William L. Snyder(1918-1998)
- Producer
- Additional Crew
William L. Snyder was one of the first Americans to conduct business in
post-war Central Europe, setting up Rembrandt Films in 1949 for the
purpose of film importation. The first film imported, receiving
critical acclaim in the US, was Czech "Cisaruv slavik"
(1951) (q.v.) [The Emperor's Nightingale], directed by Jiri Trnka with added
narration by Boris Karloff. He also imported the French classic "Le
Ballon rouge" (1956) (q.v.) [The Red Balloon]. In 1959 he joined
animator Gene Deitch (former head of UPA Studies, NY) producing
cartoons in Prague. They received five Oscar nominations, winning for
best animated short subject with "Munro" (1960) (q.v.), a Jules Feiffer
tale about a 4-year-old drafted into the army. Rembrandt also pioneered
in animating well-know children's books. He died, aged 80, at the
Adventist Nursing Home in Livingston, NY, survived by his wife, two
daughters Trinka and Dana, and four grandchildren.
