Filmography

Check out this video gallery of some of Gerald's most iconic work

Current project: A Stage Too Far - Writer
Live-action feature comedy

Current project: Peter Piper and the Plane People- Creator/Director
Animated children's series

1954 Animal Farm- Assistant Animator

1954 Huff and Puff- Director
National Film Board of Canada for Royal Canadian Air Force
Honourable Mention, Eighth Annual Canadian Film Festival, Toronto, Canada

1955 Fish Spoilage Control- Director
10 min. animation
National Film Board of Canada for Dept of Fisheries
Blue Ribbon Award, American Film Festival, New York

1956 It’s A Crime- Director
National Film Board of Canada for Federal Dept. of Labour
Diploma of Honour, Locarno Film Festival, Locarno, Switzerland
Diploma, 3rd Int'l Industrial & Labour Film Festival, Belgium
First Prize, Labour Film Festival, Berlin, Germany


1957 Follow That Car- Director/Design
10 min. animation for Shell, Great Britain

1957 The Energy Picture- Director
15 min. animation for British Petroleum

1960-61 Lars Calonius Productions- Art Director
Leading New York commercial studio

1962 My Financial Career- Director/Design
8 min. animation, National Film Board
36th Annual Academy Awards, nomination for Best Animated Film, Hollywood
International Film Festival, San Francisco
Blue Ribbon Award, Literature in Films Category

6th American Film Festival, New York
"an imaginative look at a celebrated item of Canadian literature”
-Montreal Star

1965 The Railrodder- Writer/Director/Editor
27-min. live-action theatrical, starring Buster Keaton
National Film Board of Canada
Special Mention, Berlin Film Festival, Berlin, Germany
Outstanding Film of the Year, London Film Festival, London, England
Prix Femina, Belgium
Certificate of Merit, Canadian Film Awards, Toronto, Canada

"Canada's only entry in the West Berlin Film Festival, The Railrodder, had the audience roaring with laughter and well-earned applause.”
-Reuters News Agency

"Too bad that Mr Keaton could not have been there to hear the applause - this film comes as close to capturing his classic film The General as anything he has done in 35 years - it is good to see him in this witty and charming picture."
-Bosley Crowther, New York Times

1966 Cool McCool- Animator/Director
Children's animated series for NBC-TV TV Cartoons, London

1967 The Quiet Racket- Director
10-min. live-action,NFB

1968 Pinter People- Producer/Director
One-hour live-action animation special on Harold Pinter
Potterton Productions for NBC-TV
Gold Hugo (Best of Festival) and Silver Hugo (Best in Network Entertainment), Chicago Int'l Film Festival
George Foster Peabody Award, New York
Special Jury Prize (Last to Go), Annecy Film Festival

"An intentionally unorthodox documentary"
-Jack Gould, New York Times

"Playwright Harold Pinter has never been more engagingly presented on the tube."
-Variety

"The sketches completely engaged the viewer's attention and were beautifully interspersed with filmed shots of London and Londoners."
-Time magazine

1968 Yellow Submarine- Animator
Animated Beatles theatrical feature, United Artists

1968 The Trade Machine- Director/Design
10 min. animated film for Place Bonaventure
Potterton Productions

1969 Superbus- Writer/Director/Producer
Panavision short for Canadian Pavilion, Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan

"A convincing portrait of a wonderful land inhabited by wonderful people - perhaps the picture of the Canadians is idealized but it never looks it."
-John Canaday, New York Times

1970 The Charge of the Snow Brigade- Writer/Director/Producer
6-min. live-action comedy theatrical
Potterton Productions

1970 Tiki-Tiki- Producer/Director
75-min. live-action/animation feature
Potterton Productions
Best Art Direction, Canadian Film Awards
"a circus of humour, excellent animation - hip and knowing, it should find easy release anywhere.”
-Variety

"Let me recommend Tiki-Tiki - the animation is delightful, ranging from just clever to absolutely brilliant."
-Montreal Star

1970 CBC-TV Vignettes- Concept/Director
Series of live-action/animation comedy shorts.

1971 Sesame Street- Concept/Director
Various live-action/animated spots.

1971 The Electric Company- Concept/Director
Animated spots with the voices of Bob Ray

1972-3 The Rainbow Boys- Writer/Director
90-min. Panavision feature starring Donald Pleasence and Kate Reid
Potterton Productions
Best Foreign Feature, Atlanta Film Festival, Atlanta, Georgia

"The Rainbow Boys succeeds because of its sheer quirkiness and the fact that it does not take itself too seriously."
-Time magazine

1974 The One Man Band That Went to Wall Street- Director/Design
Animated short for New York Stock Exchange.

1974-5 The Remarkable Rocket- Director
Half-hour animated special for Reader's Digest, New York
Potterton Productions

1976-7 Raggedy Ann and Andy- Sequence & Associate Director
Animated feature for I.T.T.(with Richard Williams)
20th Century Fox, Los Angeles

1978 Canada Vignettes- Director
National Film Board of Canada

1979-81 Heavy Metal- Director
Animated feature for Columbia Pictures
Golden Reel Award, Top Box Office Film, 1981-82
Canadian Distributors Association
"Heavy Metal is the animated equivalent of Star Wars -& a visual feast."
-Daily News, Los Angeles

"Funny, raunchy, erotic, lurid, violent, hallucinatory, Heavy Metal is an animated feature-length adventure fantasy in a class by itself.”
-Newsday

"Comic terrifying and erotic.”
-Time magazine

1983 The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones- Director
Animated short based on a Stephen Leacock story
National Film Board of Canada

1984-5 George and the Star- Concept/Director/Design
Half-hour animated TV Christmas special with music by Paul Anka
Potterton Studios & Canadian International Studios
Gemini Award Nominations:
Best Animated Program and Best Music Composition
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
"an animated treat with zing - a refreshing departure from the holiday syrup that saturates the screen."
-Variety

1985-6 The Ghost Ship- Director/Storyboard
Half-hour TV special narrated by Vincent Price
Les Studios Potterton Inc

1987-90 Smoggies! and Smoggies II- Creator/Co-Author/Director
53-episode half-hour children's animation series
Cinar (Canada) & Initiale Films (France) co-production
"Every now and then a new show comes along that is so timely, so right, that you want to stand up and cheer it. That's how you feel with Smoggies!"
-Janice Kennedy, TV Times

1990-92 The Runaway Teapot, Happy Birthday and Baa Baa Black Sheep- Director
Three episodes from “Favourite Songs” animated TV series
Produced by Cinar Films

1993-94 The Energy Picture & Energy II- Director
Animation sequences for two half-hour educational films
Produced by Media Cinema, Toronto

1996 Willy Bee- Design/Director
Animated children's series
Willy Bee Ltd., & U.K

1998 The Magic Orchid- Co-Writer/Director
Animated stop-motion puppet feature
TV Cartoons, U.K. & Nukufilm, Estonia

1999 Albert & Atom- Creator/ Director/Writer
Animated children's series
Potterton Studios with Punch! International & Tube Images