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Gerald Potterton Dies: ‘Heavy Metal’ Director, Animator On ‘Yellow Submarine’ Was 91

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Gerald Potterton, the London-born filmmaker and animator who directed the 1981 animated cult favorite Heavy Metal and contributed to the memorable “Liverpool” sequence in the 1968 Beatles film Yellow Submarine, died today at a Quebec hospital.

He was 91.His death was announced by the National Film Board of Canada. No cause was stated.“Gerald came to Canada and the NFB to be part of a new wave of storytelling, one that was fresh and irreverent, and he brought great wit and creativity to every project,” said Claude Joli-Coeur, NFB Chairperson and Government Film Commissioner, in a statement. “He was also a builder, helping to lay the foundation for today’s independent Canadian animation industry with Potterton Productions…He was an exceptional artist and a truly nice man.”Potterton had graduated from London’s Hammersmith Art School when he moved to Canada in 1954, working with the NFB before directing his own notable animated shorts in the early ’60s.

Among his early credits were two Oscar-nominated films: My Financial Career (1962) and, in 1963, Christmas Cracker (1963), which he co-directed with Norman McLaren, Jeff Hale and Grant Munro.He also directed live-action films, including the 1963 comedy The Ride and the acclaimed late-career Buster Keaton short film The Railrodder (1965).Potterton had started his own Montreal-based studio Potterton Productions in 1967 when, the following year, he was invited by his friend, director George Dunning, to return to London to contribute to a highly anticipated Beatles film.

Potterton did layout for what would come to be known as the “Liverpool” sequence of Dunning’s film featuring the song “Eleanor Rigby.”In 1969, Potterton animated the “Pinter People” segment of the NBC Experiment

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