Gerald Potterton (8 March 1931 – 23 August 2022) was a Canadian director, animator, producer and writer. He is best known for directing the

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

'' Heavy Metal'' and for his animation work on '' Yellow Submarine''. Potterton won one

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

and was nominated three times for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

: as director on the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

animated shorts '' My Financial Career'' and ''

Christmas Cracker Christmas crackers are festive table decorations that make a snapping sound when pulled open, and typically contain a small gift, paper hat and a joke. They are part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland a ...

'', and as producer for '' The Selfish Giant''.

Early life

Potterton was born and raised in south London's

Tooting Bec Tooting Bec is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London, England. History Tooting Bec appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Totinges". It was held partly by St Mary de Bec-Hellouin Abbey and partly by Westminster Abbey. Its domesday asse ...

neighbourhood, the eldest of three children born into an entertainment-industry family—his father was a professional musician and his uncle was the manager of the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

. By age five, he was attending the Saturday morning pictures, where he first became interested in film; by 14, he was getting regular work as a child actor in live-action films being shot at

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

and

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

. He won a place to study art at the

Hammersmith Academy Hammersmith Academy is a non-denominational, all-ability, co-educational secondary academy for 11- to 18-year-olds specialising in creative and digital media and information technology, located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, W ...

; upon graduation, in 1949, he was drafted to fight in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He spent two years in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

; after his discharge, a neighbour suggested that he apply at

Halas and Batchelor Halas and Batchelor was a British animation company founded by husband and wife John Halas and Joy Batchelor. Halas was a Hungarian émigré to the United Kingdom. The company had studios in London and Cainscross, in the Stroud District of Glou ...

, the studio which was doing the animation work for the film ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'', which would be Britain's first animated feature. By this time, Potterton had an excellent art portfolio, including a comic book; he was hired and spent the next two years there as an assistant animator. During this time, Potterton also founded the Grasshopper Group, a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

with the mission to help London's animators produce their projects. He met

Norman McLaren William Norman McLaren, LL. D. (11 April 1914 – 27 January 1987) was a Scottish-Canadian animator, director and producer known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Rosenthal, Alan. ''The new documentary in action: a caseb ...

, the Scottish animator who was already on his way to becoming the star filmmaker at the

(NFB). Potterton also wanted to leave London, which had become intolerably dirty—the 1952

Great Smog of London The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air pollution event that affected London, England, in December 1952. A period of unusually cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne ...

, which killed at least 4,000 people, had a deep impact on him. That, and McLaren's description of Canada and working at the NFB, led him to move to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in 1954. He was hired by the NFB; his first project was the 1955 animated training film ''Huff and Puff''.

Career

Between 1954 and 1960, Potterton worked on 10 films. In 1960, he was offered a job as a filmmaker at Lars Calonius Productions, one of the largest TV and commercial animation films in the USA. Potterton left the NFB, moved to New York and worked at the firm for one year; he disliked living in New York and returned to the NFB, which had moved its offices to Montreal. The next seven years would be extremely fruitful for Potterton; his 1962 short film '' My Financial Career'' would be nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

, as would his next film, 1963's ''

''. He was then assigned to film a comedic travelogue of Canada, in which

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

rides 4,000 miles in a

Railroad speeder A speeder (also known as a section car, railway motor car, putt-putt, track-maintenance car, crew car, jigger, trike, quad, trolley, inspection car, or draisine) is a small railcar used around the world by track inspectors and work crews to move ...

. The result was '' The Railrodder'', which won multiple awards and remains a popular film. In 1967, Potterton's NFB colleague

George Dunning George Garnett Dunning (November 17th. 1920 - February 15th. 1979) was a Canadian filmmaker and animator. He is best known for producing and directing the 1968 film '' Yellow Submarine''. Biography Dunning was born in Toronto and studied at the ...

asked him to work on his film '' Yellow Submarine'', then being produced to feature

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. While in London, Potterton had the opportunity to interview the British playwright

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

and came up with idea of a documentary about Pinter and his sketches '' Pinter's People''. Potterton pitched the result to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

; it aired as ''NBC's Experiment in Television: Pinter People''. The film won several awards, including a

. In 1968, Potterton founded his own company, Potterton Productions. He worked with various clients, notably

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

and

Cinar The Cookie Jar Group, commonly known as simply Cookie Jar and formerly known as CINAR, was a Canadian animation studio, media production and distribution company that existed from 1976 until it was folded into DHX Media, now WildBrain, on Dec ...

