Polish-Australian animation producer and director (1926?2015)
Yoram Gross
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Born
| Yoram Jerzy Gross
(
1926-10-18
)
18 October 1926
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Died
| 21 September 2015
(2015-09-21)
(aged 88)
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Occupation(s)
| Animation director and founder of
Flying Bark Productions
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Years active
| 1947?2015
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Spouse
| Sandra Gross
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Yoram Jerzy Gross
AM
(18 October 1926 – 21 September 2015) was a Polish-born, Australian film and television producer, animation director, and writer of children's and family entertainment. He founded the animation studio
Flying Bark Productions
.
He was known for his adaptation of children's characters from books and films, and best known for the production of the films
Dot and the Kangaroo
and
Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala
.
[1]
[2]
Early life
[
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]
Gross was born in
Krakow
,
[3]
Poland to a religious Jewish family and was the brother of the film director Natan Gross.
[3]
Gross endured
World War II
under the
Nazi
regime. His family was on
Oskar Schindler
's list,
[4]
but chose to make their own risky escape, moving hiding places 72 times.
[1]
Gross studied music and
musicology
at the
Jagiellonian University
in Krakow (also known as Krakow University). He first entered the film industry in 1947 at the age of 20 when he became one of the first students of
Jerzy Toeplitz
[1]
(founder of the
Polish Film Institute
, the
Swiss Film Institute
and the
Australian Film and Television School
).
Early career
[
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]
Gross began his career as an assistant to Polish directors
Eugene Cenkalski
and
Leonard Buczkowski
as well as the Dutch director
Joris Ivens
and studied script writing under
Carl Foreman
.
In 1950 Gross moved from Poland to Israel, where he worked as a
newsreel
and documentary cameraman.
[3]
He then became an independent film producer and director and began winning prizes at international film festivals.
His full-length feature,
Joseph the Dreamer
(1962), a biblical story, received special prizes in many countries. His experimental film
Chansons Sans Paroles
(1958) was heralded by some international film critics as the most interesting film of 1959. Another comedy,
One Pound Only
(1964), set the box office record of the year.
Australian career
[
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]
In 1967 Gross, his wife Sandra and young family migrated to Australia and lived in Sydney. They established Yoram Gross Film Studio in their house, as remote workers. Gross continued to make experimental films and to win awards. He originally produced film clips for the popular weekly television music program
Bandstand
for such artists as
John Farnham
. At the
Sydney Film Festival
in 1970, he was awarded second prize for
The Politicians
in the category of best Australian-made film, and at the 1971 Australian Film Awards, his film
To Nefertiti
won the bronze award.
Animated films and TV series
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]
After 1977 Gross devoted his energies to animated films and series, but maintained an interest in experimental films with awards to assist young filmmakers including the
Yoram Gross Award for Best Animated Film
at the Sydney Film Festival and the
Yoram Gross Best Animation Award
at the Flickerfest International Film Festival. Gross wrote a book on making animated films, titled
The First Animated Step
(1975) and produced a film of the same title.
Dot series
[
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]
The first animated feature film produced by the Yoram Gross Film Studio, called
Dot and the Kangaroo
(1977), used a special aerial image technique of drawings over live action backgrounds. The film was based on an Australian classic best seller by
Ethel Pedley
, and was described by ABC film critic
John Hinde
as a "brilliant technical success and the best cartoon film originated in Australia". It won Best Children's Film in Tehran and also won a Sammy Award for the Best Animated Film at the 1978
Australian Film Institute Television Awards
.
Gross went on to produce, direct, and script a total of 16 feature films for 19 children. Eight films featuring the adventures of Dot from the original film
Dot and the Kangaroo
.
Dot and the Bunny
(1984) was the winner of the 1983 Best Animated Film at the 28th
Asia Pacific Film Festival
, and
Dot and Keeto
(1985) won the Red Ribbon Award at the 1986 American Film and Video Festival.
Coinciding with the release of the films, Gross also published books based on the films
Dot and the Kangaroo
,
The Little Convict
and
Save the Lady
.
