WEST MICHIGAN — You may know the names of early animation shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, CatDog, Dora The Explorer, or Tom & Jerry, but you may not know the name of Ray Pointer, who helped create this and many other productions.
Pointer has lent his talent to many projects as an illustrator, artist and writer. and director. He has worked on several hit animated series and has some interesting connections to West Michigan and Remus.
Born in Detroit, Pointer attended special art classes at the Detroit Institute of Arts and received his bachelor’s degree in business from Cass Technical High School. He earned a BA in broadcast and film production from Wayne State University in Detroit and a post-bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, Department of Cinema/Television.
Initially a self-taught filmmaker, he experimented with animation from 1963 to 1973, beginning his career at The Jam Handy Organization in Detroit.
“Movies and television have always fascinated me,” Pointer said. “I was interested in the intelligence it takes to create a television show. I started trying to create characters and stories when I was 12 and I loved Popeye cartoons and ended up trying to recreate some of those scenes that I liked with my own characters in different shows that I watched.”
Pointer has worked as a storyboard artist on productions such as Madeline, Hurricanes, Ultra Force for DIC, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sinbad The Sailor for Fred Wolf Films, and Garfield for Paramount.
He also worked on All Dogs Go To Heaven for MGM and was animation director on CatDog for Oh, Yeah! cartoons. He worked as animation timing director on the first season of Dora The Explorer for Nickelodeon and animation for Sonic the Hedgehog.
He has also been a writer and director of corporate video programs for General Dynamics Land Systems, assistant animator on Tom and Jerry for Film Roman, Bebe’s Kids and Itsy-Bitsy Spider for Hyperion, Post Pebbles, Sugar Bear and Polly Pockets commercials for Playhouse Pictures.
“I was very fortunate to have had that early fundamental support,” Pointer said. “(Animation and Illustration) is a tough business and I was fortunate to have worked with friendly professionals who were really strict and would show you things to help you.
“I really enjoyed working on Bebe’s Kids during the short time that I worked on it, mostly because I enjoyed the story,” he added. “I enjoyed the character design of this show, and also enjoyed working on Sinbad (The Sailor) because many of the characters and storylines were diverse and set in foreign locations.”
Pointer was also a naval photographer and film editor for the Pacific Fleet Combat Camera Group and a producer for Navy Broadcasting.
ILLUSTRATION OF THE REMUS STORY
Pointer supported the Mecosta County organization Old Settlers Reunion by providing illustrations for the Remus History Coloring Book, first published in 2018.
He also helped produce an instructional video focused on the history of the Little River Schoolhouse at School Section Lake Veterans Park in Mecosta County.
His grandfather was at the school in 1905 before it was replaced with a log cabin. His great-great-grandfather was also the very first teacher to work there.
“One of the reasons the coloring book was created was because the underlying problem is that the child’s parents don’t know the story and don’t teach them,” Pointer said. “We are not concerned with the manufactured image that our society is meant to be and there needs to be a reintroduction of what our culture actually is. It’s all an intellectual process, whether it’s making cartoons, movies, writing a book, or whatever. It stimulates the imagination and the coloring book is designed to inspire children.”
Pointer encouraged the organization to include text about the history of the images and the people featured in the book.
He hopes it inspires families to delve into their roots and the history of Remus’ Old Settlers.
Pointer is President and CEO of Inkwell Images. Since returning to Michigan in 2008, Ray later worked as an adjunct professor and 2D animation teacher at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids before retiring in May 2016.
