Robert Stainton

Robert Wolfgang Günther Stainton (born September 2, 1952) is a German-American animator, director, inventor, and philanthropist. He is known for his work at Argosy Animation Studios, and as the creator of Stainton Labs. He invented the Rotanimation machine, as well as more recently VoxMutatio and the UltraStorage Disc. His daughter Crystal Stainton is also an inventor, but her ideas are more “experimental” and unlikely to be used in practice.

Biography
He was born in Chicago, IL on September 2, 1952 to a German father and an American mother. He created Stainton Labs in 1975, initially to produce animatronics. He created the Rotanimation machine in 1986. It was first used for a TV show in the obscure series “Jeff Jones”, which aired on cable-access TV in Chicago from 1989-1991, and was a live-action/animation hybrid.

Stainton was hired by Argosy Media in 1991, after an Argosy employee at the company’s Chicago satellite studio saw “Jeff Jones”. He was one of the head writers on The Aaron Show (1993-2006), made entirely using Rotanimation, and also served as creator Ellen Peck’s licensing agent. Stainton Labs was acquired by Argosy in 1998.