, to produce several children's programs. The company produced Peter Sander's '' The Selfish Giant'' and Larry Kent's ''Fleur Bleue'' ''(The Apprentice)'' in 1971, as well as Mike Mills' '' The Happy Prince'' in 1974 and, in 1975, ''The Little Mermaid'' and ''The Christmas Messenger''. He directed live-action and animated sequences 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. ...

'' and ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''; for the latter, he created the character of 'George the Farmer', who appeared in 18 episodes. He also had a large roster of ad agency clients for whom he produced commercials. By the mid-1980s, Potterton Productions was one of the largest independent production firms in Canada. In 1981, Potterton was hired by producer

Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946 – February 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. ...

to direct the animated feature '' Heavy Metal'' for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. Potterton supervised all of the film's eight sequences, and the work of 65+ animators in Canada, England and the U.S. While reviews were mixed at release, ''Heavy Metal'' was the top-selling video for four consecutive weeks in the U.S. when it was released on video in 1998. It is now a cult classic. In 1988, Potterton created and directed '' The Smoggies'', a 53-episode animated series which aims to entertain and educate young children about environmental issues. It is still widely aired internationally.

Books

In 1977, Potterton's friend

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

made the children's album '' Scouse the Mouse''.

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

was one of the voices on the album and he and Pleasence decided to write a companion book of the same name. Potterton was enlisted as its illustrator. In 1968, he had produced his own comedic illustrated book, ''The Star (and George)''; he would produce two more: ''In the Wake of Giants: Journeys on the Barrow and the Grand Canal'' (2008) and ''The Snowman: The Story of Joseph-Armand Bombardier'' in 2020.

Later works

Potterton was an accomplished landscape painter. He was also a life-long aircraft buff, and created large, accurate, highly detailed paintings of planes; just before he died, he'd completed a painting of the Memphis Belle. He directed local theatre productions, and was organizing a fundraiser, using ''The Rainbow Boys'', which was filmed in

Lytton, British Columbia Lytton is a village of about 250 residents in southern British Columbia, Canada, on the east side of the Fraser River and primarily the south side of the Thompson River, where it flows southwesterly into the Fraser. The community includes the ...

–he hoped to raise funds to help the town re-build after the Lytton wildfire. He continued to produce cartoons; his last project was ''Peter Piper and the Plane People'', which was completed by Pascal Blais. When he died, he was working on a live-action comedy called ''A Stage Too Far''.

Personal life and death

Potterton's first wife was film editor Judith Merritt; his second wife was producer Karen Marginson. He had three sons. After moving to Montreal in 1961, Potterton spent the rest of his life in Quebec; the Potterton Productions head office was his home, a farm near

Cowansville Cowansville is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, located on Lac Davignon north of the U.S. border. It is the seat of Brome-Missisquoi, a regional county municipality. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 15,234. In recent year ...

, in Quebec's

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

. After suffering a stroke, he died at Cowansville's Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital on 23 August 2022, at age 91.

Filmography

*''

'' - animated film,

John Halas John Halas OBE (born János Halász;Brian McFarlane ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'', London: Methuen/BFI, 2003, p.48 16 April 1912 – 21 January 1995) was a pioneering British animator. Together with Gyula Macskássy (an acquaintance fro ...

and

Joy Batchelor Joy Ethel Batchelor (12 May 1914 – 14 May 1991) was an English animator, director, screenwriter, and producer. She married John Halas in 1940 and subsequently co-established Halas and Batchelor cartoons, whose best known production is the anim ...

1954 - animator *''Bride and Groom'' - short film 1955 - actor and, with John Daborn, co-director *''Huff and Puff'' - animated training film, Graham Crabtree 1955 - co-writer, co-animator with Grant Munro *''Fish Spoilage Control'' - animated short, David Bairstow 1956 - animator *''Follow That Car'' - animated film 1957 - director *''The Energy Picture'' - animated film 1957 - director *''It's a Crime'' - animated short, Wolf Koenig 1957 - animator *''Energy II'' - animated film 1958 - director *''Hors d'oeuvre'' - cartoon collection 1960 - co-director *''Life and Radiation'' - animated short, Hugh O'Connor 1960 - co-animator with Kenneth Horn & Pierre L'Amare *'' My Financial Career'' - animated short 1962 - co-animator with Grant Munro, director *''

'' - animated short 1963 - co-director with

, Grant Munro and Jeff Hale *''The Ride'' - short film 1963 - actor and director *'' The Railrodder'' - short film 1965 - writer, director, co-editor with Jo Kirkpatrick *''The Quiet Racket'' - short film, 1966 - director *''

Cool McCool ''Cool McCool'' is a Saturday morning animated series that ran on NBC from September 10, 1966, to January 21, 1967, with three segments per show, consisting overall of sixty segments. It was created by Bob Kane—who was most famous as one of ...

