
[[Category:British people of Canadian descent]]
[[Category:DreamWorks Animation people]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. Animation people]]