Al Guest is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

animation producer. He was born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, and started his career there when he dropped out of the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

to pursue a career in films. A writer and fine artist, he has exhibited his paintings at many galleries in Winnipeg and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He is most known for his film work - especially animation - which he has written, produced, and directed in 10 studios on three continents.

Toronto

In Toronto he established both an animation studio and a live action production company. In the early 1960s Guest was called on by Sydney Banks, legendary Canadian broadcast and film pioneer, to help create the

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

(DGC). As related by Banks, the founding President, Guest was talked into becoming its first unelected secretary and persuaded to contribute the distinctive "director's chair" logo still in use by the DGC. Together with his partner, animator Jean Mathieson, Guest has produced more than 4,000 television commercials, theatrical shorts, television series and sponsored films, winning more than 100 awards. Although known primarily for animation, they have also produced and directed live action commercials with their company in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as well as live action TV shows in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Among their live productions produced in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

were 130 episodes of '' The Bonnie Prudden Show'' (U.S. syndication) and 195 episodes of '' The Ed Allen Show'' (U.S. syndication). Among their animated productions produced in Canada were: 78 episodes of ''

The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo ''The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo'' is a Canadian animated television series of five-minute cartoons produced in 1975 by Rainbow Animation in Toronto, Ontario. The series follows the underwater adventures of Captain Mark Nemo and his two ...

'', (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

) 52 episodes of ''

Rocket Robin Hood ''Rocket Robin Hood'' is a Canadian science fiction animated television series, placing the characters and conflicts of the classic Robin Hood legend in a futuristic, outer space setting. It was produced by Krantz Films, Inc. and aired on CBC Tele ...

'' (CBC & international syndication), 20 episodes of ''

The Toothbrush Family ''The Toothbrush Family'' is an Australian animated series featuring a group of anthropomorphic personal-care supplies. The series was first aired in 1977. The final episode aired in 1999. Concept and production Originally conceived by Marcia ...

'' (

), 20 episodes of '' The Sunrunners'' (

Education Channel) and 26 episodes of ''

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein ''The Hilarious House of Frightenstein'' is a Canadian children's television series, which was produced by Hamilton, Ontario's independent station CHCH-DT, CHCH-TV in 1971."Fit and 40: CHCH Channel 11 was built on one man's dream, big-name movies ...

'' (U.S. syndication) and the half hour

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

special '' Ukaliq''. The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo ran in Quebec as '' Capitaine Mark Simon''.

Hollywood

Subsequently, they moved to

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

where they designed and built a complete motion-control system and produced special effects for numerous commercials and the films ''

Alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

'', ''

Any Which Way You Can ''Any Which Way You Can'' is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Buddy Van Horn and starring Clint Eastwood, with Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, William Smith, and Ruth Gordon in supporting roles. The film is the sequel to the 1978 ...

'', ''

Body Heat Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...

'', and ''

One from the Heart ''One from the Heart'' is a 1982 American musical romantic drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raúl Juliá, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton, the film fo ...

'', for which they also produced the logo animation for

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

's Zoetrope Studios.

Dublin

On the recommendation and financing of their New York distributor, Don Taffner, they went to

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and partnered in setting up a major animation facility, Emerald City Productions, from scratch in a country that had no animation history. Providing the design and specifications for a complete reconstruction of the premises, supervising all purchasing and installation of the equipment as well as designing the furniture, they set about to recruit and train the entire staff, from animators and background artists to camera operators and editors. The studio was set in DunLaoghaire. While training the staff, Al Guest and Jean Mathieson wrote, produced and directed all the studio's output including the following one-hour specials based on classic books: ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' (

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

), ''

Ghost Stories From The Pickwick Papers In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent ...

'' (Syndication), ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' (

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

), ''

Ben-Hur Ben-Hur or Ben Hur may refer to: Fiction *'' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', an 1880 novel by American general and author Lew Wallace ** ''Ben-Hur'' (play), a play that debuted on Broadway in 1899 ** ''Ben Hur'' (1907 film), a one-reel silent ...

'' (Syndication), ''

Les Miserables LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...

'' (

), ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

'' (Syndication), ''

The Canterville Ghost "The Canterville Ghost" is a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts as "The Canterville Ghost – A Hylo-Idealistic Romance: The Redemptive Heroine" in '' The Court and S ...

'' (Syndication), ''

Around the World in Eighty Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate ...

