Quick Facts
Biography
Gerald Potterton (born 8 March 1931) is a British–Canadian director, producer and animator. He is best known for directing the cult classic Heavy Metal and his animation work on Yellow Submarine.
Potterton has been nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film: as director on the National Film Board of Canada animated shorts My Financial Career and Christmas Cracker, and as producer for The Selfish Giant.
Personal life
Born in London, Potterton attended the Hammersmith Art School. He emigrated from England to live in Canada in 1955.
Potterton currently lives in Cowansville, Quebec, Canada, where he is still involved in the production of live and animated motion pictures. Inspired by Quebec's pastoral Eastern Townships, he continues to paint landscapes and aviation subjects.
Professional career
After working as an assistant animator in London, Potterton joined the NFB in 1954 where he directed both animated and live-action films. He collaborated with Harold Pinter on Pinter's People in 1969 and Buster Keaton on The Railrodder in 1965.
After contributing to George Dunning's animated feature Yellow Submarine in 1968, he returned to freelance work in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
During the early 1970s, among other projects, he directed live-action and animated sequences for Sesame Street and The Electric Company.
In 1981 he was hired by producer Ivan Reitman to direct the animated feature Heavy Metal. Potterton coordinated more than one thousand artists, animators and technicians from seventeen countries working in Los Angeles, New York, London, Montreal and Ottawa.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he continued making animated and live-action features for television and video.
Potterton Productions
Established in 1968, this production company produced both live-action and animated films. Apart from Potterton's own projects, this company produced Peter Sander's The Selfish Giant and Larry Kent's Fleur Bleue in 1971, Mike Mills' The Happy Prince in 1974, The Little Mermaid in 1975, and in 1975 The Christmas Messenger. The company was closed in 1974.
Recent works
Potterton recently directed Sandy Wilson's musical The Boy Friend at Theatre Lac Brome, and created and directed Peter Piper and the Plane People. Also, through Potterton Studios, he is writing A Stage Too Far.
Filmography
| Production | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Huff and Puff | 1955 | co-writer, co-animator with Grant Munro |
| Fish Spoilage Control | 1956 | animator |
| It's a Crime | 1957 | animator |
| Hors d'oeuvre | 1960 | co-director, co-animator with Arthur Lipsett, Derek Lamb, Kaj Pindal et al. |
| Life and Radiation | 1960 | co-animator with Kenneth Horn, Pierre L'Amare |
| My Financial Career | 1962 | director, co-animator with Grant Munro |
| Christmas Cracker | 1963 | co-director with Norman McLaren, Grant Munro, Jeff Hale |
| The Ride | 1963 | director; actor |
| Buster Keaton Rides Again | 1965 | appears as himself |
| The Railrodder, a.k.a. The Railroader | 1965 | director; writer; co-editor with Jo Kirkpatrick |
| Cool McCool | 1966 | director |
| The Quiet Racket | 1966 | director |
| Yellow Submarine | 1968 | animator |
| Pinter's People | 1969 | director |
| Tiki Tiki | 1971 | co-director with Rolan Bykov, Jack Stokes; writer; producer |
| The Selfish Giant | 1971 | producer |
| The Rainbow Boys, a.k.a. The Rainbow Gang | 1973 | director; writer |
| The Happy Prince | 1974 | producer |
| Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid | 1975 | executive producer |
| The Christmas Messenger | 1975 | producer |
| Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure | 1977 | animator; associate and sequence director |
| Canada Vignettes: Winter – Dressing Up | 1979 | director; writer |
| Canada Vignettes: Winter – Starting the Car | 1979 | director; writer |
| Heavy Metal | 1981 | director |
| The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones | 1983 | director; animator |
| Rubik the Amazing Cube | 1983 | story director |
| George and the Christmas Star | 1985 | director; writer; producer |
| Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow | 1987 | appears as himself |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | 1987 | animation director |
| – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | 1987 | animation director; title design |
| – The Marvelous Land of Oz | 1987 | animation director; title design |
| – Ozma of Oz | 1987 | animation director; title design |
| – The Emerald City of Oz | 1987 | animation director; title design |
| The Smoggies | 1988 | director; writer; creator |
| The Real Story of I'm a Little Teapot | 1990 | director |
| The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep | 1991 | director; art director |
| Young Robin Hood | 1991 | director; writer |
| The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You | 1992 | director; writer; lyricist (The Girlie Wants a Song / The Birthday Contest Medley) |
Other works
Potterton illustrated the 1977 children's book, Scouse the Mouse, by Donald Pleasence. He also wrote The Star, and George, published by Harper & Row, 1968.
Awards and honours
From 1970 to 1971 Potterton served as vice-president of l'Association Internationale des films d'animation (ASIFA) He is currently a distinguished member of the Royal Canadian Academy (RCA).
At the 12th Annual Cartoons on the Bay International Festival of Television Animation in Salerno, Italy, in April 2008, Potterton received the Pulcinella Lifetime Achievement Award.
In September 2002 he received The Buster Award at The Buster Keaton Celebration.
Other awards include:
| Award | Result | Year | Production | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award | nomination | 1962 | My Financial Career | |
| Academy Award | nomination | 1962 | Christmas Cracker | |
| Berlin International Film Festival | won | 1965 | The Railrodder | honourable mention for best short film |
| Golden Gate Award | won – best animated short | 1964 | Christmas Cracker | San Francisco International Film Festival (shared with Jeff Hale, Norman McLaren, Grant Munro |