Line #11 Creator/GeneDeitch


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3_83.jpg]]
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3	Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 -- April 16, 2020) was an MediaNotes/AcademyAward-winning American animator and director born in Chicago, Illinois.
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5	He got his start in 1953 at the New York branch of [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons UPA]], which primarily produced commercials and industrial films. It was there that he made his directorial debut with ''Howdy Doody and His Magic Hat'', a pilot short for a scrapped theatrical series based on the ''Howdy Doody'' TV show. It was also there that he began his association with voice artist Allen Swift, who performed all the voices for the cancer PSA ''Pump Trouble''. He and Swift would be best friends up until the latter's death in 2010.
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7	In 1956, Deitch took his talents to the Creator/{{Terrytoons}} studio, where he became supervising director. There, he was known for bringing some well-needed creative punches to the studio; among his notable works a series of made-for-TV shorts starring WesternAnimation/TomTerrific, as well as shorts featuring new characters like WesternAnimation/SidneyTheElephant, Clint Clobber and Gaston Le Crayon. Among the films he supervised was ''Sidney's Family Tree'', which was nominated for an MediaNotes/AcademyAward in 1958. His tenure at Terrytoons was short-lived however, and that same year, he was fired from the studio.
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9	In 1959, he started his own studio behind the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he resided till his death. He started a partnership with William L. Snyder of Rembrandt Films to make films for him; their first project was "WesternAnimation/{{Munro}}", a story by cartoonist Jules Feiffer about a four-year-old boy drafted into the Army. It went on to win the MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedShortFilm in 1960. In the 1960s, Deitch directed shorts featuring characters from a variety of clients, such as some TV shorts starring ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} and ComicStrip/KrazyKat for Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate, and, perhaps his most widely-known work, a series of 13 theatrical WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry shorts for Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer. Among his independent projects included "WesternAnimation/SelfDefenseForCowards" and a theatrical series of shorts starring the character Nudnik, which Deitch considers his most personal work. He also worked on Czech dubbed versions of television shows, including translating the scripts for the first 52 episodes of the original Czech dub of ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales\|1987}}''.
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11	From 1968 until his retirement in 2006, Deitch adapted children's picture books for Weston Woods/Scholastic. He was awarded the [[MediaNotes/AnnieAward Winsor McCay Award]] in 2003 for his contributions to the animation industry.
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14	!!Gene Deitch on TV Tropes:
15	[[index]]
16	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Flebus}}'' (1957)
17	* ''WesternAnimation/TomTerrific'' (TV series, 1957-59)
18	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Munro}}'' (1960)
19	* WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry (1961-1962), revival of series discontinued in 1957
20	* ''WesternAnimation/SelfDefenseForCowards'' (1962)
21	* ''WesternAnimation/HeresNudnik'' (1964)
22	* ''WesternAnimation/HowToAvoidFriendship'' (1964)
23	* ''WesternAnimation/AliceOfWonderlandInParis'' (1966)
24	* ''Literature/TheThreeRobbers'' (1972, adaptation of the children's book)
25	* ''Literature/MoonMan'' (1981, adaptation of the children's book)
26	[[/index]]
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28	!!Tropes associated with him:
29	* CompilationMovie: His 1966 feature ''Alice of Wonderland in Paris'', which combined previously-made shorts with new linking material.
30	* CreatorBacklash:
31	** Deitch was not fond of his ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' shorts, mainly because he and his staff didn't quite get the gag-driven nature of the original shorts.
32	** He regretted how WesternAnimation/JRRTolkiensTheHobbit ended up as an AshcanCopy, feeling it was a disservice to Tolkien's work and a waste of a good feature film.
33	* LimitedAnimation
34	* MissingEpisode: Several of his works have been lost and found...
35	** His directorial debut ''Howdy Doody and His Magic Hat'' was missing for many years; Howdy's creator, "Buffalo" Bob Smith, felt it was unfaithful to the source material and ordered all prints to be destroyed. Deitch managed to keep a 16mm print for himself, but he lost it in Prague. A 35mm print was found at the Library of Congress in 2010, and was presented to the public for the first time on Blog/CartoonBrew.
36	** His short-lived satirical comic strip ''Malý Svet'' (translation: ''Small World'') was cancelled after the editors at ''Květy'' magazine caught on to the anti-Communist messages, and remained hidden and unknown for years [[http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/gene-deitchs-lost-small-world-comic-strip/ until they were republished (and translated) on Jerry Beck's Cartoon Research website]].
37	** A twelve-minute version of ''Literature/TheHobbit'', created with [[NoBudget practically no budget]], was only shown once, as it was made so William Snyder could [[AshcanCopy keep the film rights]] to the Tolkien stories as per his contract with his estate. The film was rediscovered by Snyder's son and posted online in 2012.
38	* ProductionPosse: Even after his move to Prague, Deitch still had (long-distance) help from his posse in New York, including storymen Larz Bourne and Eli Bauer, and voice artists Allen Swift and Lionel Wilson.
39	* WhatCouldHaveBeen
40	** In 1958, he collaborated with Jules Feiffer on a TV pilot called '"Easy Winners'', about a group of feisty kids. A pilot film was created, but Deitch was booted from Terrytoons before the series could get off the ground.
41	** In 1960, he and Allen Swift created a TV pilot titled ''Samson Scrap and Delilah'' and caught the eye of distributor Screen Gems. They turned down their offer to buy it after reading the contract, which said that Screen Gems would own the rights to it and other properties they might create, and it was instead released as a theatrical short by Paramount Pictures.
42	** In 1966, he produced a pilot called ''Terr'ble Tessie'' (a GenderFlipped version of his short-lived comic strip ''Terr'ble Thompson''), about a girl who could travel back in time to help historical figures. [[DescendedCreator Deitch himself voiced]] [[CrossDressingVoices the title character]].
43	** He was originally to animate a feature-length version of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' for Snyder while he still had the film rights, but a deal with Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox fell through. The end result was an AshcanCopy short produced solely to hold on to the rights so Snyder could sell them.

Context Creator / GeneDeitch