Gary Goldman

Gary Goldman (born November 17 1944 in Oakland, California) is an American animator.

Pre-Disney

Born, Gary Wayne Goldman, in Oakland, California and raised in Watsonville, California, as a youth, Goldman was active in sports, an infielder in baseball and quarterback in high school football, he studied piano and enjoyed model-making and drawing. Before devoting himself entirely to the arts, he served as an electronics technician in the United States Air Force from 1962 to 1967, assigned duties in Japan and Germany. He received his Associate of Arts Degree in 1969 from Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, California, and he graduated in December, 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Life Drawing and Art History from the University of Hawaii.

Disney

Gary Goldman began his career in animation when he joined Walt Disney Productions in February of 1972. His first assignment was as an in-betweener to legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas on the film "Robin Hood". He then worked alongside Don Bluth, as an animator, on "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!" and "The Rescuers" before serving as Directing Animator on "Pete's Dragon" and "The Small One".

In an effort to accelerate their skills in preparation for leadership assignments within the Disney organization, Goldman and Bluth began to purchase used animation equipment and probe every aspect of animated production, at Don Bluth's home. United by the common goal of restoring the lost techniques of classical animation, Goldman and Bluth, along with animator John Pomeroy, produced, directed and animated the classically animated 27 minute, filmed-featurette "Banjo the Woodpile Cat". Their enthusiasm attracted many other artists at Disney, who came by the garage to contribute their time and artistry to the project. It took four years, working nights and weekends in Bluth's garage. In December of 1979, the film was shown at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood and the Peppertree theater in Northridge, CA. It received the National Film Advisory Board Award for Excellence, and the Golden Scroll Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Using what they learned on their project, they attempted to implement their techniques on projects at Disney. Banjo the Woodpile Cat was later shown on ABC Television (June 1982), as a prime time special.

Post-Disney

Divided by disagreements over story and production values, Goldman, along with Bluth and Pomeroy, resigned from Walt Disney Productions to establish their independent animation studio, Don Bluth Productions, in 1979. The departure was highly publicized and the trio were dubbed "Disney Defectors" by news reporters.

Since leaving Disney, the team produced several feature films, starting with "The Secret of NIMH", which won the Saturn Award for "Best Animated Feature" from the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Academy. In late 1982, Jerry Goldsmith the music composer for "NIMH", introduced them to Steven Spielberg. Their first collaboration with Spielberg, which began production in January 1985, "An American Tail", released in November, 1986, ushered in a new era of success for the full-length animated feature, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of its time.

Goldman was a producer on the highly successful animated laser disc interactive video games, "Dragon's Lair", "Space Ace" and . "Dragon's Lair" received the Inkpot Award for the "First Interactive Laser Disc Arcade Game" and an Arkie Award for the "Best Arcade Audio/Visuals". Financial difficulties with their distributor, cut them off from financing, and forced them to seek protection in bankruptcy in 1984. It was at this time they met mergers and acquisitions expert, Morris Sullivan, who set up a corporation, Sullivan Studios to allow the trio to continue while the bankruptcy courts slowly settled their company's case against its distributor.

In 1986, Sullivan moved Goldman, Bluth & Pomeroy, and the entire operation, including 87 employees and their families to Dublin, Ireland, at the invitation of the Irish Government. Their third feature film "The Land Before Time", was their first production created primarily in Ireland, Sullivan transferred much of the ownership of the Dublin studio to the three animators, and renamed the company Sullivan Bluth Studios. The company produced six feature films from 1986 thru 1994. Sullivan retired in 1991 and the company was renamed Don Bluth Entertainment, Ireland, Ltd.

In August 1994, Goldman & Bluth returned from Ireland to head up the Fox Animation Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona where they shared creative leadership, as producers/directors. The first production completed by the studio was the award-winning "Anastasia" in 1997. Also produced at the Phoenix studio was "Bartok the Magnificent" in 1999, and the animated science fiction film, Titan A.E., in 2000. A forth feature film, "Africa", was in production when 20th Century Fox shut down its Phoenix facility.

In 1999, Goldman, with Don Bluth, John Pomeroy, Rick Dyer and David Foster formed a new company, Dragon's Lair, LLC. The company was formed to develop new 3D games, starting with a revamp of the hit 1983 game Dragon's Lair.

Goldman and Bluth have reestablished their independence with their production company, Don Bluth Films, Inc., developing feature-length properties. The company established a web site, http://www.donbluth.com/, where they communicate with their audience on a personal level, and provide animation information online.

In August 2007, Goldman was named an artist in residence at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, for the college’s 10-week winter quarter starting in January 2008. Goldman lectured on animation, as well as taught undergraduate and graduate level classes in traditional 2-D animation production.
[http://www.scad.edu/about/news/topstories/2007/080607a.cfm]

Miscellaneous

Gary Goldman has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976. While in college he married elementary teacher, Janith Eileen Brand in April 1968. They separated in 1983 and divorced in 1988. They have two children, Kip and Andrew. In 2001 Goldman & Bluth received Lifetime Achievement Awards for their dedication and contribution to the art of animation from Animation Magazine, and in 2005, at the Savannah Film Festival, Life Time Achievement Awards for animation, from the Savannah College of Art & Design, to which, they gifted their animation art archive. Goldman remarried in late 1988 to film cutter, Cathy (Bassett) Carr. She and her three children John, Jason and Joanna moved with him to Dublin, Ireland in 1986. Together they have seven grandchildren.

External links

*imdb name|id=0325776|name=Gary Goldman

Navbox
name = Don Bluth
title = Don Bluth Entertainment

group1 = Video games
list1 = Dragon's Lair (1983) • Space Ace (1984) • (1991)

group2 = Short films
list2 = Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979)

group3 = Sullivan Bluth Studios
list3 = The Secret of NIMH (1982) • An American Tail (1986) • The Land Before Time (1988) • All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) • Rock-a-Doodle (1991) • Thumbelina (1994) • A Troll in Central Park (1994) • The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)

group4 = Fox Animation Studios
list4 = Anastasia (1997) • Bartok the Magnificent (1999) • Titan A.E. (2000)

group5 = Sequences of Films (not directed by Don Bluth)
list5 = The Secret of NIMH: (1998)
An American Tail: (1991) • (1998) • (1999) • Fievel's American Tails
The Land Before Time: (1994)· (1995)· (1996)· (1997)· (1998)· (2000)· (2001)· (2002)· (2003)· (2005)· (2006)· (2007)· The Land Before Time (TV series)
All Dogs Go to Heaven: All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996) • An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998) •

group6 = Other works
list6 = Xanadu (1980) • The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990) • Dragon's Lair: The Movie (TBA)
Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Small One (1978)

group7 = Related articles
list7 = Studios: Sullivan Bluth Studios • Fox Animation Studios • Walt Disney Animation Studios
People: Gary Goldman • John Pomeroy • Morris Sullivan