Charles Grosvenor (born June 2, 1952) is an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

Early work

Originally from

Hillsdale, New Jersey Hillsdale is a borough in the New York City metropolitan area in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,219,Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1978 to work in the

animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

industry, at a time when most of the work was still being done in the US. His first job was for

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, as a model designer on '' The Buford Files''. He soon joined the layout department and quickly advanced to crew chief, and ultimately to head of layout, thereby having a hand in every Hanna-Barbera show that was produced in those years, including '' Richie Rich'' and ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

''.

Evolving into direction

With '' Yogi's Treasure Hunt'', Grosvenor made the move to directing. His success at that effort led to more directing assignments, including some of the first long form (an hour or more) animated shows, beginning with '' The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound''. He graduated to

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directing with Hanna-Barbera's ''

Once Upon a Forest ''Once Upon a Forest'' is a 1993 animated musical adventure film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Based on the ''Furlings'' characters created by Rae Lambert, the film was directed by Charles Grosvenor a ...

''.

Current work

When Hanna-Barbera was absorbed by Warner Bros., Grosvenor moved to MGM, where he directed yet another incarnation of '' The Pink Panther'' as well as an animated feature based on '' Babes in Toyland''. In 1997, he joined

Universal Cartoon Studios Universal Animation Studios (formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios) is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels ...

(later renamed

Universal Animation Studios Universal Animation Studios (formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios) is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels to U ...

), taking over the highly successful ''

The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befo ...

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

series, beginning with '' The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island''. As of 2006 he has produced and directed an additional seven sequels ('' The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire'', '' The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze'', '' The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water'', '' The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration'', '' The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses'', and '' The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers''), in addition to overseeing 26 half-hours of a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

based on the movies. While critical reception of the series has varied (many of the first sequels received lukewarm to negative reviews, while the latter sequels received more positive reviews), the series has gained a loyal fanbase.

Filmography

Television series

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosvenor, Charles 1952 births Living people Animators from New Jersey American storyboard artists American animated film directors Hanna-Barbera people People from Hillsdale, New Jersey Film directors from New Jersey