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Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating such as Munro, Tom Terrific, and Nudnik, as well as his work on the Popeye and Tom and Jerry series.
When the client Rembrandt Films promised to fund Munro, an animated theatrical short Deitch wanted to create, Deitch relocated to the company's base in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in October 1959. He originally planned to spend only ten days in Prague. Still, after meeting his future wife, Zdenka, he decided to settle permanently in the city. Munro premiered in Czechoslovakia in September 1960 and in the U.S. on October 5, 1961, as a short preceding Breakfast at Tiffany's. It won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1961, the first short created outside of the United States to be so honored. "Anatomy of an Oscar" Occasional Deitch 2007, page 3, retrieved 2007-11-04. Munro was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2004.
From 1960 to 1963, Deitch was hired by Rembrandt to direct Popeye cartoons for television for King Features, and from 1961 to 1962 he directed 13 new Tom and Jerry shorts for MGM. Being a "UPA man", Deitch had misgivings about the latter property, thinking they were "needlessly violent". However, after being assigned to work on the series, he quickly realized that "nobody took the seriously", and it was merely "a parody of exaggerated human emotions". He also came to see what he perceived as the "biblical roots" in Tom and Jerry's conflict, similar to David and Goliath, stating "That's where we feel a connection to these cartoons: the little guy can win (or at least survive) to fight another day." Contemporary critics often regarded Deitch's shorts as the worst in the Tom and Jerry series; Deitch said some fans wrote positive letters to him, stating that his Tom and Jerry shorts were their personal favorites.
Alongside Rembrandt's head William L. Snyder, Deitch co-produced and directed a series of TV shorts of Krazy Kat for King Features from 1962 to 1964. The Bluffers, which was based on one of Deitch's ideas, was also co-produced by him. He directed the 1966 film Alice of Wonderland in Paris. In 1966, he worked with Czech animator Jiří Trnka on a feature-length animated film adaptation of The Hobbit. However, producer Snyder could not secure the funds, and in order to not let the rights for the novel expire, he asked Deitch to produce a short film adaptation in 30 days. Deitch and illustrator Adolf Born made a 13-minute animated film never intended for distribution; the film was long considered lost until it was rediscovered by Snyder's son and released on YouTube in 2012. Also in 1966, Deitch created a young girl adventurer in Terrible Tessie.
From 1969 until his retirement in 2008, Deitch was the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston Woods Studios, adapting children's picture books. Deitch adapted 37 films for Weston Woods, from Drummer Hoff in 1969 to Voyage to the Bunny Planet in 2008. His studio was located in Prague near the Barrandov Studios, where many major films were shot. In 2003, Deitch was awarded the ' Winsor McCay Award by ASIFA-Hollywood for a lifetime contribution to the art of animation.
Several days after arriving in Prague in October 1959, Deitch met Zdenka Najmanová, the production manager at the studio Bratři v triku where he worked. They married in 1964. Deitch's memoir, For the Love of Prague, is based on his experience of being what he called "the only free American living and working in Prague during 30 years of the Communist Party dictatorship".Deitch, G., For the Love of Prague, 6th edition (Prague: John Caullkins, 2015). According to Deitch, although he was followed by the StB and his phone was tapped, he was never aware of their presence and was never interrogated nor arrested. In 2008, Deitch retired from making cartoons.
Deitch died in Prague on April 16, 2020, at the age of 95. Shortly before his death, Deitch had noted intestinal problems.
Personal life and death
Deitch met his first wife, Marie, when they both worked at North American Aviation, and they married in 1943. Their three sons, Kim Deitch, Simon, and Seth Deitch, are artists and writers for underground and alternative comics.
Further reading
External links
Categories: Www.genedeitch.com Official Website, 1924 Births, 2020 Deaths, Animators From Illinois, Film Producers From Illinois, Artists From Chicago, Terrytoons People, American Expatriates In The Czech Republic, Artists From Prague, Entertainers From Prague, American Expatriates In Czechoslovakia, Film Directors From Illinois, Military Personnel From Illinois, American Comics Artists, Jewish American Comics Artists, Jewish American Illustrators, American Humorists, 20th-century American Illustrators, Jewish American Animators, Inkpot Award Winners, Rembrandt Films, United States Army Air Forces Pilots Of World War Ii, 21st-century American Jews, Directors Of Best Animated Short Academy Award Winners
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