R.I.P. Gene Deitch!!

Gene Deitch, one of the Oscar-winning illustrator and animator well known for directing popular cartoons like Tom & Jerry and Popeye and he died at the age of 95, in Prague Thursday. He was born on August 8, 1924, in Chicago, a gene has trained as a pilot in his early life but later he joined with studios such as United Productions of America and Terrytoons.
In the year 1958, he made his own studio in New York City and termed it as Gene Deitch Associates which was famous for producing TV commercials. In 2004, Gene Deitch was awarded with the Winsor McCay Award for his remarkable contribution to animation. Also, his wife and three sons from his first marriage are also cartoonists and illustrators.
In a career spanning nearly six decades, Deitch directed many popular cartoons like ‘Munro’, ‘Tom Terrific’, ‘Nudnik’ among others. He directed at least 13 episodes of Tom and Jerry for MGM between the years 1961 to 1962 and has also directed a few episodes of Popeye.
Deitch was also well known for creating characters like Sidney the Elephantured Gaston Le Crayon, Tom Terrific and Clint Clobber. His animated short Munrowon an Oscar award for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 1961 and was also nominated for the same award twice in 1964 for Here’s Nudnik and How to Avoid Friendship.
Deitch was nominated for three Academy Awards. He was first nominated for a Best Short Film (Animated) Oscar in 1958 for ‘Sidney’s Family Tree’, a six-minute animated movie, which he had co-produced and directed. In 1961, he won an Oscar in the same category for ‘Munro’, a nine-minute long Czechoslovak-American comedy. He was nominated twice in 1964 in the short animated film category for ‘Here’s Nudnik’ and ‘How to Avoid Friendship'.

By: Saksham Gupta