Gerry Anderson
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When I look at my career from afar, even I'm amazed at how many shows I've made. No less than 18 series, 800 episodes, and so it's been a wonderful career and one that I'm now very proud of.
—Gerry Anderson
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Gerry Anderson MBE (1929-2012) was a British cinematographer, famous for his work featuring puppets. His studio, AP Films (later Century 21 Productions), developed a novel technique where puppets' mouths would be operated in time with dialogue by putting a solenoid in their jaw, rather than requiring operators to move it directly, a process they called Supermarionation.
Works by Gerry Anderson
- The Adventures of Twizzle
- Torchy the Battery Boy
- Four Feather Falls (first work to use Supermarionation, though the name was not coined yet)
- Supercar
- Fireball XL5
- Stingray (1964 TV series)
- Thunderbirds
- Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons
- Joe 90 (last pure Supermarionation show)
- The Secret Service (hybrid of Supermarionation and live-action)
- UFO (first full live-action show)
- The Protectors
- Space: 1999
- The Day After Tomorrow (TV special)
- Terrahawks
- Dick Spanner, P.I.
- Space Precinct
- Lavender Castle
- Firestorm (anime)
- Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
- Gemini Force One (this and everything after is released posthumously)
Gerry Anderson provides examples of the following tropes:
- Creator Backlash: Anderson did not want to make puppet shows. The only reason AP Films got into puppets was that they needed to film something and The Adventures of Twizzle, a children's puppet show, was the only commission available. However, they turned out to be really good at it, especially once they hit their stride with Supermarionation, and people loved them (and still love them). It took a little while for Anderson to come to terms with this.
- Magnum Opus Dissonance: With the success of Supermarionation, Anderson got enough money and leeway that he could make live-action shows like he had always wanted, but they weren't as well received.
- Missing Episode: Anderson was never one to care much about a show once it was done, so Anderson Entertainment has sometimes had a bear of a time finding the originals of his shows for remastering, especially post-Terrahawks. Most of his earlier works were done while working for a larger parent studio, which kept better archives (with the exception of The Adventures of Twizzle, which is missing all but the first episode). In retrospect, his Alzheimer's probably contributed some to his desire to leave behind or get rid of any old stuff.
- Posthumous Collaboration: Anderson was working on projects up until his death, and left behind lots of material. Gemini Force One is a novel series based on his notes, and Firestorm is getting a remake as well.