Many of you may not know who he is, but an extremely talented animator by the name of Monty Oum died. He went into a coma after suffering an allergic reaction to a medication for a simple medical procedure. He died at the age of 33 surrounded by loved ones, and at no point felt pain, according to a close friend and colleague of Monty, Matt Hullum. I'm not here to give a full report on his death, instead I would much rather talk about Monty's outstanding achievements and creations.
Monty became very well known through his animation, HALOID, which he nearly single-handedly created back in 2007. He created a creative, well choreographed, action-packed and visually stunning piece of work that got Monty a job two months later as a combat-designer at Midway Games. He was later hired by Namco Bandai Games and worked on Afro Samurai as a combat-designer and animator.
While this part of Monty's life did establish him as an animator and designer, more of his signature works came from his time at RoosterTeeth working with Burnie Burns. Monty animated and choreographed a renowned scene in Red Vs. Blue that really helped create a larger fanbase for the webshow, known as "Tex fights Reds and Blues." The mix of humor, creative use of the environment and just the fluidity and feeling of the scene makes every viewer incapable of looking away from the screen.
In 2012, RoosterTeeth announced that Monty would be the head of a show he created as well as the lead animator. The first trailer for the show, called RWBY (pronounced ruby), was astonishing. I was so excited about the show. The animation style, the concept, the fighting, even the characters outfits were all amazing. Three more subsequent trailers were released giving insights on the other three main characters, and they were equally well created. The show was eventually released one episode a week, and episode usually being about 10-12 minutes each.
I don't know when, but within a week of Monty's death, the full 2 finished seasons of RWBY were released on Netflix. After watching them, I went to do research on Monty and find out when the third season would be finished, only to find the news of his death on February 1. The show clearly had a much larger plot it wanted to explore, but the future of the series is currently unclear with the recent passing of Monty. Monty's fans and friends have been extremely supportive to his wife and family, donating $243,402 when $50,000 was requested for handling the hospital bill. Matt Hullum asked the fanbase in an online journal to, "In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that you simply do something creative. Use your imagination to make the world a better place in any way that you can." I do hope I fulfilled this request with this post, because the world has been robbed of the talent and the creativity of Monty.