Pete Kozachik, one of the incredible minds who earned an Oscar nomination for his work on ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ has passed away.
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Just this week, we reported on the passing of a reality TV star from The Bachelorette, who died in a tragic accident, as well as the passing of Days of Our Lives star Billy Miller.
Related: Is Disney Making a Live Action Remake of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’?
Pete Kozachik, VFX Artist for The Nightmare Before Christmas, Passes Away
The visual effects artist Pete Kozachik, well-known for his stop-motion animation expertise, worked on films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Corpse Bride and Coraline, died aged 72.
Katy Moore-Kozachik, his wife, told The Hollywood Reporter that he suffered from “complications from primary progressive aphasia, a rare form of Alzheimer’s.” Kozachik passed away peacefully on Tuesday in hospice care at his home in Northern California.
RIP Pete Kozachik.
He was director of photography & visual effects supervisor on The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Corpse Bride, and Coraline. https://t.co/AG9Lib4qNO
His memories about The Nightmare Before Christmas :https://t.co/RUAUeE2QAj
He was 72. pic.twitter.com/pR7ytiMFoV— Catsuka (@catsuka) September 18, 2023
Pete Kozachik’s Extensive Work & Academy Award Nomination
His portfolio is extensive. Koazachik worked on Ghostbusters II (1989), operating a stop-motion camera, and was director of miniature photography on Starship Troopers (1997). He was also a visual effects cameraman on Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (2002).
When it came to his work on The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick—Kozachik was director of photography on The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), both of which were produced by Tim Burton, and Coraline (2009).
He also worked with Tim Burton and co-director Mike Johnson once again on Corpse Bride in 2005.
Eric Leighton, Ariel Velasco-Shaw, and Gordon Baker shared Kozachik’s Oscar nomination for best visual effects for The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Kozachik published his memoir in 2021, entitled Tales From the Pumpkin King’s Cameraman.
Tim Burton wrote the foreword for the book and shared in it, “Watching him work was like seeing a giant hovering over a quiet village or a mad scientist in his laboratory, bringing inanimate objects to life; finding ways, both high-tech and low-tech, to solve problems; and delicately, tactically bringing the miniature sets to life.”
Burton continued, “Pete’s unique style gives you an insight into this special world and the weirdness, excitement, depression, humor, anger, loneliness, and creativity of it all.”
Pete Kozachik is survived by his wife of 21 years; his younger brother, Steve, vice mayor of Tucson, Arizona; sister-in-law Ann; and niece Kimberly.
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