ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE
3.7 - October 1998
In Passing...
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| Lee Gunther. Photo courtesy of Ann Gunther. |
Lee Gunther. Animation
editor and producer Lee Gunther passed away on August 25 following a stroke
suffered the previous day. He was 63 years old. A memorial service was held
on Saturday, August 29 at Forest Lawn in Burbank, California. Starting at
Warner Bros. in the 1960s and then at DePatie-Freleng studios from 1964-1978,
Gunther was a film editor on more than 85 animated shorts in all. At DePatie-Freleng,
he also worked as an executive in charge of production in the 1970s. After
DePatie-Freleng ceased production, Gunther was one of the founding producers
of Marvel Animation, where he served as executive vice president and executive
producer on television series such as G.I. Joe (1984, Toei/Sunbow/Marvel)
and The Transformers (1984, Hasbro/Toei/Sunbow/Marvel), as well as
the feature-length animation Inhumanoids: The Movie (1986, Hasbro/Starwild
and Wildstar Music/Marvel). He also served as vice president of foreign production
at Fox Kids Network. In 1990, he co-founded Gunther-Wahl Productions with
Michael Wahl. With Wahl, he served as executive producer of the animated series
Angry Beavers, a Gunther-Wahl production for Nickelodeon. In his lifetime,
Gunther earned four Emmy awards, two Humanitas Prizes, two Golden Reel awards
and 12 Clio awards. Long-time friend and colleague George Conte, who first
met Gunther at DePatie-Freleng said, "Lee's dedication to quality filmmaking,
both technically and creatively placed him at the top of his profession. Because
of his strong character and gentle ways, he was respected and loved by all
who knew him. He will be missed." Lee Gunther is survived by his wife,
two brothers, two sons and two granddaughters.
The family requests that donations in Lee Gunther's memory be sent to:
UC Regents Stroke Research Program
Department of Neurology
Attn: Dr. Robert Colins, Chairman
Reed Neurological Institute C-139
404 Hilgard Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769
U.S.A.
Gail Banker. Animation educator Gail Banker died of a stroke on Sunday,
September 13, the day after her 60th birthday. For the past 13 years, she
taught animation to children and adults in the New England area: as an instructor
at Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire; as a counselor at the Charles
River Creative Arts Program in Dover, Massachusetts; and as founder of Single-Frame
Studio in Norwich, Vermont, where she ran weekly animation workshops for children.
She also taught adult animation classes at her studio and through various
continuing education programs. A recent project was "Kids Speaking to
Kids," for which her students created public service announcements that
aired on public access TV stations. In addition to helping hundreds of young
people make their own films and learn the art of animation, Gail was an animator.
While studying at Harvard University's renowned Carpenter Center animation
program, she completed the film Sketches for the Elephant Child (1981)
and later, in the mid-1980s, she made an animated rotoscoped film called Handcraft.
She also studied with Yvonne Andersen, founder of the Yellow Ball Workshop.
She is survived by her husband, four children, and five grandchildren.
Gail Banker's animation workshops were profiled in the March 1997 issue of
Animation World Magazine: "Kids
Making Animation: A Sampling of Children's Animation Workshops Around the
World."
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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