'' - cartoon series 1966-1969 - co-director, with Gerald Ray, Ron Campbell and Peter Sander *''Superbus'' - animated short film 1967 - writer, producer, director *''The Trade Machine'' - animated film 1968 - director *'' Yellow Submarine'' - animated feature,

1968 - animator *''Pinter People'' - animated documentary 1969 - producer, director *''

'' - animated episodes: 'George the Farmer', 1969-1973 - creator and director *''The Charge of the Snow Brigade'' - animated short 1970 - writer, producer, director *''

Tiki Tiki ''Tiki Tiki'' is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Gerald Potterton and released in 1971."Tiki-Tiki a complicated delight". ''Montreal Gazette'', December 30, 1972. Created by intercutting animated sequences with live-action footage from the Ru ...

'' - animated film 1971 - writer, producer, director *'' The Selfish Giant'' - animated short, Peter Sander 1971 - producer *''

'' - animated series 1971 - episode director *''The Rainbow Boys'' - feature, 1973 - writer, director *''The One Man Band That Went to Wall Street'' - animated short, Daum Crowther 1974 - producer, animator *'' The Happy Prince'' - animated short, Michael Mills 1974 - producer *''The Little Mermaid'' - animated short, Peter Sander 1974 - producer *''The Remarkable Rocket'' - animated film 1975 - writer, producer, director *''The Christmas Messenger'' - animated film, Peter Sander 1975 - producer *'' Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure'' - animated film, Richard Williams 1977 - animator and sequence director *''

Canada Vignettes Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depicti ...

: Winter: Dressing Up'' - short film 1979 - writer and director *''

: Winter: Starting the Car'' - short film 1979 - writer and director *'' Heavy Metal'' - animated film 1981 - director *''The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones'', animated short 1983 - director and animator *''

Rubik, the Amazing Cube ''Rubik, the Amazing Cube'' is a 1983 half-hour American Saturday morning animated series based on the puzzle created by Ernő Rubik, produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises and broadcast as part of '' The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour'' bl ...

'' - animated series 1983 - episode director *''George and the Christmas Star'' - animated film 1985 - writer, animator, director *''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

'' - animated series, Masaru Tonogawachi & Hiroshi Saitō 1986 - animator *''Ghost Ship'' - animated film 1988 - writer, producer, director *'' The Smoggies'' - animated series 1988 - writer, director, with Colin Thibert creator *''The Real Story of I'm a Little Teapot'' aka ''The Runaway Teapot'' - animated film 1991 - director *'' The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You'' - animated film 1992 - writer, director *''The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep'' - animated film 1994 - director *''Willy Bee'' - animated series 1996 - director *''The Magic Orchid'' - animated puppet feature 1998 - co-writer and director *''Albert & Atom'' - animated series 1999 - director *''Peter Piper and the Plane People'' - cartoon, 2015 - co-creator

Bibliography

* ''The Star (and George)'', Harper & Row 1968. * '' Scouse the Mouse'', by

1977 – illustrator * ''In the Wake of Giants: Journeys on the Barrow and the Grand Canal'', Ballyhay Books 2008 * ''L'Homme des Neiges: L’histoire de Joseph-Armand Bombardier'' (The Snowman: The story of Joseph-Armand Bombardier), 2020 * ''The Presidents' Secret'' – audiobook, narrator 2021

Awards

'' My Financial Career'' (1962) * Golden Gate International Film Festival, San Francisco: First Prize, Animated Film, 1962 * American Film and Video Festival, New York: Blue Ribbon, Literature in Films, 1965 *

36th Academy Awards The 36th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1963, were held on April 13, 1964, hosted by Jack Lemmon at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. This ceremony introduced the category for Best Sound Effects, wi ...

