Pixar Studios animator Bud Luckey, designer of Toy Story’s Woody, dies aged 83

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

On Saturday, William Luckey, also known as Bud Luckey, US animator who designed Pixar Animation Studios’ Toy Story character Sheriff Woody, died in a hospital in Newton, Connecticut; his son Andy Luckey announced the death via a Facebook post. Bud Luckey was 83 years old.

Luckey was born in Billings, Montana on July 28, 1934. He was known for animating counting songs for Sesame Street in collaboration with music of Turk Murphy and lyrics by Donald Hadley. In 1992, Luckey joined Pixar. “He was the fifth animator hired here at Pixar”, Pixar’s animating chief John Lasseter once noted.

He designed Sheriff Woody for Pixar’s first feature film Toy Story which was released in 1995. He also voiced Rick Dicker in Pixar’s 2004 movie The Incredibles and Chuckles the Clown in 2010’s Toy Story 3. Luckey had also designed characters for other Pixar movies including A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc. and Cars. He also voiced Eeyore, the donkey, in 2011’s Disney movie Winnie the Pooh.

In 2004, Bud Luckey was nominated for an Academy Award for Boundin’, a short film he wrote, directed, narrated, and sang. He received the Annie Award for that five-minute short. Luckey retired as an animator in 2008, but kept working as a voice artist until 2014.

Pixar’s official Twitter handle tweeted: “Thank you, Bud Luckey, to infinity and beyond. (July 28, 1934 – February 24, 2018)”. Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3 and Coco, tweeted, “So sad to hear that Bud Luckey passed away today. He voiced Chuckles in Toy Story 3, but that was the least of his many amazing accomplishments. A tweet is not sufficient to sing his praises.”