Goldman joins Savannah College of Art and Design

Legendary animator Gary Goldman, best known for his work on such animated classics as The Secret Of NIMH(1982) and All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989), will join Savannah College of Art and Design as an artist in residence, the college announced Monday at SIGGRAPH 2007.

Goldman will teach traditional 2-D animation to graduate and undergraduate students in the School of Film and Digital Media, as well as give a campus-wide lecture on animation during the Georgia college's 10-week winter quarter in January.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to pass on what I've learned during the 35 years of working in this art form," said Goldman. "Hopefully, what I have to give will resonate with the animation art students and help them move forward toward their careers in animation."

Goldman began his career in 1972 with Walt Disney Productions on the animated motion picture Robin Hoodas a rough assistant animator to supervising animator Frank Thomas. Goldman's career continued as an animator on Disney's Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too (1974) and The Rescuers (1977). He also served as directing animator for Pete's Dragon(1977) and The Small One(1978).

In 1979, Goldman and his artistic partners Don Bluth and John Pomeroy left Disney to co-found Don Bluth Productions. Since that time, Goldman has animated, produced, co-directed and supervised post-production on films including The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail(1986), The Land Before Time(1988), All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989), Thumbelina (1994), Anastasia(1997), Bartok The Magnificent(1999), Titan A.E. (2000) and Dragon's Lair(2006).

Goldman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in life drawing and a minor in art history from the University of Hawaii in 1971. He has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976.

SCAD honored Goldman with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Animation at the college's 2005 Savannah Film Festival. Lifetime Achievement Awards are bestowed on visual and performing artists who have made significant contributions to their fields.

Goldman and Bluth also recently signed a major gift agreement with SCAD, designating the college as the recipient of a significant collection of more than one million pieces of art, including animation cels, drawings, backgrounds and production documentation from their work. They donated the collection, valued in the millions of dollars, to enhance academic studies and inspire new creative endeavors for the college's nearly 8,500 students.

The collection is housed at the Jen Library in Savannah and is being catalogued now.

"At SCAD, we pride ourselves on our commitment to the aesthetics and artistic value of traditional animation techniques as well as state of the art digital production," said Peter Weishar, dean of the School of Film and Digital Media. "Gary Goldman's work and career is an inspiration to our students and faculty. We are very excited to have such an esteemed and accomplished artist to mentor our students and enhance our program."

The School of Film and Digital Media at SCAD offers fully accredited programs in six major disciplines, including animation, broadcast design and motion graphics, interactive design and game development, sound design and visual effects. All of the departments offer Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. The school offers minors in all disciplines as well as a minor focused on technical direction.

Named "Hottest for Studying Art" among America's 25 Hottest Colleges by Kaplan/Newsweek, the Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and in Lacoste, France. Accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs also are offered online through SCAD-eLearning. The college offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Architecture, Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, and Master of Urban Design degrees.

For more information about the college, visit www.scad.edu.