Luis De La Rosa, a Mexican animator known for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, was fatally struck by a train during a French film festival. He was 34.
The artist – who was credited on IMDb as Luis De La Rosa Obregon – died a “tragic” death on June 24 in Annecy, France, where he was attending the Annecy International Animation Film Festival with his own project, Ash Raider World, the festival confirmed to Deadline.
The New York Daily News has reached out to the festival – which began June 21 and runs through June 27, where Artistic Director Marcel Jean will offer his condolences.
De La Rosa’s death was first reported by Le Dauphine Libere, though the French outlet initially identified the victim as a man in his 30s, rather than naming him.
Per Deadline, the outlet said that the victim, who was wearing festival accreditation, walked closely to the tracks outside Annecy when he was struck by a local train, the conductor of which contacted emergency services around 8pm local time.
Banjo, the social media administrator of the Ash Raider World Instagram, thanked followers “for the kind messages and prayers regarding the passing of our director, Luis.”
“It was a tragic and all too sudden event, especially being the sheer giant he was in our industry,” Banjo continued. “He will be missed and remembered through all the friends and art he created.”
Banjo said that in coming days, they would share “one more advice reel” from De La Rosa, which would be the account’s last post: “I wish we could have done more together.”
In the About section of his LinkedIn, De La Rosa wrote that he began pursuing his craft and “true passion” during “an existential crisis” in college.
After animating for 2017’s My Little Pony: The Movie, De la Rosa was credited as the key animator across six 2019 episodes of Carmen Sandiego, as well as nearly a dozen episodes of Animaniacs between 2020 and 2021.
In the interim, he also animated for Space Jam: A New Legacy, the hotly anticipated Space Jam sequel, starring Zendaya and Michael B. Jordan. At the time of his death, he was animating a short, Axolodyssey. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
