Al Guest is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

animation producer. He was born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, 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 Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. 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 Sydney Banks (January 6, 1917 – November 14, 2006) was a pioneer Canadian broadcaster and producer. Biography Early days Sydney Banks was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on January 6, 1917. His parents were English, and Banks and his mot ...

, 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 and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

as well as live action TV shows in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

Among their live productions produced in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

were 130 episodes of '' The Bonnie Prudden Show'' (U.S. syndication) and 195 episodes of ''

The Ed Allen Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (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, the abbreviation of its former legal 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 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 Television from 1966 ...

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

The Toothbrush Family ''The Toothbrush Family'' is an Australian children's animated television series featuring a group of anthropomorphic personal-care supplies. The series was first aired in 1977 until the final episode's airing in 1999. Concept and production ...

'' (

), 20 episodes of ''

The Sunrunners ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (

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-TV in 1971."Fit and 40: CHCH Channel 11 was built on one man's dream, big-name movies and Tiny ...

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

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, ...

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

Capitaine Mark Simon Capitaine, derived from the French for Captain, may also refer to: * Hogfish (''Lachnolaimus maximus''), an edible marine fish in the family Labridae, found in the western Atlantic * Nile perch (''Lates niloticus''), a freshwater fish in the famil ...

''.

Hollywood

Subsequently, they moved to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a metonymy, shorthand reference for the Cinema of the United States, U.S. film industry and the people associated with i ...

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

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis'' ...

'', ''

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 hit ...

'', ''

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 and starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton. The story is ...

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

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...

's Zoetrope Studios.

Dublin

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

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

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'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' (

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

), ''

Ghost Stories From The Pickwick Papers A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

'' (Syndication), ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' (

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, 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 ba ...

), ''

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'' (

), ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by 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 imprisonment in the ...

'' (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 in ''The Court and Society Review'', 23 February and 2 March 1887. The story is about an American fam ...

'' (Syndication), ''

Around the World in Eighty Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) 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 employe ...

'' (Syndication), ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is a short 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 Bu ...

'' (with

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...

, Canada), and ''

Brer Rabbit Tales A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separ ...

'' (Syndication).

Manila, Hong Kong & Guangzhou

After commuting from

L.A. 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 ...

to their

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

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

Palm Springs Palm Springs (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 Riverside County by lan ...

. 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 ''The Black Robe'' is an 1881 partially-epistolary novel by famed English writer, Wilkie Collins. The book, which relates the misadventures of one "Lewis Romayne", is noted for its anti-Catholic lens. Plot summary As the story begins, Romayne a ...

'' and '' Atlantic City''. Their animation activity did not stop however, and they wrote, directed and produced ''

Brer Rabbit's Xmas Carol A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised se ...

'', ''

The Outrageous Adventures of Brer Rabbit ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', and ''

Mighty Bigfoot Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

'', for which they also designed all the characters. These productions were all made with studios in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

and

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Ko ...

, 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 Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a public community college in southern California, located in Walnut in eastern Los Angeles County. It offers more than 260 degree and certificate programs, 25 support programs, and more than 50 st ...

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: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popu ...

). Although certified as professors at

, 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 Going may refer to: *Go (verb) ** ''Going- to'' future, a construction in English grammar * Going (horse racing), the condition of a horse racing track surface. *Going (surname) *"Going!", a song by KAT-TUN *Way of going, a reference to the quality ...

'' based on their movie ''

Planet of the Buggs A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a youn ...

'', which was created and directed by their son William S. Mathieson, as well as finishing a completely CG pilot - ''

Oh No, Domingo! Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * ''Oh!'' (ScoLoHoFo album), 2003 * ''OH (ohio)'', by Lambchop, 2008 * ''Oh!'', an E ...

''. 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 animators 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)