John Pomeroy

John Pomeroy is an American animator, artist, writer, producer, and professor. He has been a key artistic creative for the Dragon's Lair franchise, with direct involvement as producer, animator, or promotional artist on its four major video game releases: Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, Space Ace, and Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.

Biography

Pomeroy attended Art Center College of Design from 1971 to 1973, majoring in illustration. In 1973, he began working at the Walt Disney Company as a background artist, and after one year earned the role of full animator to work on the Academy Award nominated Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, under the supervision of veteran animator Frank Thomas. In the years that followed, Pomeroy animated on The Rescuers, Pete's Dragon, The Small One and The Fox and the Hound.

During his time at Disney, Pomeroy met fellow animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and the trio collaborate to work on an independent short film entitled, Banjo the Woodpile Cat. That project led the trio, together with several other Disney animators, to form Don Bluth Productions—which, later, became Bluth Group. The studio produced The Secret of NIMH as their first feature film in 1982. Several animated features followed, as well as the animation services for the laserdisc video games Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, co-created by Rick Dyer's RDI Video Systems and originally released into arcades by Cinematronics.

After working as the Bluth Group's directing animator and producer on An American Tail and The Land Before Time, Pomeroy moved back to the United States of America in 1989 to form a new U.S. wing of Bluth Group, which eventually became Sullivan Bluth Studios. When Sullivan Bluth Studios closed in the early 1990s, Pomeroy returned to Disney to work as the supervising animator on Pocahontas, on which he designed and led a crew of fourteen animators to create the character of John Smith. He was also the lead character designer for Milo Thatch on Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Pomeroy was also a supervising animator for Fantasia 2000, and an animator for Treasure Planet, Curious George, The Simpsons Movie, Planes, and Sofia The First for Disney Television Animation. His additional screen credits include work with Warner Bros Animation's Tom & Jerry and the Wizard of Oz and Space Jam: A New Legacy.

He has also worked as a storyboard artist and sculptor, creating busts that animated film artists have used to visualize 3-D character models. His other credits include: oil painter, portrait artist by commission, lecturer, and college professor (Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee). He's been an active member of the shorts and animation branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences since 1978. He and his wife, Cami, reside in Brentwood, Tennessee; together the couple manages JohnPomeroy.com and the Pomeroy Art Academy. Besides animation, his interests include sculpting, puppetry, painting and illustrating books.

Notable Contributions to Dragon's Lair franchise

• Pomeroy’s work as production director for the animation on the laser disk arcade games involved responsibilities for matching paint for animation cels, filming transparency overlays on backgrounds, and final film editing.
• Pomeroy was the primary animator of several iconic sequences for the laser disc games, especially for moments featuring both Dirk the Daring and Princess Daphne:
  • Several frames for Daphne's instructions for Dirk to "use the magic sword" against Singe the Dragon in the final stage of the original Dragon's Lair game.
  • The ending animation to the original Dragon's Lair features Dirk cradling Daphne in his arms, during which the princess flicks off his helmet, kisses him, and whispers softly into his ear as the hero's expression softens.
  • Mordroc spiriting away the terrified Daphne during the introductory attract sequence of Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp.
  • Dirk and Daphne's first--but short-lived--reunion during the Pre-historic stage of Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp in which Dirk glides with magical wings while holding a grateful Daphne.
  • Dirk and Daphne's jubilant embrace featured immediately prior to the ending sequence of Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, with much of the animation reused for the ending cinematic of Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.
  • The squash & stretch taunting animations for Commander Borf usually seen after one of the Death Scenes in Space Ace.
  • One of Dirk's Death Scenes in which The Banshee sucks him bone-dry.
• Pomeroy helped to produce Space Ace press kits for arcade owners who wanted to give the game a theatrical-style presentation.
• Pomeroy created a poster that became the cover artwork and the merchandising campaign for Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.

Trivia

• John was previously married to fellow animator Lorna Pomeroy-Cook, who provided the voice of Kimberly in Space Ace.
• Cardsmiths' Dragon's Lair trading card series includes a sub-series of Autograph cards with Pomeroy being featured as card A-JP (“JOHN POMEROY”).

External Sources

• Official Bio at JohnPomeroy.com
• Directory Bio for Lipscomb University
• Pomeroy Art Academy Official Website