Michael John Roberts, the Canadian animator, director, and producer known for his work on adult animated series including Netflix’s BoJack Horseman and Comedy Central’s TripTank, died on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at his home in Los Angeles. Following a brief illness with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain tumor, Roberts passed away peacefully surrounded by his family, including his wife, actress Bree Williamson. While Variety reported in the body of its coverage that Roberts was 46, multiple industry publications—including Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and TheWrap—report that he was 48, aligning with his December 20, 1977 birth date cited by Animation Magazine.

Across a career spanning nearly three decades, Roberts built a reputation as an adaptable visual storyteller and technical innovator.

Though he began in children's programming, he became a prominent force in the 2010s streaming and cable adult animation boom, working extensively with the production company ShadowMachine before returning to major family franchises in his final years.

Tributes From Family and the Animation Community

News of Roberts’ passing prompted immediate tributes from his family and industry peers, who highlighted both his quiet observational humor and his relentless experimentation with animation techniques. In a public statement shared with trade outlets, his family remembered him as an artist whose creative instincts shaped every facet of his daily life.

“Michael saw the world a little differently. A gifted artist with an extraordinary talent, he could find something worth exploring in what others might overlook,” his family stated. “He was drawn to things with character, substance, and a story beneath the surface. For Michael, the most interesting part of anything was often what you discovered by looking a little closer.

He never needed to be the center of attention, though he could command it when the moment suited him. More often, he was content observing with a quiet curiosity and an artist’s eye.”

Addressing the sudden onset of his diagnosis, the family added, “We were supposed to have more time. More conversations over a good cup of coffee. More spirited debates about matters both profound and wonderfully insignificant. Although his illness came suddenly and the time that followed was heartbreakingly short, it cannot define the man he was. His life is better remembered through what he created, the conversations he inspired, the friendships he nurtured, and the love he gave so freely to those closest to him.”

Reflecting his personal passions and sense of humor, his obituary noted that in lieu of flowers or donations, loved ones should “save your money and buy a cool car, that’s what Michael would have wanted.”

Within the animation community, colleagues pointed to his technical contributions. Aubry Mintz, Executive Director of ASIFA-Hollywood and an animation professor at the Cal State Long Beach School of Art, shared a tribute on Facebook detailing their collaborations, which included the steampunk short Airship Dracula starring Alan Tudyk. According to Animation Magazine, Mintz credited Roberts as a pioneer in rigging and digital movement.

“Mike found a way to stay incredibly nice and positive even when having twist and turns in his own career and life. You would never find Mike resting on his laurels — I would often get late night texts from him to check his new animation tests as he innovated by combining traditional and digital media,” Mintz wrote.

“He was one of the first to use IK [inverse-kinematics] puppets in his animation and developed his own style which has been replicated many times. The guy was a visionary. He was never satisfied at stopping and always had endless iterations. He was the classic example of the Chuck Jones mantra ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned.’”

Early Career: From Toronto to Los Angeles

Born and raised in Toronto to mother Wendy, a doctor, and father Teddy, a mechanic, Roberts initially harbored ambitions of becoming a comic book artist. His trajectory shifted in childhood after watching a 1980s sci-fi classic. As he recounted in a 2021 interview cited by The Hollywood Reporter, “Somewhere in there I found out that they did the lightning bolts on the DeLorean in Back to the Future by hand and decided that was the job for me!”

He went on to study animation at Sheridan College in Ontario, moving up the ranks from junior animator to storyboard artist and director.

After working across production hubs in Toronto, New York, and London, he settled in Los Angeles during the late 1990s. His earliest television credits were rooted in children’s entertainment for Canada’s Decode Entertainment, including the cutout-animated series Angela Anaconda and the live-action/animation hybrid The Hoobs, the latter co-produced with The Jim Henson Company. He also worked as an animator on the 2006 documentary-style feature Tales of Rat Fink.

Shaping the 2010s Adult Animation Wave

Roberts transitioned to adult-oriented comedy in the 2010s, forming a productive relationship with the Los Angeles animation studio ShadowMachine. From 2014 to 2016, he co-created, co-produced, and directed all 28 installments of Comedy Central’s anthology sketch series TripTank.

The show showcased a wide variety of animation styles and featured an expansive voice cast that included Bob Odenkirk, Larry David, Niecy Nash, Zach Galifianakis, Kumail Nanjiani, Curtis Armstrong, and Wayne Brady.

During that same period, Roberts left a permanent mark on one of streaming television's flagship adult comedies. In 2015, he animated and directed the signature opening title sequence for Netflix’s BoJack Horseman—which tracks the titular character drifting somberly through his daily Hollywood routine—and directed two episodes of the Will Arnett and Aaron Paul-led series. He later designed the opening sequence for the reboot of Clone High.

His directing portfolio expanded rapidly across cable and streaming platforms. In 2017, he directed four episodes of Bill Burr’s Netflix comedy F Is for Family. The following year, he served as the supervising director on the first season of the TBS sci-fi comedy-drama Final Space.

Also in 2018, Roberts created the eight-episode buddy comedy Dallas & Robo for YouTube Red. Starring John Cena and Kat Dennings, the series leaned into Roberts' affinity for science fiction; he once described the project as “Smokey and the Bandit in space.” In 2023, he served as supervising director and helmed all 10 episodes of the Apple TV+ series Strange Planet, co-created by Dan Harmon and Nathan W. Pyle.

Commercials, Music Videos, and Recent Franchise Work

Outside of long-form television, Roberts directed commercial campaigns for major brands including Honda, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, ABC Television, and Pulse Electric Scooters. He also directed music videos for Canadian rock acts The Pack AD and The Sadies. In 2012, his six-minute animated Western short for The Sadies' track “Rumbleseat” won the Juno Award for Video of the Year.

In the final years of his career, Roberts returned to kid-focused and all-ages entertainment, taking on high-level leadership roles for major toy and digital franchises.

Collaborating with Mattel Television and Netflix, he served as creative producer and executive producer on the 2024 series Hot Wheels Let’s Race and its 2026 television special, Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Attack of the T-Rex. He also served as an executive producer and showrunner on Masters of the Universe: Tales from Eternia, directing a 2026 episode of the series. Additionally, he directed the first season of MrBeast Lab—returning as a writer and consulting producer for its second season—and directed the pilot for Backyard Sports: The Animated Special.

In addition to his wife, Bree Williamson—known for her decade-long role as Jessica Buchanan on One Life to Live as well as appearances on Gossip Girl—Roberts is survived by their teenage son, McGreggor; his parents, Teddy and Wendy; his sister, Jane Roberts; his niece, Gwen, and nephew, Vaughan; and his cousin Hrothgar Cashmore, whom he regarded as a brother, along with Hrothgar's wife, Emily, and their children, Evie and Lili.

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