Blinky Bill filmmaker dies
Australian film producer Yoram Gross, who helped bring loveable animated characters Blinky Bill and Dot And The Kangaroo to the big screen, has died at the age of 88.
Guy Gross told Inside Film that his father died on Monday.
He said he "was a wonderfully inappropriate jokester".
Gross was born in Krakow Poland in 1926 to a Jewish family.
According to Yoram Gross Film's official website, his family was on Oskar Schindler's famous list, but chose to make their own risky escape, moving hiding places 72 times.
He studied music and musicology at Krakow University and by 1950, Yoram moved from Poland to Israel, where he worked as a newsreel and documentary cameraman before becoming an independent film producer and director.
In 1968 Gross and his wife Sandra and young family, migrated to Australia where they established Yoram Gross Film Studios.
His first animated feature film was Dot and the Kangaroo (1977).
There were more than a half a dozen spin-offs of Dot And The Kangaroo including Dot and the Koala, Dot and the Bunny and Dot and Santa Claus.
In 1992 Gross released Blinky Bill, based on the Australian children's classic by Dorothy Wall, and it introduced the popular koala to the rest of the world as a "real personality".
He directed, produced and co-wrote Blinky Bill for the big screen. His wife, Sandra, was the executive producer.
In 1995, Gross was awarded the Order of Australia for his outstanding achievements and for his contribution to the Australian film industry.
In all, Gross received more than 80 international awards for his various films.
He is survived by Sandra, their children Guy and Karen and five grandchildren.
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