Otmar Gutmann (24 April 1937 – 13 October 1993) was a German filmmaker who specialised in animation. He co-created the stop-motion television series ''

Pingu ''Pingu'' is a stop motion animated children's television series originally produced in Switzerland. It was co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It centres on the titular anthropomorphic emperor penguin and his family, who live i ...

'' alongside Erika Brueggemann. He started as an amateur in the 1960s. As a professional he only made one personal work, ''Aventures'' (1978). It was based on a piece of music by György Ligeti. He brought the sculptural universe of Lubomir Stepan to life as an exploration of human condition. In 1980, he was one of the leading animators of the plasticine characters Frédéric and Frédéri from ''Lucy the Menace of Street''. Later, in 1986, he designed the character of Pingu. A TV series starring the character, which Gutmann co-created with Erika Brueggemann, became successful internationally.

Health problems and death

On 13 October 1993, Gutmann died of a heart attack at the age of 56. He was buried at the Russikon Cemetery. His company, The Pygos Group, decided to keep producing Pingu episodes with a new team. On 29 October 2001, the company collapsed and its assets were sold to

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turn ...

References

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* 1937 births 1993 deaths Clay animators German animated film directors German animated film producers German television show creators German expatriates in Switzerland People from Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Stop motion animators Television people from Baden-Württemberg {{Germany-tv-bio-stub