Morton Schindel, founder of Weston Woods Studios, a company that adapts children’s into audiovisual materials, has died. He was 98 years old.
Schindel developed the style of filmmaking, in which the camera pans across an original artwork brining the still from children’s books to life. In his career, Schindel produced more than 300 motion pictures and 450 recordings which are housed in school and library collections around the globe.
“Mort Schindel not only founded the art form and business of creating films based on outstanding children’s books, he also helped generations of teachers and librarians understand how they could reach more children with these great stories through the medium of film, video and television,” stated Richard Robinson, chairman, president and CEO of Scholastic. “He pioneered this important art form by working with hundreds of authors and illustrators including Maurice Sendak, William Steig , and Robert McCloskey, winning their support by making creative films like Where the Wild Things Are, Blueberries for Sal, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and The Amazing Bone which adhered absolutely to the spirit and story of the original printed work.”
Follow this link to watch a film of Schindel explaining his technique.