The undisputed King of Indie Animation Guest of a Special Lecture at the School of Visual Arts
Bill Plympton, the King of Animation at IED Rome
Date
11 April 2026
On April 10, Bill Plympton, the undisputed king of indie animation, was a guest at IED Rome’s School of Visual Arts, where he delivered a special lecture dedicated to the behind-the-scenes process of creating and directing an animated film.
Plympton is a unique artist, capable of drawing entire feature films by hand, frame by frame. His style is defined by bold colors, jagged lines, and an unmistakable, sharply dark sense of humor.
Whether in his acclaimed short films or his iconic collaborations with The Simpsons, his work remains a deeply human and incisive cinematic experience.
The talk was organized in collaboration with Romics, the Festival of Comics and Animation, which awarded Plympton the iconic Romics d’Oro.
The masterclass proved highly inspiring for students from the Illustration and Animation, CG Animation and Game Design, and Cinema and Video Design courses. Following the lecture, they took the opportunity to ask the international guest a series of questions about animation and film direction.
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