Pete Kozachik, a visual effects and stop-motion artist whose work on acclaimed animated films by Tim Burton, Henry Selick and others brought recognition and an Oscar nomination, died Sept.
12 at his California home in the Bay Area following a years-long battle with aphasia and primary progressive aphasia. He was 72.
His death was first announced on Tucson’s NBC affiliate station KVOA. Kozachik attended high school and college in Tucson, and his brother Steve Kozachik is vice mayor of the city.
While best known for his Oscar-nominated work on 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Selick and produced by Burton, Kozachik launched his career in 1984 on the sci-fi film Dreamscape starring Dennis Quad.
Read more on deadline.com