It's a gloomy day for everyone as fans of the classic Tom and Jerry cartoon are met with sad news. The director of this cartoon, Gene Deitch has recently been reported to have passed away at the age of 95. The Oscar-winning illustrator was said to have passed away at his apartment located in Prague on Thursday.
Accoding to his Czech publisher, Petr Himmel, in a statement to The Associated Press, he had died "unexpectedly." Gene, whose full name is actually Eugene Merill Deitch, has been known for his previous work of directing 13 different episodes of the previous beloved children's cartoon called Tom and Gerry as well as a few episodes from another cartoon series called Popeye.
Tom and Jerry's Gene Deitch
In his earlier life, Gene has been known to have been working as a draftsman for the North American Avation right before actually being drafted for the military and entering pilot training. Due to some medical reasons that led to his discharge, the illustrator then decided to base himself in Prague from 1959 and his career suddenly took off!
A movie Gene directed called the Munro has previously won the Academy Award for being the Best Animated Short Film back in 1960. He was also nominated for the exact same award twice back in 1964 for Here's Nudnik along with How to Avoid Friendship.
Earlier, Gene had created the Tom Terrific series, while the previous Sidney's Family Tree, which he also co-produced was then nominated for an Academy Award back in 1958. Gene is survived by his wife along with three sons from his first marriage who are all cartoonists.
The appreciation on Twitter
It is only natural that fans of Gene and his works would speak out on Twitter and offer their condolences as well as thank Gene for completing their childhood with most of his cartoons and especially Tom and Jerry. The series was a huge hit back in the day and has been a fundamental part of childhood for some kids as the cartoon would air on TV and be cemented as a good childhood memory.
The hilarious Tom and Jerry series was a really nutty and fun series for kids to watch back in the day and this is well reflected with the posts on Twitter circulating the hashtag #RIPGeneDeitch and even when you simply search Gene Deitch or just Tom and Jerry.
Although the nutty comedic cartoon which Gene has previously directed has been finished and discontinued, the memory of the cartoon itself is still very alive and some people would even stream this cartoon for nostalgic reasons.
The great illustrator has been able to bring smiles and laughter to a lot of people growing up when Tom and Jerry was being shown on the TV as you can see on Twitter, people are very thankful for his contribution to not just the world of cartoons, but to childhood itself.
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