Marv Newland (March 9, 1947) is an American-Canadian filmmaker, specialized in

animation 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 ...

Career

Newland began a career making animated motion pictures in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

with the creation of the short '' Bambi Meets Godzilla'' (1969). He then designed and animated

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

until late 1970 when he moved to

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. While in Toronto (1970–1972) he designed, directed and animated television commercials for

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

and

Educational Television Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable telev ...

, and segments for longer films. Newland was also one of two designers and storyboard artists on the Cinera Productions cartoon '' Super Joe'' (1971). He was a storyboard designer on an unemployment insurance film at Crawley Films in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, and created designs and layouts for TV commercials for Phos-Cine Productions in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In late 1972 Newland moved to

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Canada. He spent two years freelancing for local animated film production companies, as well as animation companies in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and

. In 1973 Newland created storyboards for the animated television series '' Barbapapa'' while at Toonder Studios in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 1973 '' Bambi Meets Godzilla'' was seen widely across the United States when it was paired with John Magnuson's '' Thank You Mask Man'' to be shown along with screenings of

Philippe de Broca Philippe de Broca (; 15 March 1933 – 26 November 2004) was a French movie director. He directed 30 full-length feature films, including the highly successful '' That Man from Rio (''L'Homme de Rio'')'', '' The Man from Acapulco (Le Magnifique) ...

's feature film '' King of Hearts''. The pairing was created by Randy Finley in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

with Specialty Films who distributed the package under the title " The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects". In 1975 Newland founded the animated film production company International Rocketship Limited in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, British Columbia. At Rocketship he produced and directed numerous animated short films including: '' Sing Beast Sing'' (1980), '' Anijam'' (1984), '' Hooray for Sandbox Land'' (1985), ''Black Hula'' (1988 - which later featured on an early episode of Liquid Television), '' Pink Komkommer'' (1991), and '' Fuv'' (1999) Beijing Flipbook (2003), Tete A Tete A Tete (2005), Postalolio (2008), CMYK (2010), Scratchy (2016), Katalog Of Flaws (2019). In 1979 Marv hired Gordon Stanfield Animation (GSA) and later, Gordon went on to bring more animation to

, British Columbia. The company also produced short animated films for other directors such as Danny Antonucci ('' Lupo the Butcher'', 1987), and J. Falconer ('' Dog Brain'', 1988). Newland also designed and directed the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

vignette, '' Bill Miner'' (1978). Rocketship also produced TV commercials, promos, and network ID's for clients like

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, YTV,

YTV Jr. YTV Jr. (formerly known as The Treehouse) was a block on YTV for preschoolers that was launched in 1994 and aired weekdays until 2002. History When YTV launched, it had a block of programs for preschoolers with a focus on Canadian content. In ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

, Nick Jr., the

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

, Lifetime, HA! TV Comedy Network, TV Heaven 41,

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...

and

Locomotion Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place. Locomotion may refer to: Motion * Motion (physics) * Robot locomotion, of man-made devices By environment * Aquatic locomotion * Flight * Locomo ...

, pilots for series, and two longer films: ''

Gary Larson's Tales From the Far Side ''Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side'' is an animated short film created in 1994 by Gary Larson, based on ''the Far Side'' comic strip. It was first shown as a Halloween special on CBS television, which aired on October 26, 1994. Later it was ...

'' (1994), which won the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

at the

Annecy International Animation Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

in 1996, and a sequel in 1996. Outside of Rocketship, Newland has freelanced for other animation companies. This work includes directing episodes of the 3D stop motion series, '' The PJ's'', for

Will Vinton Studios William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his work a ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

; '' The Preacher's Life'' (1999); '' Fear of a Black Rat'' (1999); and '' Let's Get Ready to Rumba'' (2001). Newland also created story boards for the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

and

studios of the

(1999–2000). In 2001 Newland produced three animated films by two other directors; '' Friday Night Idiot Box'' by Bruce Wilson, and '' Explodium'' and ''

My Friend Max ''My Friend Max'' (french: Mon amie Max) is a 1994 Canadian drama film, written by Guy Fournier and Jefferson Lewis, and directed by Michel Brault. The film premiered in February 1994 at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois. Plot The film is ...

'' by Peter MacAdams. Later projects have included '' Scratchy'' and '' POSTALOLIO'' (2008), a 2D animated film in which all of the drawings were hand-painted on postcards and sent through the international mail to the film's producer, Frederator Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Frederator Postcards Series 6.31, Frederator Blogs, April 7, 2008
/ref> All of these are International Rocketship Limited Productions. His film '' Anijam'' was included in the Animation Show of Shows. The

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

has preserved several of Marv Newland's films, including '' Anijam'', '' Bambi Meets Godzilla'', and Black Hula.

References

External links

*
Marv Newland's MarvCards

International Rocketship Ltd. archives
at the University of Toronto Media Commons {{DEFAULTSORT:Newland, Marv Canadian animators Canadian film producers Comedy film directors Parody film directors Canadian parodists American parodists American animators American film producers American film directors American storyboard artists American animated film directors American animated film producers Canadian animated film directors Canadian animated film producers Living people 1947 births