, Los Angeles: Nominee: Best Short Subject, Cartoons, 1963 ''

'' (1963) * Golden Gate International Film Festival, San Francisco: First Prize, Best Animated Short, 1964 * Electronic, Nuclear and Teleradio Cinematographic Review, Rome: Grand Prize for Technique, Films for Children, 1965 * Electronic, Nuclear and Teleradio Cinematographic Review, Rome: Grand Prize for Animation Technique, 1965 * Film Centrum Foundation Film Show,

Naarden Naarden () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and former List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Gooi region in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It has been part ...

, Netherlands: Silver Squirrel, Second Prize 1966 * Philadelphia International Festival of Short Films,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

: Award of Exceptional Merit, 1967 * Landers Associates Annual Awards, Los Angeles: Award of Merit, 1965 *

37th Academy Awards The 37th Academy Awards were held on April 5, 1965, to honor film achievements of 1964. The ceremony was produced by MGM's Joe Pasternak and hosted, for the 14th time, by Bob Hope. The Best Picture winner, George Cukor's ''My Fair Lady'', w ...

, Los Angeles: Nominee: Best Short Subject – Cartoons, 1965 '' The Railrodder'' (1965) * Festival of Tourist and Folklore Films, Brussels: Femina Award for Cinema, 1966 * 18th Canadian Film Awards, Montreal: Best Travel and Recreation Film, 1966 *

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

, London: Outstanding Film of the Year, 1966 *

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

: Special Commendation, 1965 *

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

, Switzerland: Diploma of Honor, 1966 * Philadelphia International Festival of Short Films,

: Award of Exceptional Merit, 1971 ''Pinter People'' (1968) *

, New York: George Foster Peabody Award for Television Entertainment, 1968 *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, Chicago: Gold Hugo – Best of Festival 1969 *

, Chicago: Silver Hugo – Best in Network Entertainment 1969 *

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

, France: Special Jury Prize, 1969 '' The Selfish Giant'' (1971) *

44th Academy Awards The 44th Academy Awards were presented April 10, 1972, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Helen Hayes, Alan King, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jack Lemmon. One of the highlights of the evening was o ...

, Los Angeles: Nominee: Best Animated Short Subject, 1972 ''

'' (1971) *

23rd Canadian Film Awards The 23rd Canadian Film Awards were held on October 1, 1971 to honour achievements in Canadian film. The ceremony, which had been returned to banquet format, was hosted by actor Leslie Nielsen and broadcaster Charlotte Gobeil. For this year's compe ...

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 ...

: Best Art Direction (Alexander Kuznetsov), 1971 ''The Rainbow Boys'' (1973) *

Atlanta Film Festival The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia and operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a diverse r ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

: Gold Medal – Best Foreign Feature, 1973

Honors

* In 1975, Potterton was inducted as a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

. * From 1970 to 1971, Potterton was vice-president of the

International Animated Film Association The International Animated Film Association (French: ''Association Internationale du Film d'Animation'', ASIFA) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1960 in Annecy, France by well-known animation artists including Canadian an ...

(ASIFA, Association Internationale du Film d'Animation). * 1994

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized b ...

– retrospective * 1997

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

– retrospective * 1998 FIN Atlantic Film Festival,

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

– juror * 1998 World Animation Celebration,

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

: Top-Ten 'Artists Who Rock' * 2000 Week with the Masters Animation Festival,

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

, India – juror * In 2002, Potterton was invited to the Buster Keaton Celebration in

Iola, Kansas Iola () is the county seat of Allen County, Kansas, United States. The city is situated along the Neosho River in southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,396. It is named in honor o ...

, Keaton's home town. For '' The Railrodder'', he was presented with The Buster Award, given for "professional excellence in the tradition of Buster Keaton". * In 2008, at the 12th Annual Cartoons on the Bay International Festival of Television Animation in

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

, Potterton was awarded the Pulcinella Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in animation. * 2013 – Anifest,

Teplice Teplice (, until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; , ''Teplitz-Schönau'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 51,000 inhabitants. It is the most populous Czech spa town, followed by Karlovy Vary. The historic city cen ...

, Czechoslovakia – jury president * 2020 Toronto Animation Film Festival – retrospective * Potterton was board vice-president, Advisor and Jury Member of the Animaze Montreal International Animation Film Festival.

References

External links

* *
Watch Gerald Potterton's films on the NFB website

Gerald Potterton, ''Canadian Film Encyclopedia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potterton, Gerald 1931 births 2022 deaths British animators British film producers British television directors British illustrators National Film Board of Canada people Film directors from London British animated film directors Canadian animated film directors British animated film producers Canadian animated film producers English expatriates in Canada People from Cowansville