Marv Newland (March 9, 1947) is an American-Canadian filmmaker, specialized in

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

Career

Newland began a career making animated motion pictures in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with the creation of the short ''

Bambi Meets Godzilla ''Bambi Meets Godzilla'' is a 1969 black-and-white animated short student film produced entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is seen as a classic of animation; it was listed #38 in the book ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons'' ...

'' (1969). He then designed and animated

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

until late 1970 when he moved to

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

, Canada. While in Toronto (1970–1972), he designed, directed, and animated television commercials for

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 ...

and

Educational Television Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that are often associated with cable televi ...

, and segments for longer films. Newland was also one of two designers and storyboard artists on the Cinera Productions cartoon ''

Super Joe ''Commando'', released as in Japan, is a 1985 vertically scrolling run and gun video game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. The game was designed by Tokuro Fujiwara. It was distributed in North America by Data East, and in Europ ...

'' (1971). He was a storyboard designer on an unemployment insurance film at

Crawley Films Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

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 ...

, and created designs and layouts for TV commercials for Phos-Cine Productions in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In late 1972, Newland moved to

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. He spent two years freelancing for local animated film production companies, as well as animation companies in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

. In 1973, Newland created storyboards for the animated television series ''

Barbapapa ''Barbapapa'' is a 1970 children's picture book by the French-American couple Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, who lived in Paris, France. Barbapapa is both the title character and the name of his "species". The book was the first of a series o ...

'' while at Toonder Studios in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 1973, ''

'' was seen widely across the United States when it was paired with John Magnuson's ''

Thank You Mask Man ''Thank You Mask Man'' is an animated short film based upon a comedy routine by Lenny Bruce involving The Lone Ranger (not mentioned by name) and Tonto. The film was produced by John Magnuson, and directed by Jeff Hale. Bruce intended to deconst ...

'' to be shown along with screenings of

Philippe de Broca Philippe Claude Alex de Broca de Ferrussac (; 15 March 1933 – 26 November 2004) was a French film director. He directed 30 full-length feature films, including the highly successful ''That Man from Rio (''L'Homme de Rio'')'', ''Le Magnifique, ...

's feature film ''

King of Hearts The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Hearts may also refer to: Games * The king of hearts has five sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo Books * King of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in ...

''. The pairing was created by Randy Finley in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

with Specialty Films who distributed the package under the title "The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects". In 1985, it was paired with the movie Godzilla 1985. In 1975, Newland founded the animated film production company

International Rocketship Limited International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia. At Rocketship he produced and directed numerous animated short films, including: ''

Sing Beast Sing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

'' (1980), '' Anijam'' (1984), ''Hooray for Sandbox Land'' (1985), ''Black Hula'' (1988 - which later featured on an early episode of

Liquid Television ''Liquid Television'' was an animation showcase broadcast on MTV from 1991 to 1995. It launched several high-profile original cartoons, including ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' and '' Æon Flux''. Other recurring segments include "The Art School Girls ...

), ''Pink Komkommer'' (1991), and '' Fuv'' (1999) Beijing Flipbook (2003), Tete A Tete A Tete (2005), Postalolio (2008), CMYK (2010), Scratchy (2016), Katalog Of Flaws (2019). In 1979, Marv hired

Gordon Stanfield Animation (GSA) Gordon Stanfield Animation (formerly GSA) is an animation service and creator company based in Vancouver, British Columbia with many years of development, pre-production, production and licensing experience. GSA/Digitoon was the first digital stu ...

and later, Gordon went on to bring more animation to

, British Columbia. The company also produced short animated films for other directors such as

Danny Antonucci Daniel Edward Antonucci (, ; born February 27, 1957) is a Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer. He created the Cartoon Network animated comedy series '' Ed, Edd n Eddy'' as well as '' Lupo the Butcher'' and ''The Brothers Grunt'' fo ...

(''

Lupo the Butcher ''Lupo the Butcher'' is a 1987 Canadian adult animated short comedy film directed and written by Danny Antonucci. The short follows the story of a butcher who has a huge temper and swears at his meat when the smallest things go wrong. Produced b ...

'', 1987), and J. Falconer (''Dog Brain'', 1988). Newland also designed and directed 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 ...

vignette, ''

Bill Miner Ezra Allen Miner (1847 – September 2, 1913), more popularly known as Bill Miner, was an American bandit, originally from Kentucky, who served several prison terms for stagecoach robbery. Known for his unusual politeness while committing robber ...

'' (1978). Rocketship also produced TV commercials, promos, and network IDs for clients like

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

YTV YTV or ytv may refer to: * YTV (Canadian TV channel), a Canadian youth television station owned by Corus Entertainment * YTV (Burmese TV network), a Burmese television channel owned by MY Multimedia Co., Ltd * YTV (Botswanan TV channel), a Botswana ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (sometimes disambiguated as Nick Jr. on Nickelodeon or Nick Jr. on Nick, and sometimes referred to as Nick, Jr.) is an American morning programming block that airs on Nickelodeon every weekday. It was launched on January 4, 1988. Nick ...

, the

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...

, Lifetime, HA! TV Comedy Network, TV Heaven 41,

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

, and Locomotion, pilots for series, and two longer films: '' Gary Larson's Tales From the Far Side'' (1994), which won the Grand Prix at the

Annecy International Animation 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 ...

in 1996, and a sequel in 1996. Outside of Rocketship, Newland has freelanced for other animation companies. This work includes directing episodes of the 3D stop motion series, '' The PJ's'', for

Will Vinton Studios William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his wor ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

; ''The Preacher's Life'' (1999); ''Fear of a Black Rat'' (1999); and ''Let's Get Ready to Rumba'' (2001). Newland also created story boards for the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

studios of the

(1999–2000). In 2001, Newland produced three animated films by two other directors; ''Friday Night Idiot Box'' by Bruce Wilson, and ''Explodium'' and ''My Friend Max'' by Peter MacAdams. Later projects have included ''Scratchy'' and ''POSTALOLIO'' (2008), a 2D animated film in which all of the drawings were hand-painted on postcards and sent through the international mail to the film's producer,

Frederator Studios Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio founded by Fred Seibert in January 1997. It is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc., itself a part of Kartoon Studios' Canadian holding company Wow Unlimited Media. T ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

.Frederator Postcards Series 6.31, Frederator Blogs, April 7, 2008
/ref> All of these are International Rocketship Limited Productions. His film ''Anijam'' was included in the Animation Show of Shows. The

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

has preserved several of Marv Newland's films, including ''Anijam'', ''

'', and Black Hula.

References

External links

*
Marv Newland's MarvCards

International Rocketship Ltd. archives
at the University of Toronto Media Commons {{DEFAULTSORT:Newland, Marv Film producers from British Columbia American comedy film directors Parody film directors Canadian parodists American parodists American film producers American storyboard artists American animated film directors American animated film producers Canadian animated film directors Canadian animated film producers Living people 1947 births Canadian comedy film directors