Leo D. Sullivan, animator who created opening sequence on ‘Soul Train,’ dead at 82

Leo D. Sullivan, a pioneering Black animation artist who created the opening sequence on “Soul Train” and contributed to cartoons featuring Fat Albert, Transformers and My Little Pony, died March 25. He was 82.

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Sullivan, who worked as an animator for more than five decades, died of heart failure at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center, his wife Ethelyn Sullivan confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.

The Emmy Award-winning animator also contributed to several television series, including “The Incredible Hulk,” “Flash Gordon,” “BraveStarr” and “Scooby-Doo,” according to the newspaper.

During the 1970s, Sullivan designed the cartoon steam locomotive that chugged on the tracks at the beginning of the television dance show, “Soul Train.” He also helped develop and animate the 1969 television movie special, “Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert,” according to his official biography on AfroKids.com.

Sullivan, a native of Lockhart, Texas, moved to Los Angeles in 1952, Variety reported. He ran errands for “Looney Tunes” animator Bob Clampett. During the 1960s he joined Floyd Norman, the first Black animator at Disney, and co-founded Vignette Film, which created educational films about historic Black figures, according to the entertainment news website.

Sullivan was honored by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1979 and 1991, the Times reported.

He also produced commercials for Jamaican ad agencies, managed supervisors for animation studios in Asia, published a video game that honored the Tuskegee Airmen and taught classes in 2-D and digital animation at the Art Institute of California-Orange County, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sullivan also worked on “I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali,” “The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle,” “The Flintstones,” “Flash Gordon,” “Pac-Man,” “SuperFriends,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Tiny Toons.”

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