Oscar-nominated Yellow Submarine animator and Heavy Metal director Gerald Potterton has died. He was 91.
According to the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) [via The Hollywood Reporter], Potterton passed away on August 23 at Cowansville, QC's Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital.
"Gerald came to Canada and the NFB to be part of a new wave of storytelling, one that was fresh and irreverent, and he brought great wit and creativity to every project. He was also a builder, helping to lay the foundation for today's independent Canadian animation industry with Potterton Productions," Claude Joli-Coeur, NFB chairperson and government film commissioner, said in a statement, adding: "He was an exceptional artist and a truly nice man."
Born on March 8, 1931, in London, England, Potterton emigrated to Canada in 1954 after graduating from Hammersmith Art School. After working with the NFB's groundbreaking animators in the 1950s, he went on to start directing his own films in the 1960s — including a pair of Oscar-nominated shorts, My Financial Career and Christmas Cracker, and live-action comedies The Ride and The Railrodder.
Potterton returned to his British roots later in the decade to work on the animated Beatles feature Yellow Submarine, ahead of returning to Canada to found Potterton Productions. He directed the cult classic adult animated film Heavy Metal in 1981, which melded sci-fi and rock music from bands like Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick and Blue Öyster Cult.
According to the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) [via The Hollywood Reporter], Potterton passed away on August 23 at Cowansville, QC's Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital.
"Gerald came to Canada and the NFB to be part of a new wave of storytelling, one that was fresh and irreverent, and he brought great wit and creativity to every project. He was also a builder, helping to lay the foundation for today's independent Canadian animation industry with Potterton Productions," Claude Joli-Coeur, NFB chairperson and government film commissioner, said in a statement, adding: "He was an exceptional artist and a truly nice man."
Born on March 8, 1931, in London, England, Potterton emigrated to Canada in 1954 after graduating from Hammersmith Art School. After working with the NFB's groundbreaking animators in the 1950s, he went on to start directing his own films in the 1960s — including a pair of Oscar-nominated shorts, My Financial Career and Christmas Cracker, and live-action comedies The Ride and The Railrodder.
Potterton returned to his British roots later in the decade to work on the animated Beatles feature Yellow Submarine, ahead of returning to Canada to found Potterton Productions. He directed the cult classic adult animated film Heavy Metal in 1981, which melded sci-fi and rock music from bands like Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick and Blue Öyster Cult.
