The Tom & Jerry Legendary Director Gene Deitch Passes Away

Each and every one of our childhood was made awesome with the binge worthy cartoon shows. Here when I say cartoon, probably the first thing that comes to our mind is the Tom & Jerry show. I don’t think we’ll ever get old enough to stop watching it. Our entire childhood was probably filled with it. Now, as we grow old, we probably thought even for a while, who might be the mind behind something that made the show a part of our lives.

The genius behind it was none other than the Oscar winning illustrator, Gene Deitch who passed away on 16^th April, 2020 at the age of 95.

According to Unilad, Gene passed away in his apartment in Prague on Thursday. But the cause of his death is not yet confirmed. His publisher, Petr Himmel confirmed the news, saying Gene died ‘unexpectedly’.

Gene, whose full name was Eugene Merill Deitch was best known for creating animated cartoons such as Munro, Tom Terrific, Nudnik, as well as Popeye.

After graduation, he had worked as a draftsman for North American Aviation before being drafted for the military and entering pilot training.

In 1955, Deitch took an apprenticeship at the animation studio United Productions of America (UPA), and later became the creative director of Terrytoons under 20^th Century Fox, where he created characters like Sidney the Elephant, Gaston Le Crayon, Clint Clobber and Terr’ble Thompson.

From 1960 to 1963, Deitch collaborated with Rembrandt to direct ‘Popeye’ cartoons for television and from 1961 to 1962, he directed 13 new Tom & Jerry shorts for MGM which will undoubtedly be his greatest creation. He was also the director of the 1966 film, ‘Alice of Wonderland in Paris’.

From 1969 till his retirement in 2008, Deitch was the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston Woods Studios, adapting children’s picture books.

In 2003, Deitch was awarded the Annie Awards’ Winsor McCay Award by ASIFA-Hollywood for a lifetime contribution to the art of animation.

Gene is survived by his wife and three sons from his first marriage, who all are writers and artists for alternative comics.

Following the news of his death, the fans have poured in their tributes on the social media by thanking him for making their childhood a memorable one.