'' (Syndication), ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is an adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. ...

'' (with

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

, Canada), and '' Brer Rabbit Tales'' (Syndication).

Manila, Hong Kong & Guangzhou

After commuting from L.A. to their

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

studio every six weeks for four years, they sold the studio to an English company and moved to

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. There they were commissioned by Syd Banks, to write a live action motion picture screenplay based on the life of Emily Brontë, '' Emily's Story - Wuthering Heights'', to be produced by Denis Heroux, the producer of '' The Black Robe'' and ''

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

''. Their animation activity did not stop however, and they wrote, directed and produced '' Brer Rabbit's Xmas Carol'', '' The Outrageous Adventures of Brer Rabbit'', and '' Mighty Bigfoot'', for which they also designed all the characters. These productions were all made with studios in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

and

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, which necessitated numerous trips to the studios by Guest & Mathieson to maintain their "hands-on" production style. The animated commercials they produced during this period were all done in L.A. on their computers.

Los Angeles

In 1998 they were appointed to the faculty of Mount San Antonio College in the new Digital Animation Production course where they taught courses in Animation Principles - Beginning and Advanced, Inbetweening, Storyboard, Layout, Animation script writing, Drawing the Figure in Motion, and CGI Environment (

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

). Although certified as professors at Mount San Antonio College, they left teaching after a year to produce and direct a trailer section of their script - '' Emily's Story - Wuthering Heights'', as a combination live-action & CGI production.

Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou & Suzhou

In 2000, Guest & Mathieson spent 13 months directing and producing '' Flutemaster''. A ground-breaking animated series originating in California and produced in China, it was a hit running Prime Time on the Chinese network CCTV, where, as one of the most popular programs ever aired, it reached an audience of 140 million viewers during its broadcast in 2004. Guest and Mathieson designed characters, the logo, and art directed the "look" of the series and its promotion. They also trained Chinese concept, storyboard, and background artists in contemporary American animation style, procedures and technical standards. Flutemaster ran in the US as Skateboy. While in Beijing they were invited to the Beijing Broadcasting Institute where they gave an address.

Back to Hollywood

They have completed a 2D series '' Going Buggs'' based on their movie '' Planet of the Buggs'', which was created and directed by their son William S. Mathieson, as well as finishing a completely CG pilot - '' Oh No, Domingo!''. A live action horror film they wrote - ''House of Darkness'' was produced in Montreal. A creative and business consultant in Videogames, Al Guest now devotes most of his time to writing Crime and Mafia novels.

External links

Bibliography

*CARTOONS: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF CINEMA ANIMATION by Giannalberto Bendazzi - Indiana University Press 1995 *CARTOON CAPERS by Karen Mazurkewich - McArthur and Company 1999 *COLOMBO'S CANADIAN REFERENCES by John Robert Colombo - Oxford University Press 1976 *PRESS RELEASE - World Wide Pictures Corporation *THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASY by John Clute and John Grant - Macmillan 1999 *FRIGHT XMAS by Alan-Bertanellson Jones - AuthorHouse 2010 *MORE THEATRE: M-Z by Alvin H. Marill and William T. Leonard - Scarecrow Press 1993 *SELF-PORTRAIT:ESSAYS ON THE CANADIAN AND QUEBEC CINEMAS - Pierre Veronneau & Piers Handling - The Canadian Film Institute 1980 *CINEMA CANADA - ISSUES 34-47 - Canadian Society of Cinematographers 1977 *THE CHRISTMAS ENCYCLOPAEDIA - William D. Crump - McFarland & Co 2006 *LES CINEMAS CANADIENS - Pierre Veronneau - Lherminier 1978 *VOYAGE AU FOND DES MERS (French Edition) - Max Phillipe Morel - lulu.com 2012 *BIBLE AND CINEMA: FIFTY KEY FILMS - Adele Reinhatz - (Routledge Key Guides) 2012 *THE UNDERGROUNDS OF THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: SUBLIMATION AND THE GOTHIC IN LEROUX'S NOVEL AND ITS PROGENY - Jerrold E. Hogle - 2002 *BEN-HUR - Lew Wallace and David Mayer - (Oxford World's Classics) - 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Guest, Al Canadian animated film directors Canadian animated film producers Canadian television directors Canadian television producers Canadian painters Living people Artists from Winnipeg Film directors from Winnipeg Year of birth missing (living people)