Gene Deitch | |
|---|---|
 Gene Deitch in 2007 | |
| Born | Eugene Merril Deitch (1924-08-08)August 8, 1924 |
| Died | April 16, 2020(2020-04-16) (aged 95) |
| Citizenship | United States[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Illustrator,animator, director |
| Years active | 1945–2008 |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | Kim, Simon, Seth |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (2013)[2] |
| Website | Archived at archive.org |
Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator,animator,comics artist,[3] and film director who was based inPrague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creatinganimated cartoons such asMunro,Tom Terrific, andNudnik, as well as his work on thePopeye andTom and Jerry series.
Deitch was born inChicago on August 8, 1924, the son of Jewish parents Joseph Deitch, a salesman, and Ruth Delson Deitch.[4][5][6] In 1929, the family moved to California, and Deitch attended school in Hollywood. He graduated fromLos Angeles High School in 1942.[7]
After graduating, Deitch began working forNorth American Aviation, drawing aircraft blueprints. In 1943, he wasdrafted and underwent pilot training before catchingpneumonia and was honorably discharged in May of the following year.[6] From 1940 to 1951, Deitch contributed covers and interior art to thejazz magazineThe Record Changer.[6] In the 1950s, Deitch was an early supporter and audio engineer forConnie Converse, one of the first American singer-songwriters,[8] recording sessions that made up her debut albumHow Sad, How Lovely. Converse appeared once onCBS television due in part to Deitch's connections with the network, but otherwise found little success and eventually abandoned music only to be rediscovered decades later, through recordings Deitch had made of her music in 1954.[9]
In 1955, Deitch took an apprenticeship at the animation studioUnited Productions of America (UPA), and later became the creative director ofTerrytoons,[6] creating such characters as Sidney the Elephant,[10] Gaston Le Crayon,[11]Tom Terrific, andClint Clobber.[12] Beginning in 1955, while working at UPA, Deitch wrote and drew theUnited Feature Syndicate comic stripThe Real-Great Adventures of Terr’ble Thompson!, Hero of History, starring a courageous child in fantastical adventures. A skit about Terr'ble Thompson had been recorded byLittle Golden Records, with actorArt Carney and bandleaderMitch Miller participating. That led to the daily strip, which ran from Sunday, October 16, 1955, to April 14, 1956.[13] In early 1958, his theatrical cartoonSidney's Family Tree was nominated for an Academy Award. In August 1958, he was fired from Terrytoons and set up his own studio in New York called Gene Deitch Associates, Inc., which primarily produced television commercials.[6]
When the clientRembrandt Films[14] promised to fundMunro, an animated theatrical short Deitch wanted to create, Deitch relocated to the company's base inPrague,Czechoslovakia, in October 1959.[6] He originally planned to spend only ten days in Prague. Still, after meeting his future wife, Zdenka, he decided to settle permanently in the city.[15]Munro premiered in Czechoslovakia in September 1960 and in the U.S. on October 5, 1961, as a short precedingBreakfast at Tiffany's. It won anAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1961,[16] the first short created outside of the United States to be so honored.[17]Munro was preserved by theAcademy Film Archive in 2004.[18]
From 1960 to 1963, Deitch was hired by Rembrandt to directPopeye cartoons for television forKing Features, and from 1961 to 1962 he directed 13 newTom and Jerry shorts forMGM.[14][19] Being a "UPA man",[20] Deitch had misgivings about the latter property, thinking they were "needlessly violent".[21] However, after being assigned to work on the series, he quickly realized that "nobody took [the violence] seriously", and it was merely "a parody of exaggerated human emotions".[21] He also came to see what he perceived as the "biblical roots" in Tom and Jerry's conflict, similar toDavid and Goliath, stating "That's where we feel a connection to these cartoons: the little guy can win (or at least survive) to fight another day."[21] Contemporary critics often regarded Deitch's shorts as the worst in theTom and Jerry series; Deitch said some fans wrote positive letters to him, stating that hisTom and Jerry shorts were their personal favorites.[22]
Alongside Rembrandt's headWilliam L. Snyder, Deitch co-produced and directed a series of TV shorts ofKrazy Kat for King Features from 1962 to 1964.The Bluffers, which was based on one of Deitch's ideas, was also co-produced by him. He directed the 1966 filmAlice of Wonderland in Paris. In 1966, he worked with Czech animatorJiří Trnka on a feature-length animated film adaptation ofThe Hobbit. However, producer Snyder could not secure the funds, and in order to not let the rights for the novel expire, he asked Deitch to produce a short film adaptation in 30 days. Deitch and illustratorAdolf Born madea 13-minute animated film never intended for distribution; the film was long considered lost until it was rediscovered by Snyder's son and released on YouTube in 2012.[15] Also in 1966, Deitch created a young girl adventurer inTerrible Tessie.[23]
From 1969 until his retirement in 2008, Deitch was the leading animation director for the Connecticut organizationWeston Woods Studios, adapting children's picture books. Deitch adapted 37 films for Weston Woods, fromDrummer Hoff in 1969 toVoyage to the Bunny Planet in 2008.[24] His studio was located in Prague near theBarrandov Studios, where many major films were shot. In 2003, Deitch was awarded theAnnie Awards'Winsor McCay Award byASIFA-Hollywood for a lifetime contribution to the art of animation.[25]
Deitch met his first wife, Marie, when they both worked at North American Aviation, and they married in 1943.[6] Their three sons,[6]Kim, Simon, and Seth Deitch, are artists and writers forunderground andalternative comics.[26]
Several days after arriving in Prague in October 1959, Deitch metZdenka Najmanová, the production manager at the studioBratři v triku where he worked. They married in 1964.[6][27] Deitch's memoir,For the Love of Prague, is based on his experience of being what he called "the only free American living and working in Prague during 30 years of the Communist Party dictatorship".[28] According to Deitch, although he was followed by theStB and his phone was tapped, he was never aware of their presence and was never interrogated nor arrested.[15] In 2008, Deitch retired from making cartoons.
Deitch died inPrague on April 16, 2020, at the age of 95.[29] Shortly before his death, Deitch had notedintestinal problems.[30]
Gene Deitch, who turns 95 next month, is by some distance the US citizen longest resident in Prague.
Short Subject (Cartoon): Winner –Munro, William L. Snyder, Producer
These shorts are some of the series' most controversial, as the animation style differs from the rest of the series, and critics of the time called them the worst of the entire series. Gene Deitch said that, despite the critics, he regularly had fans write and tell him that his shorts were among their favorites.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)...Deitch, living inPrague with his Czechwife, animator and producer Zdenka Najmanova, died there last night at the age of 95 years, Garamond publishing house owner Petr Himel told CTK today.
