Gerald McDermott (January 31, 1941 – December 26, 2012) was an American film-maker, creator of

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

, and expert on

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

. His creative works typically combine bright colors and styles with ancient

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as. Imagery in literature can also be instrumental in conveying ...

. His picture books feature folktales and

cultures Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

from all around the world.

Biography

McDermott was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, to parents who supported the arts and encouraged his love of reading. McDermott began studying art at the age of four, when he started taking Saturday workshops at the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...

, the museum in his hometown. There was basic art instruction in the morning and then students were encouraged to sketch from the various collections of the museum. In elementary and middle school he continued to sketch and paint, acted in a weekly radio program, and he studied ballet as well as music. All of these creative experiences would help McDermott create animated films and books later in life. McDermott continued his education at Cass Tech, a public high school for the gifted with a notable art program. He also made several short films with his school colleague, Harrison Engle. One of them, "Hello, My Baby!," was filmed at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 1959, he was awarded a National Scholastic Scholarship to the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

of Design in New York City. As an extracurricular summer project McDermott decided to produce an animated film and chose '' The Stonecutter'', a story he had loved as a child. McDermott conducted extensive research into the cultures and customs of the story's origins. During his junior year at Pratt in 1962, McDermott took a leave of absence to work as a graphic designer for

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...

, a New York educational television channel. He also produced several animated pieces for ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt in 1964. He produced three more short films soon after graduation: ''Sunflight'' in 1966, ''Anansi the Spider'' in 1969, and ''The Magic Tree'' in 1970. In 1970, George Nicholson, a children's book editor, contacted McDermott and suggested adapting his films as picture books. The first was ''Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti'', published by

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools. The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the ...

in 1972. It retells an Ashanti folktale explaining how

Anansi Anansi or Ananse ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is a character in Akan religion and folklore associated with stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery, most commonly depicted as a spider. Anansi is a character who reflects the culture ...

was rescued by the separate contributions of his sons. Meanwhile, it explains how the moon came to be in the sky. ''The Magic Tree'', '' Arrow to the Sun'', and ''Stone-cutter'' soon followed as picture books. ''Arrow to the Sun'' (1974) was developed simultaneously as a film released in 1973, McDermott's last animated film. In the 1980s he published two books that paid homage to the traditions of his Irish heritage: ''Daniel O'Rourke'' and ''Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk''. During this time he also illustrated some books written by Marianna Mayer. In the early 1990s McDermott began working on a series of trickster tales and two works of mythological

creation stories A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

. He died on December 26, 2012.

Awards

* 1972, ''Anansi the Spider'' was a runner-up for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

* 1973, ''Anansi'' was named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list * 1974, '' Arrow to the Sun'' was the

-winning U.S. picture book * 1993, '' Raven: A Trickster Tale From The Pacific Northwest'' was a runner-up for both the Caldecott and the

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The ''Boston Globe''–''Horn'' Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonficti ...

for picture books * 1997, ''Musicians of the Sun'' received recognition from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association * 1999, American Orff-Schulwerk Association Advocate

Books

As writer and illustrator

*1972 ''Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti'' (Holt, ) *1973 ''The Magic Tree: a tale from the Congo'' *1974 ''Arrow to the Sun: a Pueblo Indian tale'' *1975 ''The Stone-cutter: a Japanese tale'' *1977 ''The Voyage of Osiris'' *1979 ''The Knight of the Lion'' *1980 ''Sunflight'' *1984 ''Daughter of Earth: a Roman myth'' *1986 ''Daniel O'Rourke: an Irish tale'' *1990 ''Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk: an Irish tale'' *1994 ''Musicians of the Sun *1998 ''The Fox and the Stork'' *2003 ''Creation'' ;Trickster tales *1980 ''Papagayo: the mischief maker'' (a Brazilian folktale) *1992 '' Zomo The Rabbit: A Trickster Tale From West Africa'' *1993 ''Raven: a trickster tale from the Pacific Northwest'' *1994 ''Coyote: a trickster tale from the American Southwest'' *2001 ''Jabuti the Tortoise: a trickster tale from the Amazon'' *2009 ''Pig-Boy: a trickster tale from Hawai'i'' *2011 ''Monkey: a trickster tale from India''

As illustrator

* 1981 ''Carlo Collodi's

The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; , i.e. "The Adventures of Pinocchio. Story of a Puppet"), commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'', is an 1883 Children's literature, children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischi ...

'' by Marianna Mayer * 1985 ''Alley Oop!'' by Marianna Mayer * 1985 ''Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp'' by Marianna Mayer * 1985 ''The Spirit of the Blue Light (a German folktale)'' by Marianna Mayer * 1987 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Book of Big & Small Shapes'' by Marianna Mayer * 1987 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Alphabet ABC'' by Marianna Mayer * 1987 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Book of Colors'' by Marianna Mayer * 1991 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Book of Counting'' by Marianna Mayer * 1991 ''Marcel the Pastry Chef'' by Marianna Mayer * 2004 ''Can Turtle fly? : A

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

tale'' by Joseph Bruchac

Films

* ''The Stonecutter'', 1960 * ''Sunflight'', 1966 * ''Anansi the Spider'', 1969 * '' Moments Spent'', 1969 * ''The Magic Tree'', 1970 * "Steady Freddy" and "Shall I Shoot the Fish?", 1973 (short films for ''

'') * ''Arrow to the Sun'', 1974

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Gerald Film directors from Michigan American animated film directors American folklorists American children's writers Caldecott Medal winners American children's book illustrators Artists from Detroit Writers who illustrated their own writing 1941 births 2012 deaths