Magic Riddle
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]
Gross's 1991 animated film
The Magic Riddle
was based on an original story and is a mixture of fairy tales from
Hans Christian Andersen
, the
Brothers Grimm
, and others.
Blinky Bill
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]
In 1992 Gross released
Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala
, based on the Australian children's classic by
Dorothy Wall
.
[3]
This film featured an Australian koala and introduced Blinky Bill to an international audience. Blinky Bill generated one of Australia's most successful merchandising programs, bringing in millions of dollars in export earnings.
In 1993 Yoram Gross Film Studio diversified into animated series for television. The first two of the
Blinky Bill
series,
The Adventures of Blinky Bill
and
Blinky Bill's Extraordinary Excursion
, totalled 52 half-hour episodes and achieved significant international success, particularly in Europe.
After
Blinky Bill
, Gross co-produced the series
Tabaluga
(26 half hours) with
EM.TV & Merchandising AG
, which became a top-rated children's show in Germany. An animated series adapting Australia's best-known kangaroo,
Skippy
, was completed in 1998, whereupon the studio commenced the animation of
Flipper and Lopaka
. Both series comprise 26 half-hour episodes.
Later career
[
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]
In March 1999, EM.TV a 50% share ownership in Yoram Gross Film Studio acquired from
Village Roadshow Limited
to form Yoram Gross-EM.TV Pty Ltd (YGEM) was created. This new partnership marked the transition from a family business to a world brand. EM.TV and YGEM committed to the production of 10 new series over the next five years.
In the following year the studio worked with the Canadian Nelvana to plan an animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey's
Dumb Bunnies
.
The new millennium cemented Gross and EM.TV's position as the number-one family entertainment business in the Australian country and supplier of quality children's content to the world. The studio completed a second series of both
Tabaluga
and
Flipper and Lopaka
, as well as a brand new series,
Old Tom
.
The
Seven Network
programmed a dedicated block of television produced by Yoram Gross ? a fulfilment of its commitment to screen quality 'C classified' drama for children. Gross and EM.TV also launched the
Junior
TV channel in Germany, but shut down in many years later.
Gross's autobiography,
My Animated Life
, was released in April 2011.
[5]
[6]
Death
[
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]
Gross died in Sydney at the age of 88 on 21 September 2015.
[4]
Honours and recognition
[
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]
Gross won more than 80 international awards for his various films.
[4]
Gross was honoured in the 1995 Australia Day Honours with a
Member of the Order of Australia
for his services to the Australian film industry, particularly in animation techniques.
[7]
Gross celebrated his 60th anniversary in the film industry in May 2007. To celebrate the milestone, the
New South Wales Film and Television Office
honoured him by hosting a special retrospective screening of his career highlights, including the screening of Gross's most recent project,
Autumn in Krakow
, a poignant short film on his home town of Krakow, based on his late brother Nathan's poetry. In 2011, Gross was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and the Medal for Merit to polish Culture ? "Gloria Artis".
[
citation needed
]
.
For users in four countries: Australia, Greece, Germany, and Israel, a
Google Doodle
was made for what would have been his 95th birthday to celebrate his life and works.
[8]
Filmography
[
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]
Feature films
[
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]
TV series
[
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]
Short films
[
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]
- Chansons Sans Paroles
(1958)
- Song Without Words
(1958)
- Hava Nagila
(1959)
- We Shall Never Die
(1959)
- Bon Appetit
(1969)
- Barry Crocker
's
Danny Boy
(1970)
- Janice Slater's
Call It What You May
(1970)
- John Farnham
's
One
(1970)
- The Politicians
(1970)
- To Nefertiti
(1971)
- Seasons
(1972)
- Sun
(1975)
- Professor Filutek
(1999)
- The Naked Tree
(2003)
- Autumn in Krakow
(2007)
- Fuchsia Ballerinas
(2007)
- Young Musicians
(2007?2008)
- Don't Forget...
(2010)
- Why...
(2010)
- Forest Holocaust
(2011)
- Sentenced To Death
(2011)
- The Liar
(2012)
- Kaddish
(2013)
References
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]
External links
[
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]
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