George Gordon (September 2, 1906 – May 24, 1986) was an American film and TV animator and director of animated productions. Starting in film in 1930, he moved to TV in its early days. Gordon is credited with hundreds of cartoons from 1937 through 1983.
Biography
Gordon began working with animation in 1930 at the
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...
Studio as an animator on the ''Jesse and James'' and ''
Farmer Al Falfa
Farmer Al Falfa (also known as Farmer Alfalfa), at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to ...
to work as an animator. During his career at MGM, he directed ''
Barney Bear
''Barney Bear'' is an American series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy bear who often is in pursuit of nothing but ...
'' shorts and animated for ''
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
''. Gordon was later promoted to the director position on
animations
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
such as:
*A Bully Frog (1936)
*The Busy Bee (1936)
*Robin Hood in an Arrow Escape (1936)
*
Farmer Al Falfa
Farmer Al Falfa (also known as Farmer Alfalfa), at
Kiko the Kangaroo
* Puddy the Pup
After departing MGM, Gordon found employment at John Sutherland Productions. While there, he directed the animated short ''The Trainer Within''. The film was preserved at the
United States National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library.
Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Its ...
as of 1988. He supervised stories for the UPA cartoon '' Mr. Magoo''. By the 1960s Gordon served as director for DePatie-Freleng's ''
The Ant and the Aardvark
''The Ant and the Aardvark'' is a series of 17 theatrical short cartoons produced at DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, originally released by United Artists and currently distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1969 to 1971.
Plot
The cartoon se ...
'' series of shorts.
Gordon spent his final years at Hanna-Barbera, where he directed various episodes of ''
The Kwicky Koala Show
''The Kwicky Koala Show'' is a 30-minute Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Hanna Barbera Pty, Ltd. that aired on CBS from September 12 to December 26, 1981. This series is notable for being among cartoon director ...
The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show
''The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show'' is the sixth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon '' Scooby-Doo''. It premiered on September 10, 1983, featuring the return of Daphne, and ran for one season on ABC as a half-hour prog ...
''.
George's older brother, Dan Gordon, worked for Hanna-Barbera as well. He had a daughter named Sally Lucas.
Works
*
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...
Casper and the Angels
''Casper and the Angels'' is an American animated television series based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1979, to December 15, 1979.
...
*
The Little Rascals
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
*
Super Friends
''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of ...
for
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
*
Barney Bear
''Barney Bear'' is an American series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy bear who often is in pursuit of nothing but ...
*
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...