FINDING NEMO - FINDING NEMO ANIMATOR DIES AT AGE 35

FINDING NEMO's lead animator DAN LEE has died at the age of 35 after a 17-month battle with lung cancer.

The PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIO's employee passed away on 15 January (05) at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, California - after enjoying an illustrious career working as a sketch artist, character designers and animator on a range of top cartoons including A BUGS LIFE and TOY STORY 2.

Finding Nemo's director ANDREW STANTON says, "Dan was a longtime member of our Pixar family. He single-handedly designed Nemo and has been a major influence at Pixar.

"Dan was a wonderful, irreplaceable, talented human being, and we miss him terribly."

Pixar's technical director CARMEN NGAI adds, "He was a very talented guy. I don't know if he knew how actually talented he was."