Bruno Bianchi (Italian: [ˈbruːno ˈbjaŋki], French: [bʁyno bjɑ̃ki]; 6 September 1955 – 2 December 2011) was a French cartoonist, comics artist and animation director. Bianchi worked extensively as an artist, director and producer on animated television productions, including Heathcliff, Iznogoud and most notably, Inspector Gadget, which he also co-created.
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Career
Bianchi started his career at DiC Audiovisuel (later DiC Entertainment) in 1977 at age 22 as a cel painter, then gradually assumed creative positions. His first director's credit was on the 1980 edutainment mini-series Archibald le Magichien (directly translated: Archibald the Magic Dog). In 1983, Bianchi scored his first major directing job on Inspector Gadget, a series he co-created with Andy Heyward and DiC's founder Jean Chalopin. Bianchi served as main character designer and supervising director on the show, which became one of the most iconic series produced by DiC.
Subsequently, Bianchi worked as a director, producer and designer on numerous other DiC Entertainment, Saban Entertainment and SIP Animation television animation productions, from the 1980s until the mid-2000s. His credits include Heathcliff (where he co-created the Cats and Company characters together with Jean Chalopin), Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, M.A.S.K., Rainbow Brite, Diplodos (which he co-created and co-wrote with Jean Chalopin), Iznogoud, Princess Sissi and Gadget & the Gadgetinis (a spinoff of Inspector Gadget).
In 2008, following the closure of SIP Animation, Bianchi founded his studio, Ginkgo Animation. One of Ginkgo's projects had been George and Me (French title Georges et Moi), an adaptation of a 2006 Soleil Productions comic series that had first been picked up by SIP Animation as early as December 2007, and had been planned to start production at SIP at the beginning of 2009. However, by April 2011, this venture of Ginkgo's was considered unsuccessful due to changing priorities in the French animation industry, according to one of the authors of the original comics.
Bianchi died on 2 December 2011 at the age of 56. He was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris on 6 December 2011.
Filmography
Director
1983: Inspector Gadget
1984: Heathcliff
1985: Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
1985: Rainbow Brite
1985: Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling
1985: M.A.S.K.
1986: Popples
1988: Diplodos
1992: Around the World in Eighty Dreams
1995: Space Strikers
1995: Iznogoud
1996: The Why Why? Family
1997: Princess Sissi
1997: Walter Melon
1998: Jim Button
2000: Wunschpunsch
2002: Gadget & the Gadgetinis
2004: The Tofus
Producer
1995: Iznogoud
1996: The Why Why? Family
1997: Princess Sissi
1998: Jim Button
2001: Wunschpunsch
2002: Gadget & the Gadgetinis
2003: What's with Andy? (season 2 only)
2004: The Tofus
2004: W.I.T.C.H.
2005: A.T.O.M. (Alpha Teens on Machines)
2008: Combo Niños