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Gary Goldman, Publicity Photo 1982
Gary Goldman, Publicity Photo 1982

Born: Gary Goldman
Birthday: November 17, 1944
Location: Oakland, CA, U.S.
Alma mater: University of Hawaii
Occupation: Director, Producer, Animator, Writer
Years active: 1972–present

Gary Goldman joined Walt Disney Productions in February 1972 as Frank Thomas’ in-betweener for “Robin Hood.” As an animator, he worked alongside Don Bluth on “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!” and “The Rescuers” before becoming a directing animator on “Pete’s Dragon” and “The Small One.”

Divided by disagreements over story and production values, Goldman, along with Bluth and John Pomeroy, resigned from Walt Disney Productions in 1979 to form their own independent animation studio, Don Bluth Productions.

After leaving Disney, the team produced “The Secret of NIMH.” “An American Tail” was their first collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, begun in January 1985. Released in November of 1986 it grew to be highest-grossing animated film up to that time, heralding a new era of success for full-length animated features.

Gary was a producer on the highly successful animated laser disc interactive video games “Dragon’s Lair,” “Space Ace” and “Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp.”

Amid the studio’s financial difficulties, Morris Sullivan, a mergers and acquisitions expert, created a corporation, Sullivan Studios to allow the three animators to continue producing films.

In 1986, Sullivan moved Goldman, Bluth & Pomeroy, and their entire operation of 87 employees and their families to Dublin, Ireland. Their third feature film, “The Land Before Time,” was their first production created primarily in Ireland.

Five more films would follow before Goldman and Bluth returned from Ireland in 1994 to head up the Fox Animation Studio in Phoenix, Arizona. The first production completed at Fox was 1997’s award-winning “Anastasia.” Also produced there was “Bartok the Magnificent” in 1999, and the animated science fiction feature “Titan A.E.” in 2000.

Goldman and Bluth continue to develop feature-length properties with their independent production company Don Bluth Films, Inc.

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Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.

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