George Dunning (1920 – 1979) – Animator

George Dunning is best known as the director of Yellow Submarine (1968), the groundbreaking animated feature inspired by The Beatles. Celebrated for its bold psychedelic visuals and inventive animation, the film became one of the defining cultural icons of the 1960s and remains one of the most influential animated films ever made.

Dunning studied at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University) before beginning his career as an animator at the National Film Board of Canada. After moving to England in 1956, he became an internationally acclaimed animation director, creating award-winning films and innovative commercial work.

He formed his own production company, T.V.C., and was involved with a variety of commercial work and animated shorts. For example, he created the opening animated credit sequence for Blake Edwards's A Shot in the Dark (1964), the second Pink Panther movie starring Peter Sellers, and produced a cartoon series based on the songs of The Beatles for BBC-TV (1965-67).

As the director of Yellow Submarine, Dunning supervised more than 200 artists in the relatively short span of 11 months and personally created the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" segment. Its groundbreaking animation and vivid, colour-saturated psychedelic style helped make Yellow Submarine an enduring pop culture icon.

Dunning also created Canada Is My Piano, a triple-screen film screened at the revolving theatre in the Canadian Pavilion at EXPO 67.

Learn more about George Dunning