Big Hero 6 ’ Writer Daniel Gerson Dead at 49 

Gerson (right) with his frequent collaborator Robert L. Baird (left)

Mondays are sucky enough, but this news sucks even harder.

co-writer Daniel Gerson has died. According to his family, he passed away this Saturday at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with brain cancer. He was 49.

You may not have heard of him before, but you may have seen the films he worked on.

Gerson was raised as a third-generation New Yorker on the Upper West Side. He attended Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, and then went to Cornell University. He would eventually receive his Masters degree from NYU film school.

After he began his career writing for shows like ABC’s

with Andrew Stanton. While not exactly credited for the screenplays, he—and his future screenwriting partner Robert L. Baird, who he met in 1998—would contribute material as assistants to a number of other films like

Gerson and Baird would later make their first screenwriting collaboration (with Dan Scanlon) on

with Jordan Roberts. On top of all that, he also did a few voice roles. He voiced minor characters in both

Gerson, a BAFTA winner and three-time Annie Award nominee, had this to say about the challenges of writing a prequel in a 2013 interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

“We had never written a prequel, and when we looked at the prequels out there, there weren’t that many, and the ones that were out there weren’t great. The challenge was, how do we get people to come along on this journey even though they know where we’re ending up? … If we’ve done our job, the audience will get so invested it’s still going to be somewhat of a surprise.”

, where he contributed material with Baird. He was co-writing the screenplay for

He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Beau Stacom; their children Claire and Asher; his parents Mary-Joan and Charles; his sister Jessica and her children Daisy and Henry.

We offer our deepest condolences to the family at this time.

What was your favorite film that Daniel Gerson worked on?

Aww!!!… RIP. Definitely sending Don Hall and the rest of the BH6 team a condolence letter in the mail, as nobody writes letters anymore (and it gives me something to do that’s not in front of the computer on this snowy day in Connecticut!)

Well, on a positive note, they’re gonna make a Frozen Christmas Special!

I’m not a big Frozen fan but should be maybe a little interesting.

WHAT IS UP WITH THESE EARLY 2016 DEATHS!! And this really is just tragic to hear too and I pray for his family and the crew who worked on Big Hero 6 too

Might get a Mass said for him, too. I hope they dedicate Zootopia in his memory (and Morgan should send the funeral home flowers on behalf of the Rotoscopers!)

So sad! We lost a great Pixar legend John Pete and Andrew will most surely be attending his funeral!

Omygod plz COMMAS I thought John, Pete, and Andrew were dead!!

At least the last film he worked on got awarded for the labor he made for it. Such a shame for him to die like that. My dad had a battle with cancer and I’m grateful that he’s still with us.

Rest In Peace Daniel Gerson. Your spirit will live forever in Disney and Pixar!

Another honorable member of the Disney family gone but his spirit will live on forever!

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