A to Z of Animation Studios: Y Is for Yoram Gross Film Studio
The studio that gave Australia its most famous cartoon animals.
Y is for Yoram Gross Film Studio
The founder: Yoram Gross was born in Poland, survived World War II, and became a filmmaker. REAL: he moved to Australia in 1968 and built what became the country's biggest animation studio.
The approach: Gentle stories about Australian animals, with a big message: protect the bush and the creatures who live there.
The most Aussie cartoons ever
Dot and the Kangaroo (1977). REAL: a girl lost in the outback is helped by a kind kangaroo. The film puts hand-drawn characters on top of real, live-action Australian landscapes. It led to a whole series of Dot films.
Blinky Bill (1992 film; TV series from 1993). A cheeky koala who protects his home from people who want to cut down the forest. Blinky became one of Australia's best-known cartoon characters.
Flipper and Lopaka (1999). A boy and a dolphin have underwater adventures.
Tabaluga (1997). A little green dragon who must protect his magical land, made with partners in Germany.
Why the studio mattered
It built Australian animation at a time when most cartoons came from the US, Europe or Japan.
It mixed animation and live action in its own way.
It told kids about conservation decades before it was common.
REAL: the studio was later sold and renamed Flying Bark Productions, which is still making animation in Sydney today.
Honorable mention: Yellow Submarine (1968)
Not a studio, but a Y we couldn't skip. This Beatles film was made by the London studio TVC, with designs by artist Heinz Edelmann. Its pop-art colors and wild shapes looked like nothing else in theaters, and you can still see its influence in music videos and animated films today.
The lesson
You don't need to copy Hollywood to make great animation. Yoram Gross made cartoons about his own new home, its animals and its land, and that's why they're remembered.
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Z is for Zagtoon.
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