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Jean Mathieson was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is a talented Canadian animator. She is known for being Canada's first independent woman animator who worked outside the National Film Board.

Jean first studied at the University of Toronto. Then she switched to The Ontario College of Art. There, she studied for four years and earned her A.O.C.A. degree. After finishing her studies, she trained to become an animator. This was when Canada's animation industry was just starting. Later, she teamed up with Al Guest. Together, they became pioneers in Canadian animation. Jean was the first woman to work as a writer, director, and producer in this field.

Early Career in Toronto

Jean Mathieson was featured in Chatelaine magazine. This was when she was the lead animator for Rocket Robin Hood. She then worked at the CBC, which is a big Canadian TV network. There, she created animation for famous people like Lorne Michaels and Hart Pomerantz. She also worked with the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster.

While at the CBC, she also spent time at the National Research Council in Ottawa. This was a very important step! She helped create some of the first computer-generated (CG) animation. She used their huge mainframe computer, which was the biggest in Canada at the time. In 1977, she presented the Animation Award at the Canadian Film Awards.

Jean and her partner, Al Guest, also helped start The Canadian Animation Producers Association. Al Guest was the first president, and Jean Mathieson was the founding secretary.

Award-Winning Productions

Jean and Al produced over 4,000 TV commercials, short films for cinemas, TV series, and sponsored films. They won more than 100 awards for their work! Even though they are famous for animation, they also made live-action commercials. They had a company in London, England, for this. They also produced live-action TV shows in the U.S.

Some of their live-action shows made in Canada include:

  • 130 episodes of The Bonnie Prudden Show (shown in the U.S.)
  • 195 episodes of The Ed Allen Show (also shown in the U.S.)

Their animated shows made in Canada were:

Their music video "A Routine Day" for the band "Klaatu" is thought to be the very first animated music video ever made.

Building a Studio in Dublin

Later, Jean and Al moved to Dublin, Ireland. This happened because their New York distributor, Don Taffner, suggested it and helped with money. They worked together to build a big animation studio called Emerald City Productions. This was amazing because Ireland didn't have much animation history before!

Jean and Al designed the studio's layout. They also supervised buying and setting up all the equipment. They even designed the furniture! Then, they hired and trained all the staff. This included animators, background artists, camera operators, and editors.

Classic Animated Specials

While training the new staff, Al Guest and Jean Mathieson wrote, produced, and directed all the studio's projects. These included many one-hour animated specials. They were based on classic books, such as:

Animation Around the World

After working in Dublin for four years, Jean and Al sold their studio. They had been traveling from Los Angeles to Dublin every six weeks! They then moved to Palm Springs.

Their animation work continued. They wrote, directed, and produced more animated shows. These included Brer Rabbit's Xmas Carol, The Outrageous Adventures of Brer Rabbit, and Mighty Bigfoot. They also designed all the characters for these shows.

These cartoons were made with studios in Manila and Guangzhou, China. Jean and Al traveled often to these studios. This allowed them to keep their "hands-on" way of producing. Any animated commercials they made during this time were done in Los Angeles using computers.

Teaching and New Projects

In 1998, Jean and Al started teaching at Mount San Antonio College. They taught in a new Digital Animation Production course. Their classes included Animation Principles, Storyboard, and Animation Script Writing. They also taught drawing and computer-generated imagery (CGI) using Maya. They left teaching after a year to work on a new project. They wanted to create a trailer for a script they wrote called Emily's Story - Wuthering Heights. This trailer combined live-action and CGI.

Groundbreaking Work in China

In 2000, Jean and Al spent 13 months in China. They were directing and producing a new animated series called Flutemaster. This show was created in California but produced in China. It became a huge hit! It aired during prime time on the Chinese network CCTV. It was one of the most popular shows ever shown there. It reached an audience of 140 million viewers in 2004.

Jean and Al designed the characters and the logo for Flutemaster. They also guided the overall "look" of the series and its promotions. They trained Chinese artists in modern American animation styles. This included teaching them procedures and technical standards. While in Beijing, they were invited to speak at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute. Their idea to make the main character a skateboarder helped the show be sold worldwide as "Skateboy".

Back to Hollywood and Video Games

After finishing a 2D series called Going Buggs, they created a CGI pilot called Oh No, Domingo!. This was produced overseas. At the same time, a live-action horror film they wrote, House of Darkness, was completed in Montreal.

The rock band "KLAATU" recently released a DVD. It features songs animated by Jean Guest and Al Mathieson. The DVD also includes interviews where they talk about the rotoscope animation technique they used.

Jean Mathieson now works in the video game industry. She is credited as Jean Guest on several games, including:

Al Guest and Jean Mathieson continue to write and develop new projects together.

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