Ray Goossens (14 August 1924 – 10 December 1998) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

artist, animator, writer, and director best known for creating the cartoon character Musti.

Biography

Ray Goossens was born in

Merksem Merksem (; former spelling: ''Merxem'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It has 44,808 inhabitants as of 2021. History The history of Merksem goes back to Gallo-Roman times. During that peri ...

, Belgium in 1924. Interested in animation from before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he founded the AFIM animation studios with Henri Winkeler and Edmond Roex in 1940. They had 15 employees, including later famous comics artists like Bob de Moor and

Jef Nys Jozef "Jef" Nys (30 January 1927 – 20 October 2009) was a Belgian comic book creator. He was best known for his comic strip '' Jommeke''. Biography Early years Jozef Nys was born in Berchem, Belgium in 1927.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Jef Ny ...

. They created a number of short animated movies, of which '' Smidje Smee'' was the most successful. After the war, Goossens started working as a comics creator with '' Kleine Zondagsvriend'', a weekly youth magazine. He created a number of series, some based on existing stories like '' Tijl Uilenspiegel'' and '' Reinaert de Vos'', some new like ''Tsjoem'' (a parrot) and ''Snops en de bende''. He also worked as an illustrator for different newspapers and magazines, including ''

Gazet van Antwerpen The ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' (Antwerp Gazette, popularly named ''De Frut'', "sour head cheese") is a Belgian newspaper in Antwerp and Flanders, published by Concentra. History and profile ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' was established in 1891. Its ed ...

''. He worked as an animator mainly for client's publicity purposes, and in 1957 became

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of Belvision, the new animation studios of

Le Lombard ''Le Lombard'', known as ''Les Éditions du Lombard'' until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when '' Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard is now part of Média-Participations, alongside publishers Dargaud and Du ...

, one of the major Belgian comics publishers. At first, they created series based on existing comics series like '' Oumpah-pah'', ''

Hergé's Adventures of Tintin ''Hergé's Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin, d'après Hergé) is the first animated television series based on Hergé's popular comic book series, ''The Adventures of Tintin''. The series was produced by Belvision Studi ...

'' or ''

Chlorophylle Chlorophylle was a Belgian comics series and Raymond Macherot's best known work, alongside '' Sibylline''. It is a fantasy comic about anthropomorphic forest animals, including the title character Chlorophylle, who is a dormouse. Description C ...

''. They also made the full-length movie ''

Pinocchio in Outer Space ''Pinocchio in Outer Space'' is a 1965 Belgian-American animated science-fantasy film which sets Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio character on a rocketship adventure. Peter Lazer performs the voice of Pinocchio. It was produced by Ray Goossens at Belvis ...

''. From 1956 to 1969 he worked as an independent animator and director. In 1967 he directed ''

Asterix the Gaul ''Asterix the Gaul'' is the first volume of the Asterix comic strip series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). In ''Le Monde'' 100 Books of the Century, a 1999 poll conducted by the French retailer Fnac and the Paris n ...

'', the first feature film based on this comic, and in 1968 he joined

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French lan ...

, where he created with the animation studios a number of children's series like '' Tip en Tap'', '' De Pili's'' and '' Musti''. He also directed a series based on the adventures of ''

Boule et Bill ''Boule et Bill'' (known in English as ''Billy & Buddy'') is a popular comic, created in 1959 by Belgian writer-artist Jean Roba in collaboration with Maurice Rosy. In 2003, the artistic responsibility of the series was passed on to Roba's former a ...

''. From 1976 onwards, Ray Goossens taught animation at the R.I.T.C.S in Brussels. His final success as a director followed in 1980, with '' Plons de gekke kikker''. Ray Goossens died in 1998 in Deurne.

Filmography

As director

With AFIM

*1940: ''Metamorfose'', ''Rapi Roum'', and ''Hoe primmeke ter wereld kwam'' *1941: ''Smidje Smee'' *1947: ''De lamme maakt een ritje''

Independent work

*1956: ''Wat 'n vader'' *1958: ''Paviljoen Wetenschappen'' for the

Expo 58 Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Be ...

(Brussels World's Fair) *1959: ''Van zilverzout tot zilverbeeld'' *1960: ''Van katoenbol tot filmonderlaag'' *1967: ''In naam der wet'' *1968: ''Hoera, ik ben vader!'', and ''Er was eens''

With
Belvision Studios Raymond Leblanc (born 22 May 1915 – 21 March 2008) was a Belgian comic book publisher, film director and film producer, best known for publishing works such as ''The Adventures of Tintin'' by Hergé and '' Blake and Mortimer'' by Edgar P. Ja ...

*1957-1964: ''

'' *1960: ''Le bosquet hanté'' *1961: ''Boothill Mc Gall, sheriff'' and ''Coin-coin'' *1964: ''Canard à l'orange'' *1965: ''Spaghetti à la romaine'', '' Oumpah-Pah'', and ''

'' *1967: ''

With
Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French lan ...

*1968-1982: '' Musti'' (52 episodes of 5 minutes) *1971: '' Tip en Tap'' *1973: '' De Pili's'' *1975: ''

'', and '' Bobo'' *1984: ''

Trompo A Trompo is a top which is spun by winding a length of string around the body, and launching it so that lands spinning on its point. If the string is attached to a stick the rotation can be maintained by whipping the side of the body. The stri ...

With VRT

*1990-1991: ''Musti'' (104 all-new episodes)

As writer

*1983-1991: '' Plons de gekke kikker''

Awards

*1956: First prize at the second Festival of the Belgian Movie, for ''Wat 'n vader''

References

External links

Biography
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

's Comiclopedia (focuses on his comics work)
Biography
in Dutch at Filmhuis Klappei (focuses on his animation) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goossens, Ray 1924 births 1998 deaths Flemish people Belgian animators Belgian film directors Belgian film producers Belgian animated film directors Belgian animated film producers 20th-century Belgian writers Belgian comics artists Belgian children's book illustrators Belgian illustrators People from Merksem