Gerald McDermott (January 31, 1941 – December 26, 2012) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

filmmaker, creator of

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, and expert on

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

. His creative works typically combine bright colors and styles with ancient

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory im ...

. His picture books feature folktales and

cultures Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylo ...

from all around the world.

Biography

McDermott was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, to parents who supported the arts and encouraged his love of reading. McDermott began studying art at the age of four, when he started taking Saturday workshops at the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...

, the museum in his hometown. There was basic art instruction in the morning and then students were encouraged to sketch from the various collections of the museum. In elementary and middle school he continued to sketch and paint, acted in a weekly radio program, and he studied ballet as well as music. All of these creative experiences would help McDermott create animated films and books later in life. McDermott continued his education at Cass Tech, a public high school for the gifted with a notable art program. He also made several short films with his school colleague, Harrison Engle. One of them, "Hello, My Baby!," was filmed at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 1959, he was awarded a National Scholastic Scholarship to the Pratt Institute of Design in New York City. As an extracurricular summer project McDermott decided to produce an animated film and chose ''

The Stonecutter "The Stone-cutter" is a supposed Japanese folk-tale published by Andrew Lang in '' The Crimson Fairy Book'' (1903), taken from 's ''Japanische Märchen'' (1885). However, the story has been pointed out to closely resemble the "Japanese Stonecutt ...

'', a story he had loved as a child. McDermott conducted extensive research into the cultures and customs of the story's origins. During his junior year at Pratt in 1962, McDermott took a leave of absence to work as a graphic designer for

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

, a New York educational television channel. He also produced several animated pieces for ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt in 1964. He produced three more short films soon after graduation: ''Sunflight'' in 1966, ''Anansi the Spider'' in 1969, and ''The Magic Tree'' in 1970. In 1970, George Nicholson, a children's book editor, contacted McDermott and suggested adapting his films as picture books. The first was ''Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti'', published by

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools. The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...

in 1972. It retells an Ashanti folktale explaining how

Anansi Anansi ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is an Akan folktale character and the Akan God of Stories, Wisdom, Knowledge, and possibly creation. The form of a spider is the most common depiction of Anansi. He is also, sometimes considered t ...

was rescued by the separate contributions of his sons. Meanwhile, it explains how the moon came to be in the sky. ''The Magic Tree'', '' Arrow to the Sun'', and ''Stone-cutter'' soon followed as picture books. ''Arrow to the Sun'' (1974) was developed simultaneously as a film released in 1973, McDermott's last animated film. In the 1980s he published two books that paid homage to the traditions of his

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

heritage: ''Daniel O'Rourke'' and ''Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk''. During this time he also illustrated some books written by Marianna Mayer. In the early 1990s McDermott began working on a series of trickster tales and two works of mythological

creation stories A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...

. He died on December 26, 2012.

Awards

* 1972, ''Anansi the Spider'' was a runner-up for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

* 1973, ''Anansi'' was named to the

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...

list * 1974, '' Arrow to the Sun'' was the

-winning U.S. picture book * 1993, '' Raven: A Trickster Tale From The Pacific Northwest'' was a runner-up for both the Caldecott and the

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

for picture books * 1997, ''Musicians of the Sun'' received recognition from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association * 1999, American Orff-Schulwerk Association Advocate

Books

As writer and illustrator

*1972 ''Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti'' (Holt, ) *1973 ''The Magic Tree: a tale from the Congo'' *1974 ''Arrow to the Sun: a Pueblo Indian tale'' *1975 ''The Stone-cutter: a Japanese tale'' *1977 ''The Voyage of Osiris'' *1979 ''The Knight of the Lion'' *1980 ''Sunflight'' *1984 ''Daughter of Earth: a Roman myth'' *1986 ''Daniel O'Rourke: an Irish tale'' *1990 ''Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk: an Irish tale'' *1994 ''Musicians of the Sun *1998 ''The Fox and the Stork'' *2003 ''Creation'' ;Trickster tales *1980 ''Papagayo: the mischief maker'' (a Brazilian folktale) *1992 '' Zomo The Rabbit: A Trickster Tale From West Africa'' *1993 ''Raven: a trickster tale from the Pacific Northwest'' *1994 ''Coyote: a trickster tale from the American Southwest'' *2001 ''Jabuti the Tortoise: a trickster tale from the Amazon'' *2009 ''Pig-Boy: a trickster tale from Hawai'i'' *2011 ''Monkey: a trickster tale from India''

As illustrator

* 1981 ''Carlo Collodi's

The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; it, Le avventure di Pinocchio ; commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'') is a children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pi ...

'' by

Marianna Mayer Marianna Mayer (born in New York City on November 8, 1945) is a well-known children’s book writer and artist from Roxbury, Connecticut. Her early education was in the field of the visual arts. After one year of college, she became a student p ...

* 1985 ''Alley Oop!'' by Marianna Mayer * 1985 ''Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp'' by Marianna Mayer * 1985 ''The Spirit of the Blue Light (a German folktale)'' by Marianna Mayer * 1987 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Book of Big & Small Shapes'' by Marianna Mayer * 1987 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Alphabet ABC'' by Marianna Mayer * 1987 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Book of Colors'' by Marianna Mayer * 1991 ''The Brambleberrys Animal Book of Counting'' by Marianna Mayer * 1991 ''Marcel the Pastry Chef'' by Marianna Mayer * 2004 ''Can Turtle fly? : A

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: * Lakota, Iowa * Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County * La ...

tale'' by

Joseph Bruchac Joseph Bruchac (born October 16, 1942) is an American writer and storyteller based in New York. He writes about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He ...

Films

* ''The Stonecutter'', 1960 * ''Sunflight'', 1966 * ''Anansi the Spider'', 1969 * ''Moments Spent'', 1969 * ''The Magic Tree'', 1970 * "Steady Freddy" and "Shall I Shoot the Fish?", 1973 (short films for ''

'') * ''Arrow to the Sun'', 1974

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Gerald American animators American film directors American animated film directors American folklorists American children's writers Caldecott Medal winners American children's book illustrators Artists from Detroit 1941 births 2012 deaths