Television producer and animator Michael John Roberts died Wednesday following a brief battle with glioblastoma. He was 48.
The Canadian director and producer died in his Los Angeles home.
He was best known for his work on adult animated comedies including Comedy Central’s “TripTank” and Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman.” He also directed episodes of “F Is for Family,” starring Bill Burr, and served as the supervising director on the first season of the TBS animated comedy-drama Final Space in 2018.
“Michael saw the world a little differently. A gifted artist with an extraordinary talent, he could find something worth exploring in what others might overlook. His creativity was not limited to what he put on paper; it shaped the way he thought, questioned, and understood the world around him,” his obituary read.
“Although his illness came suddenly and the time that followed was heartbreakingly short, it cannot define the man he was,” it continued. “His life is better remembered through what he created, the conversations he inspired, the friendships he nurtured, and the love he gave so freely to those closest to him.”
In lieu of flowers and donations, his family asked that loved ones “save your money and buy a cool car, that’s what Michael would have wanted.”
Roberts started his career in children’s animated television working on “The Hoobs” and “Angela Anaconda” as an animator. From 2014 to 2016, he worked as an animator, director and co-producer of “TripTank” for Comedy Central.
Around the same time, he directed two episodes and the opening sequence for Season 2 of “BoJack Horseman” as well as four episodes of “F Is for Family.”
His most recent credits marked a return to children’s animation with “Hot Wheels Let’s Race” for Netflix, “MrBeast Lab” and “Backyard Sports: The Animated Special.”
Roberts was survived by his wife actress Bree Williamson, his son McGreggor and sister Jane Roberts, among others.
